LUCAS — The magic of Christmas is returning to Malabar Farm State Park.
Malabar Farm’s Candlelight Tours offer guests a chance to stroll through “The Big House,” cheerfully decorated in holiday garb.
The home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author and conservationist Louis Bromfield is open for self-guided tours Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 13 from 5 to 8 p.m. and Dec. 7 and 14 from 1 to 4 p.m.
Volunteers will be onsite to answer questions and offer historical information on the rooms. Cookies and hot drinks will be available at the end of the tour.
Entry costs $6 for adults and $4 for children. Tickets are available for purchase at the park’s visitor center.
The tours will also feature live Christmas music performed from 5 to 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Malabar Farm boasts history and old Hollywood connections
Before it became a state park, Malabar Farm was the home of Louis Bromfield, a pioneer of conservation and Pulitzer-prize winning author.
His home, which he nicknamed “The Big House,” began as a small farmhouse and was later enlarged to a 32 room home.
The house blends several architectural styles. Bromfield furnished it mostly with French-style paintings and antiques from his world travels.
The house was always full of local and out of town guests, and home to various pets, including a rowdy batch of boxer dogs.
Malabar Farm even became the site of a celebrity wedding when Hollywood Golden Age actors Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall tied the knot there in 1945. Bromfield served as best man and the couple spent their honeymoon on the farm.
