Get into holiday spirit at the Victorian House Museum in Millersburg

If during the next seven weeks you find yourself craving an antidote to the stress of shopping for the latest bank-account-breaking gadgets and taking your credit cards to the limit, "Holidays at the Mansion" at the Victorian House Museum in Millersburg could be just the right medicine.

"Holidays at the Mansion" opens with a lighting ceremony and tours from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, and runs through Saturday, Dec. 31.

For the past nine years, the 28-room mansion, completed in 1902 and featured in Victorian Homes Magazine and on HGTV's "Victorian America," has been swathed in holiday splendor thanks to Millersburg-area decorators.

The original character of the mansion -- glowing hardwood floors, fanciful fireplaces and old-fashioned lighting -- gets done up to remind us of children nestled in their beds with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads, figgy pudding, carolers and other romantic images associated with Christmases of old.

When: The event begins with a free lighting ceremony and tours, 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. After that, the mansion is open daily for self-guided tours, 1-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 1-8 p.m. Friday and Sunday, through Saturday, Dec. 31. Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Admission: $8, adults; $7, seniors 65 and older; $3, students; free; children 12 and younger.

"This started out small and has grown over the years," says Mark Boley, director of the Holmes County Historical Society. The society owns the mansion, which was built by steel industrialist L.H. Brightman, a father of 12 who had 56 patents when he passed away.

Each room will have a unique holiday flavor. The ballroom will feature the ceramic Santa collection of Greg Oswald of Millersburg. For many years Oswald's father, Marvin, hand-painted themed ceramic Santas as a hobby.

"They are very intricately painted," says the younger Oswald, who is a pharmacist. For example, he adds, the Scottish Santa wears plaid, and painting the kilt required a steady hand.

Every year his father painted custom Santas, from 7 to 12 inches tall, as gifts. There will be about 40 of them displayed in the ballroom.

"I know I'm a little prejudiced," Oswald says of the Santas painted by his father. "But everyone who sees them is impressed by them."