A DAY AT ROGERS' CHRISTMAS
HOUSE VILLAGE & GIFT SHOP
By Ann Chapman
July 27, 2006
Imagine Christmas every day and the fun you could have.
Rogers' Christmas House began as a dream by Margaret Ghitto Rogers. She started her business in her father's downtown department store on Main Street right in the heart of Historic Brooksville. (You can see a picture of the spot by clicking here then look over on the right. This photo was taken before the department store was built. At present the spot looks like this - click here - and occupies 7, 11 and 15 N. Main Street). After being in business for a while she opened up her own store which to begin with was just opened from fall until Christmas.
Mrs. Ghitto's dream was achieved the 1980's when she moved an 1887 Victorian home to the village and refurbished the Carriage House. In all, five houses are now on the property which is currently Rogers' Christmas House Village & Gift Shop.
The Rogers family ran the business until 2006 at which time the business was purchased by Donna Jones from Weeki Wachee Florida, which is about 9 miles from the Christmas House. Ms. Jones' dream is to continue running the business as always and adding a modern twist to the village with more in the children's line and in home décor, but, says Ms. Jones, Christmas will always be the most important part of the business.
Imagine the excitement walking up to the Main House, opening the door and seeing two 9 foot tall white Christmas trees on either side of the fire place. One is trimmed in all gold decorations while the other tree is trimmed all in silver. They are absolutely breathtaking to see. I'm told the main room will be adding 3 new trees plus many more new items and that's just the first room. The excitement grows as you walk through the house. Fontanini Nativities are in the second room, Christopher Radko ornaments in third room and there are still more trees with more themes throughout. As we move to another room, still in the first house, we see holiday candles and beautiful Christmas table linens decorating yet another lovely area… your imagination is the limit as to how many different combinations you can pick and choose from to arrange the perfect storybook holiday setting you have always dreamed possible. This brings us to the second of our five houses…
The Storybook house is the second house of the tour. The hall is painted in a forest theme with storybook characters painted on the walls. The first thing a visitor sees is a faux seven foot tall Santa and sleigh mural on the wall facing the entryway. The house hosts the famous upside-down tree trimmed all in Santa decorations. They have plush stuffed animal, children's books and games. The newest additions to this area are "Web-Kins" of Webkinz World fame. The Memorial tree is also located in this house with the theme being our veterans - both active and past. It is a must see serving as a reminder that our wonderful freedom at home and in the world is due to the heroic efforts of our veterans earned by their valiant and continued efforts here and overseas. This house also has many new trees planned in the next months of 2006. From the back porch on the way to the Cottage (our next stop in the tour) you can see parts of the beautiful grounds and outdoor Christmas displays surrounding Rogers' Christmas House and Village.
The next house is the Cottage. The theme of this house is decidedly tropical with two palm trees that are decorated - of course - in the spirit of Christmas! You get a warm feeling entering the next rooms with a country cottage theme.
We now move towards the Magnolia House - the fourth house in the village. Again, your breath is taken away by the gorgeous green tree trimmed in burgundy which is located there in the front room as you enter. There is yet another tree in the dining room; white 7 feet tall and trimmed with Egyptian glass ornaments in many colors. Plans are in the making for this house to be getting more trees also. There are several rooms in this house with beautiful home décor, crystal decorative accessories and variety of lamps. What a delightful surprise it is for the first time visitor to see that they also have a butler's pantry and a kitchen with wonderful and unique functional and beautifully decorated kitchen gadgets of every kind, cookbooks, and of course - in the making - a kitchen theme Christmas Tree will also be added soon. What fun!
The fifth house on you tour is the Little House Under the Oak with all the Christmas lights one could ever image and the Department 56 Villages, Snow Babies and much more.
We now enter into this last but not least area of the village where the collectables are located. Again you are delightfully surprised by these further additions to the already great variety of displays of collectables. Both Christmas and home décor items are elegantly displayed here in perfect harmony and with great taste. To name a few these displays include Fenton Glass, Anri, Hummel's, Swarovski Crystals, and many other attractive pieces created just for your pleasure.
In all our shopping trip took about 2 hours, and it filled my head with great ideas for Christmas and every gift I need to buy PLUS cool stuff for me too. At Rogers' Christmas House and Village you will find a wonderful group of ladies on staff willing to help you with your plans for a new tree, wreaths, garlands, decorations, linens etc., ready to help you fulfill your desire of realizing your perfect holiday decorating dreams... (and remember Creative Porch and Garden for the organics to help your garden grow.)
Rogers' Christmas House and Village is most certainly a must see for anyone visiting Florida. Once you leave Rogers' be certain to head directly across the parking area to The Paper Porch for Waterford Crystal, a huge selection of Vera Bradley bags, and some fine jewelry too. There too you'll find Westover's Flowers and a lovely award winning fine restaurant called Mallie Kylas. We'll be seeing you! Thanks for visiting the Rogers' Christmas House Store Information page. Please be certain to come by and visit us soon! We're here every day but Chrismas and Thanksgiving!
This is most certainly a must see for anyone visiting Florida.
About the Author: Ann and Bill Chapman were residents of Florida committed to managing Rogers' Christams House, Village & Gift Shop. Their tireless work preserving, restoring, expanding, implementing new ideas and improving Rogers' Christmas House has been one of the most remarkable things to happen in Brooksville in the past five years and their work in the Brooksville Business Alliance and in supporting our organization with pertinent information, professional level photojournalist quality photography for portions of this web site and great ideas are most appreciated. The Rogers' web site is
http://www.rogerschristmashouse.com. Bill and Ann are no longer here in Florida, but their efforts and kind good hearted personalities will always be remembered by their many friends who loved them both. Bill and Ann, if you read this - Thank You! You made a difference!
