The lights still shine brightly in Gonzales, illuminating the homes, the history, and the holiday traditions.

Almost two hundred years of Christmas tradition await visitors to the fascinating little city that is the heartland of Texas history—Gonzales. Dressed in their holiday splendor, these three historic homes are just the beginning of the Gonzales holiday celebration of history. This season, over a dozen fully restored homes, churches, and public buildings of Gonzales will fling open their doors to greet the season, share their history, and celebrate the holiday.

Noted architect J. Riely Gordon designed the youngest “old home” of the featured trio, the C.E. Dilworth House. The intricately detailed, wrought iron gates frame the full magnificence of the 1912 Greek Revival masterpiece. The home, now a small, luxurious inn, is breathtaking. The rounded portico, the crowning glory of the massive, Ionic-columned gallery, beckons the passerby. The impressive sweep of the porch steps and the curved drive invite the visitor to linger, caught in an illusion of a moment frozen in time. But step through the leaded-glass entryway, and the dynamic style of the current owners instantly tells one that this is more than a fleeting glimpse of the past.

The owners, Clint Hille and Richard Tiller, purchased their Belle Oaks Inn in 2000 and began their painstaking efforts to restore this Southern treasure. Amazingly, less than a year later, they had restored the home to her turn-of-the-century grandeur. They revived the elegance that is the very essence of the home, and of their own style of decorating and entertaining. Finally, after enduring years of abandonment and neglect, and surviving a savage division into nursing-staff living quarters, Belle Oaks is enjoying the attention she deserves. The sounds of string quartets, carols from the piano, and lots of laughter mingle with the enticing aromas of the delectable dishes created in the kitchen. Elegant weddings and receptions, glorious galas, and dramatic dinners once again fill her evening hours.

Guests at Belle Oaks gather on the gleaming marble parquet floors of the elegant entry. They pass the garland-laden staircase and enter the comfort of the beautifully appointed drawing room. Should visitors tire of the sparkling tree, another feast for the eyes awaits in the dining room. The mahogany sideboard and the 14-foot banquet table, both made in the 1850s, are set with Waterford crystal, Mori china, and Francis the First silver. The chandelier, now sparkling above the table settings, was added during the 1960s renovation and hung in the entry hall when Clint and Richard purchased the property. The rich earth tones of the Schumacher fabrics and Van Luit wallpaper perfectly complement the original brown-glazed brick of the fireplace surround. The magnificent mantel had long been banished to the attic in pieces when the nearby Warm Springs Rehabilitation Hospital converted the home into dormitory housing. In a room so steeped in beauty, it is hard to steal the show; but the huge and handsome festooned steer head above the sideboard manages to do just that. Striking just the perfect blend of the traditional and the surprising makes this dining room absolutely unforgettable, like Belle Oaks herself.

Just a few doors away, and celebrating its 115th Christmas this December, is the Victorian Italianate Charles T. Rather House. Built in 1892, the pristine exterior is still spreading Christmas cheer far and wide—just like the turn-of-the-century Christmas card it calls to mind. The original Victorian interior has been carefully preserved by a long list of notable preservation-conscious owners, including longtime personal secretary of Lyndon Johnson and descendant of the Rather family, Mary Rather. The current owners, Barbara and Richard Crozier, found the call to continue those preservation efforts irresistible. In 1988 they decided the Rather House was the perfect spot to start their new life together and grow their collection of 19th-century antiques.

The gleaming longleaf pine wainscoting, floors, window-and-door casements, and the intricacy of Victorian decoration on the walnut staircase now blend seamlessly with Parisian chandeliers, gilt mirrors, and Belter furnishings. Barbara, an antique dealer by profession, favors early 19th-century American furnishings for their home. She laughingly confesses she is certain Richard married her for her “antique connections.” The Rather House of today is a great marriage of the superb 1960s restoration by Margaret and John Hornbuckle of Houston and the commitment of the Croziers to historic detail in their continuing restoration efforts.

However, at Christmas it is not the gleaming woodwork or the period furnishings and fixtures of the Rather House that take center stage—it is the Christmas. Barbara has always been a little Christmas-nutty and transforms not only her home, but also her entire antique shop, into a Christmas wonderland every year. The fancy, trendy decorations one can purchase in a store are not what make Christmas at the Rather House something special. Here, the mementos of Christmases past—the things that bring us all full circle in our holiday celebrations—are the true treasures.

Crossing the threshold into the central hall, guests are greeted by an entire tree of stunning ornaments, hand-beaded decades ago by Barbara and her mother. Angels herald the season from over a gloriously garlanded mirror, reflecting a treasured nativity Barbara’s mother fashioned from scraps of paper and bits of lace and cloth.

Stepping into the parlor, one is captivated by the towering twelve-foot tree glowing in the bay window and its dazzling image artfully reflected in the massive French mirror in the dining room. The tree is laden with a lifetime’s collection of blown-glass ornaments. Each ornament, carefully nestled in the tree’s branches, captures a Christmas memory in the brightness of a bauble. The crimson color of the silk on the rosewood parlor furniture takes on a holiday glow in the reflection of the thousands of shimmering lights on the tree.

The tree’s reflection draws visitors to the dining room, where they can almost believe it is Christmas 1892. The candles flicker. A period gasolier glows above the Empire dining table, shimmering on the silver of the Victorian venison dome. Caught in the mesmerizing magic of the moment, one realizes exactly why the Rather House continues to draw friends, family, and even former owners home for the holidays.

Recalling 140 Texas Christmases, The John Fauth Cottage sings a delightful new refrain this Christmas. The fanciful, Gothic-inspired cottage, built in 1867 by German-emigrant craftsman, John Fauth, is now a delightful bed and breakfast “cottage rental.” Thanks to the resolve of current owners Bill and Mayron Cole, visitors from far and wide can celebrate Christmas in this picture-perfect example of cottage style in early Texas.

Although certainly the most daunting of their restoration projects, The Fauth Cottage is not the first house the Coles have restored in Gonzales. In the spring of 2001, Mayron, a Gonzales native, and her husband, Bill, came home to Gonzales and purchased a lovely raised cottage built on the property originally owned by her great-grandfather, Edward Dickinson. That cottage, known as the Remschel House, was their first restoration. It sits directly across the street from the fanciful Fauth Cottage and will open in celebration of its 100th anniversary for the 2007 Holiday Tour of Historic Homes in Gonzales. 

Throughout the months of the Remschel House restoration and the early years of the Coles’ new “old house” life, the Fauth Cottage sat abused and deteriorating into a wretched state. The once lovely little cottage had been restored in the 1960s by the Boothe family, who also restored what is now Belle Oaks. But as with Belle Oaks, the passage of time had not been kind. The cottage, barely cobbled together for several decades, was on the verge of collapse when Mayron succumbed to the allure of rescuing it. The house you see today has survived because of the skills of its 19th-century German-emigrant craftsman and the passion for restoration of its 21st-century owners.

As is typical of a Texas cottage, one enters through a central hallway. The 14-foot ceilings of this entry hall create a surprising and almost dizzying sense of space, and are dramatically showcased by the stunning addition of bronzed metal ceilings and a massive cornice. The impact of the unusually high ceilings echoes throughout the cottage; and its tall, slender windows and doorways heighten the effect.
The “raised roof” kitchen of the cottage highlights the true personality of the house and the flamboyant style of its owners. This magnificent room was nothing more than a crumbling simple box with an 8-foot ceiling. The Coles have dramatically transformed the room into a stunning new space while carefully protecting its historic elements. The entire kitchen and all the things in it gleam with new life. Vintage ironing boards hang on the walls as art. Cowboy boots pose as Christmas vases on the “newly made” old mantel. The mantel board, along with the wood of the table and all the kitchen cabinets, are fashioned from the wood of a tumbled shed that was removed from the back of the house. The shoddy shed that long obscured the back porch’s beautiful expanse was constructed of perfectly preserved longleaf pine.

The reclaimed pine is just one of the many gifts from the original construction that emerged during this massive restoration. The fabulous fireplace was completely reconstructed from a pile of brick discovered underneath the house. The Coles didn’t waste any time replacing the fireplace that had occupied the same spot when they discovered “what must have been ten thousand of pounds of brick supported by one very wobbly legged little table beneath the house.” The Fauth Cottage, just like the wobbly-legged little table, had apparently been barely holding on—and counting its Christmases until the Coles came along to save them.  

These three jewels of Texas Christmas—The Fauth Cottage, The Rather House, and Belle Oaks Inn—reflect the history of Texas and the inspired Texan inhabitants committed to their preservation. They stand as tangible evidence of Gonzales’s spellbinding past, but also illuminate a future filled with the hopes and dreams of the intrepid, imaginative, resourceful people who live, love, and celebrate Christmas in them.