In the Spirit of Christmas Past

It’s Christmas 1933 at Rancho Los Alamitos, and everyone’s invited. Fresh garlands decorate the Bixby family’s elegant hilltop home, ranch hands are gathered around a fire, and supper is on the stove.

OK, it’s not 1933 and there isn’t room for everyone. But at Rancho Los Alamitos and at least nine other historic homes, the holidays belie the stereotype that Southern California has no historical heritage.

So, if an old-fashioned holiday sounds like your cup of eggnog, check out the homes that are throwing open their doors and receiving visitors to Christmases past.

Long Beach

Guests of Rancho Los Alamitos’ “New Deal: Christmas 1933” will dine on navy bean and chicken soup, go caroling outside the Bixby home, visit the barnyard animals and mingle with the “family” members (actors donning gay apparel) and their guests.

In preparation for the holidays, details from the family’s history were incorporated, which is why the top of the Christmas tree is chopped off. It seems that Fred Bixby had a penchant for picking trees that were too tall for the house.

The ranch, now a historic landmark, was acquired by John Bixby in 1878. He and son Fred built the current house around an existing adobe.

By 1933, Fred Bixby’s five children and their families would have gathered at the rancho to celebrate

Christmas, along with the ranch hands and their families, who were always included in the gift-giving, according to spokesman C.J. Derby. (Descendants gave the rancho to the city of Long Beach in 1968.)

Because visitors are secluded from the suburban sprawl that surrounds the property, it will be easy to overlook that the time is anything but December 1933. But, even though guests would stay the night in those days (travel was less expeditious than it is today), that’s one tradition that visitors to the “New Deal” Christmas won’t get to experience.

* “New Deal: Christmas 1933,” $20 (includes dinner); seniors, $17.50; ages 2 to 12, $15. Tonight and Friday at 6 p.m., Sunday at 1:45 p.m. Rancho Los Alamitos Historic Ranch and Gardens, 6400 Bixby Hill Road, Long Beach. Reservations required: (562) 431-3541.

Industry

Although Christmas traditions as we know them today were widely celebrated across the country by the 1920s, the early pioneers knew little of holiday punch bowls and presents. The William Workman family would have gone to church and had a nice dinner in their 1870s Victorian home, and that would have been about the extent of their Christmas “celebration,” said Max van Balgooy, spokesman for the Homestead Museum.

Holiday traditions that immigrants carried from Germany, England and Holland influenced the way most Americans celebrated Christmas. The English were gift-givers, the Germans decorated their trees and the Dutch introduced St. Nicholas.

In the 1920s, when Workman’s grandson Walter Temple and his family built Casa Nueva next door, “they would have had a Christmas tree, exchanged gifts and invited lots of family and friends; it would have been a big party,” Balgooy said.

On Sunday, “A Southern California Christmas” will depict significant periods of life on the homestead, from the 1830s to the 1930s. Tours of the decorated Temple mansion, family activities, period music and refreshments are planned.

* “A Southern California Christmas,” Homestead Museum, 15415 E. Don Julian Road, Industry. Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Free admission. On the Web: https://www.homestead museum.org. (626) 968-8492.

Pasadena

Few of the legendary Millionaire’s Row mansions along Orange Grove Boulevard remain, so touring the stately Fenyes Mansion at any time is a treat. On Sunday, the 1905 home celebrates “An Edwardian Christmas,” the Pasadena Historical Museum’s annual holiday open house.

Though it’s not clear exactly how Eva Fenyes, family matriarch and patron of the arts, celebrated the holidays, judging from her history--and her home--it had to have been the talk of the town.

“Mrs. Fenyes was horribly rich,” said Robert Winter, a retired history professor from Occidental College and a Pasadena Historical Museum board member. “I doubt if [the Fenyeses] were particularly religious, but it was probably a real celebration.”

Pasadena was a Protestant settlement, and Protestants didn’t celebrate Christmas, Winter said, until roughly the turn of the century, when it became more of a commercial--and therefore secular--holiday.

The Fenyes mansion, a sprawling Beaux Arts house with large rooms and high ceilings, is filled with the family’s original furnishings and belongings. Most of the downstairs is decorated for the traditional Edwardian Christmas, occasionally incorporating some of Eva Fenyes’ own holiday decorations (including a set of foot-tall Wise Men).

The dining room table will be laden with holiday treats (luncheons, prepared at the house, can also be scheduled). Music, a children’s ornament workshop and a wedding gown exhibit are also planned, along with traditions representing a Finnish country Christmas (Eva Fenyes’ granddaughter married the Finnish consul).

* “An Edwardian Christmas,” Fenyes Mansion, 470 W. Walnut St., Pasadena. Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. $10 (includes refreshments). Space is limited; reservations are required by Friday: (626) 577-1660.

Los Angeles

It’s Christmastime in the city as Heritage Square Museum hosts its annual Lamplight Tours. Once destined for demolition, a dozen or so historic buildings have been moved to Heritage Square in Highland Park by the L.A. Cultural Heritage Board since 1969. The resulting collection of Victorian homes, a church and a railroad depot represent life in Los Angeles from 1865 to 1914.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, the square returns to the holiday season in 1899. The Hale and Perry houses will be open for tours, followed by refreshments in the Palms Depot. Winter, the former history professor, said Hale House was one of the finest houses in Los Angeles when it was built in 1887.

“You’ll notice the tower at the corner of the Hale house,” Winter added. “I’ve never figured out why people built those towers, except to have a Christmas tree.”

* Lamplight Tours, Heritage Square Museum, 3800 Homer St., Los Angeles. $15. 6:30 p.m. Reservations required; no children younger than 12. (626) 796-2898, Ext. 225.

Lake Forest

A Candlelight Tour will illuminate the history of Heritage Hill Historical Park on Saturday. Four historic structures represent a time span from the Mexican ranchos to the beginning of the citrus boom in Orange County.

One of them, the Serrano Adobe, built in 1863 by Don Jose Serrano, is one of five original homes built on the 10,600-acre Rancho Canada los Alisos and the only one remaining. Later, the adobe was home to the Whiting family, which helped settle El Toro.

Another house on the tour is the Bennett Ranch House, built in 1908 for a family that pioneered in the development of the navel orange. It is the only turn-of-the-century ranch house left in the city, now called Lake Forest.

The other two structures on the tour are St. George’s Episcopal Mission (circa 1891) and a one-room schoolhouse (circa 1890).

On Saturday, luminarias will light the way to the past. Entertainment will coincide with the history of each building, including a flamenco guitarist and dancer in the adobe, dulcimer and guitar players in the ranch house and storytelling in the schoolhouse. Carolers will stroll the grounds in period costumes; holiday groups, including a hand bell choir, sign-language choir and a high school choir, will set the tone for the evening tour.

* Candlelight Tour, Heritage Hill Historical Park, 25151 Serrano Road, Lake Forest. Saturday, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Adults, $3; ages 3 to 12, $2. (949) 855-2028.

Santa Fe Springs

Tucked within a business complex in Santa Fe Springs, Heritage Park is an oasis of California history surrounded by the modern Heritage Corporate Center. Heritage Park was the original site of Patricio Ontiveros’ family adobe, built after his father escorted the first 44 settlers to Los Angeles in the late 1700s. Only the ruins of the house remain, but other structures have been restored, mainly ranch buildings constructed in the 1880s by wealthy farmer Eli Hawkins.

Meet at the Heritage Park windmill for Las Posadas on Wednesday, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. In keeping with the park’s Mexican influences, entertainers will include Mariachi Tlaquepaque and Ballet Folklorico de Carolina Russek.

* Heritage Park, 12100 Mora Drive, Santa Fe Springs (look for the windmill). Wednesday, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Admission is free. (562) 946-6476.

Riverside

The Victorian mansion dubbed Heritage House will open its doors for an annual Christmas open house on Sunday. The home, with its carved oak stairway, marble counter tops and furnishings custom-made for the ivory and gold-leaf parlor, was a predominant feature on Magnolia Avenue in 1891.

L.A. architect John Walls, known for elaborate Queen Anne-style buildings, designed the showplace for Catherine Bettner, widow of prominent citrus grower James Bettner. In 1969, the home was purchased by Riverside Museum Associates and donated to the Riverside Municipal Museum as a restored and authentic tribute to the orange growers of the 1890s.

The house, decorated the way it would have been 100 years ago, will come alive with holiday music and free refreshments for the annual open house. Entertainers will perform in the music room; Father Christmas will greet youngsters.

* Christmas Open House, Heritage House, 8193 Magnolia Ave., Riverside. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. (909) 782-5273.

Redlands

Various periods significant to the San Gabriel Mission’s Asistencia adobe will be reenacted at “Ben Barton’s Christmas Past” on Sunday. Asistencia was built in 1819 (and originally called Estancia) as an outpost of the Mission San Gabriel’s Rancho San Bernardino. It was home to assorted owners, including Mormon Bishop Nathan C. Tenney (Mormons established the city and county of San Bernardino) and, in the mid-1800s, Dr. Benjamin Barton.

In 1925, the building was in ruins when the county and San Bernardino Historical Society bought it from the Barton family. The adobe, restored and renamed Asistencia, was designated a California Historic Landmark.

For the Christmas program, people representing the 1840s and 1850s, and someone portraying Barton will give demonstrations and discuss their histories in the courtyard. Shop for holiday crafts or watch the demonstrations of adobe repair. Refreshments are available and a Mexican lunch will be sold for $2.50.

* “Ben Barton’s Christmas Past,” Asistencia, 26930 Barton Road, Redlands. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Adults, $2; ages 12 and younger, $1 (refreshments included). Information: (909) 793-5402.

San Diego

Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of California, held the first documented Christmas pageant in San Diego in 1838, a forerunner to Las Posadas. Celebrate Las Posadas on Friday at 6 p.m., beginning at Heritage Park Victorian village and ending at Old Town State Historic Park. Old Town is considered the birthplace of California, where Father Junipero Serra established the first of 221 missions in 1769, the same year he said the first Christmas Mass.

Among the park buildings decorated for the holidays is Casa de Estudillo, built in 1833. The adobe home is furnished and decorated to look similar to the way the Estudillos, a wealthy Mexican family with a houseful of kids, would have had it. A priest will hold court in the chapel. Other early-1800s holiday festivities will take place throughout both parks. On Friday, children can get passport stamps from each of the historic buildings in Old Town, then turn them in for gifts at the Wells Fargo Museum.

At Heritage Park, some of the Victorian homes will be open both days. On Saturday, Mrs. Claus will serve tea.

Also on Saturday, Hanukkah activities are planned in the Robinson-Rose House. The Rose family, who bought the home from the Robinsons in 1868, was the first Jewish family to settle in San Diego.

* Holiday in the Park, Old Town San Diego and Heritage Park, San Diego. Friday and Saturday, 6 to 9 p.m. Free. Information: (619) 293-0117 or (619) 220-5422. Saturday, noon to 2 p.m. Tea with Mrs. Claus is $15; seating is limited, so call for reservations: (619) 294-4600.

Oxnard

Oxnard’s history as an agricultural hotbed is preserved in Heritage Square, home to 15 historic structures dating to 1876. The buildings, moved to a city block bound by 7th and 8th and A and B streets, offer a glimpse into the lives of Oxnard pioneers, whose existence depended on beans, beets and barley.

Five of the houses at the square are open for tours during the Victorian Christmas on Saturday and Sunday. Using the theme “Winter Holidays Around the World,” each house depicts holiday traditions familiar to the pioneer families. Groups from the German, French, Mexican, Filipino and Scandinavian communities have contributed to the authentic decorations and traditional displays.

In keeping with the multicultural theme, entertainers will include a Scottish bagpiper and the Inlakech Ballet Folklorico.

* Victorian Christmas House Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Heritage Square, 715 S. A St., Oxnard. $8 (includes refreshments). Information: (805) 483-7960.

Much More to Do

* Parades, lights, crafts and other activities for the holidays. Page 49.