BOK TOWER GARDENS dresses up its historic Pinewood house each year for the holidays. This year, the theme is movies, as is evidenced by this dining room decorated in an "Out of Africa" theme.
Buy Photo GEORGE AYCRIGG | LEDGER MEDIA GROUP CORRESPONDENT
LAKE WALES | The Grinch may have stolen Christmas but he put the festive spirit — and pizazz — into the holiday home tour at Pinewood Estate this year.
WHEN: The holiday tour of Pinewood Estate is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday and Christmas Day through Jan. 1. Seasonal music from carillon Dec. 1. Cookbook author signing Dec. 3. George Jenkins High School Golden Harmony Show Choir performs 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 17. Holiday concerts by Asunta Fleming 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 and 17.
LOCATION: Bok Tower Gardens, 1151 Tower Blvd., Lake Wales.
TICKETS: Admission to the tour costs $7 for adults and $5 for children 5 to 12. Combo tickets, which include general admission and the holiday home tour, cost $18.
Volunteer room designer Nancy Robinson transformed the room known as Lucy's Bedroom into a snowy, whimsical Whoville, the setting for the Dr. Seuss classic, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," complete with the Grinch himself and Max, the reindeer dog pulling a gift-laden sleigh.
Four local professional designers and a host of volunteers took inspiration from motion pictures while decorating the 20-room Mediterranean-style mansion for the tour as part of Christmas at Bok Tower Gardens.
The Pinewood tour opened Thursday and runs through Jan. 1 as part of Christmas at Bok Tower, the five-week event will offer holiday movies and popcorn in the Visitor Center, family tree decorating, antique car showcases, photos with Santa, and guided garden tours.
With four professional designers involved in decorating Pinewood this season, rooms largely aren't decorated with the grand opulence of previous years. But the theme "Picture Perfect" is successfully carried throughout the home built by steel magnate Charles Austin Buck in the 1930s.
Each signature room is inspired by a film, including such varied movies as "White Christmas," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Blue Hawaii," Love Actually," and "Christmas in Connecticut.
"Each year we think it's better than ever. This year the decorations are so diverse with so many award-winning movies incorporated into the decorations. All of the designers have taken poetic license giving the movies a Christmas twist: "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Out of Africa" and "Blue Hawaii" have all been set at Christmas," said Cassie Jacoby, the attraction's director of communications. "The volunteer design team selected classic and traditional holiday movies."
The dining room is a tribute to the 1985 film, "Out of Africa," a sweeping movie recounting the time author Isak Dinesen spent in Africa.
Designed by Lory Owens of Van~go Interiors in Winter Haven, the focal point of the room is a large framed photo of three people in a boat.
"The African sunrise picture was taken in Africa by a missionary that attended my church," Owens said. "The room design was inspired by my love of Africa, and a friend gave me the animal print shoe ornaments as a gift."
Passing through The Round Room, one imagines the dinner hour approaching with cooking utensils ready and the roasted turkey poised for serving. Illustrating the 1983 film, "A Christmas Story," the gifts under the tree include a Red Ryder BB gun.
Dianne Albertson and Loretta Stamps, owners of Seaside Sisters near Lake Wales, manage to create a tropical paradise and an Elvis sighting in Mr. Buck's office.
Their nod to "Blue Hawaii," the 1961 film starring Elvis Presley, features a tropical waterfall with blue and clear glass stones surrounded with lush foliage. Elvis's name is written in real sand.
"A teacher is at her desk dreaming about vacation. Her bags are packed," Albertson said, explaining their interpretation of the story.
In the Loggia — or library — one finds the simple elegance of Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 romantic comedy, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" created by the third professional design team, "B. Taylor's Expressions.
Designer Bethany Taylor presents elegant simplicity in black, silver and the Tiffany blue box.
In the living room, the volunteer design team re-creates the setting of the 1954 classic, "White Christmas," during which World War II army buddies reunite during a snowy evening.
Tables are set with white dishes, silver and wine glasses. Military uniform jackets and ladies furs are draped over chairs as a fire crackles in the fireplace.
A Christmas tree is covered with strands of pearls and red ornaments and topped with a snow angel.
Upstairs, volunteer designer Trudy Kirkland provides a taste of New England with "Christmas in Connecticut."
"It's like you are lying in bed looking out over the woods. It turned out beautiful," Kendall said.
Down the hall, Jenn Beam of White Dove Baskets adds a bit of romance to a room dedicated to the 2003 British romantic comedy "Love, Actually." This testimony to love and Christmas uses white feathers, snowflakes and snow balls with red ornaments, berries, and pillows to create the theme.
Following a ribbon of movie posters down the hall, one lands in Victorian England to find Dickinson's, "A Christmas Carol," a classic tale retold in numerous films.
Here, the imposing ghosts of Christmas past and future hover on either bedside of Ebenezer Scrooge. Nearby, the austere home of the Cratchit family represents the present Christmas.
"It's simple. It's tells the story," Kendall said.
Robinson, who has volunteered during the Pinewood holiday tours for about 10 years, said the event is just the experience to motivate folks to decorate their own homes.
"I hope they're going to see all the new ideas they can go back home and use. There are so many things they can do in their own homes," she said.
[ Donna Kelly can be reached at donna.kelly@newschief.com. ]
Christmas Movies the Basis for Pinewood Decor at Bok Tower Gardens
THE ENTRANCE TO Pinewood Estate is decorated in movie themes to prepare visitors for Christmas at Pinewood decorations. Each room has a movie ...
LAKE WALES | The Grinch may have stolen Christmas but he put the festive spirit — and pizazz — into the holiday home tour at Pinewood Estate this year.
Volunteer room designer Nancy Robinson transformed the room known as Lucy's Bedroom into a snowy, whimsical Whoville, the setting for the Dr. Seuss classic, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," complete with the Grinch himself and Max, the reindeer dog pulling a gift-laden sleigh.
Four local professional designers and a host of volunteers took inspiration from motion pictures while decorating the 20-room Mediterranean-style mansion for the tour as part of Christmas at Bok Tower Gardens.
The Pinewood tour opened Thursday and runs through Jan. 1 as part of Christmas at Bok Tower, the five-week event will offer holiday movies and popcorn in the Visitor Center, family tree decorating, antique car showcases, photos with Santa, and guided garden tours.
With four professional designers involved in decorating Pinewood this season, rooms largely aren't decorated with the grand opulence of previous years. But the theme "Picture Perfect" is successfully carried throughout the home built by steel magnate Charles Austin Buck in the 1930s.
Each signature room is inspired by a film, including such varied movies as "White Christmas," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Blue Hawaii," Love Actually," and "Christmas in Connecticut.
"Each year we think it's better than ever. This year the decorations are so diverse with so many award-winning movies incorporated into the decorations. All of the designers have taken poetic license giving the movies a Christmas twist: "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Out of Africa" and "Blue Hawaii" have all been set at Christmas," said Cassie Jacoby, the attraction's director of communications. "The volunteer design team selected classic and traditional holiday movies."
The dining room is a tribute to the 1985 film, "Out of Africa," a sweeping movie recounting the time author Isak Dinesen spent in Africa.
Designed by Lory Owens of Van~go Interiors in Winter Haven, the focal point of the room is a large framed photo of three people in a boat.
"The African sunrise picture was taken in Africa by a missionary that attended my church," Owens said. "The room design was inspired by my love of Africa, and a friend gave me the animal print shoe ornaments as a gift."
Passing through The Round Room, one imagines the dinner hour approaching with cooking utensils ready and the roasted turkey poised for serving. Illustrating the 1983 film, "A Christmas Story," the gifts under the tree include a Red Ryder BB gun.
Dianne Albertson and Loretta Stamps, owners of Seaside Sisters near Lake Wales, manage to create a tropical paradise and an Elvis sighting in Mr. Buck's office.
Their nod to "Blue Hawaii," the 1961 film starring Elvis Presley, features a tropical waterfall with blue and clear glass stones surrounded with lush foliage. Elvis's name is written in real sand.
"A teacher is at her desk dreaming about vacation. Her bags are packed," Albertson said, explaining their interpretation of the story.
In the Loggia — or library — one finds the simple elegance of Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 romantic comedy, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" created by the third professional design team, "B. Taylor's Expressions.
Designer Bethany Taylor presents elegant simplicity in black, silver and the Tiffany blue box.
In the living room, the volunteer design team re-creates the setting of the 1954 classic, "White Christmas," during which World War II army buddies reunite during a snowy evening.
Tables are set with white dishes, silver and wine glasses. Military uniform jackets and ladies furs are draped over chairs as a fire crackles in the fireplace.
A Christmas tree is covered with strands of pearls and red ornaments and topped with a snow angel.
Upstairs, volunteer designer Trudy Kirkland provides a taste of New England with "Christmas in Connecticut."
"It's like you are lying in bed looking out over the woods. It turned out beautiful," Kendall said.
Down the hall, Jenn Beam of White Dove Baskets adds a bit of romance to a room dedicated to the 2003 British romantic comedy "Love, Actually." This testimony to love and Christmas uses white feathers, snowflakes and snow balls with red ornaments, berries, and pillows to create the theme.
Following a ribbon of movie posters down the hall, one lands in Victorian England to find Dickinson's, "A Christmas Carol," a classic tale retold in numerous films.
Here, the imposing ghosts of Christmas past and future hover on either bedside of Ebenezer Scrooge. Nearby, the austere home of the Cratchit family represents the present Christmas.
"It's simple. It's tells the story," Kendall said.
Robinson, who has volunteered during the Pinewood holiday tours for about 10 years, said the event is just the experience to motivate folks to decorate their own homes.
"I hope they're going to see all the new ideas they can go back home and use. There are so many things they can do in their own homes," she said.
[ Donna Kelly can be reached at donna.kelly@newschief.com. ]
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