Candlelight at the Inn illuminates 1840s farm life
For just a few hours, slow down the rush of the holiday season.
Garfield Farm Museum’s open house, Candlelight at the Inn, offers a perfect antidote to the commercialism of a modern Christmas.
The museum in Campton Hills will be open from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 3-4.
The hospitality offered to travelers in the 19th century will come alive as volunteers demonstrate cooking over a hearth and other traditions of 1840s farm life, in restored buildings lit entirely by candlelight.
“This isn’t a Christmas themed event, but it recreates the atmosphere of a well-lit inn on a cold winter’s night,” said Jerome Johnson, executive director.
Candlelight at the Inn has been the most popular of the museum’s events for over 30 years, according to event organizers.
“This farm is where travelers used to seek shelter in the 19th century,” said Jerome Johnson, executive director. “So this open house exposes people to the farm and about 160 years of history.”
Shelter isn’t the only thing travelers would seek at the farm. The farm used to be a place where the town would hold meetings, dances and entertainment.
“The program is to demonstrate fully restored experiences throughout the farm,” Johnson said. “It teaches a lesson that explains, ‘Wow, I don’t need electricity to survive.’ ”
Volunteers will demonstrate how early settlers used to cook soup in a hearth and how to cook bread in a brick oven. There will be homemade fresh baked bread for sale.
“You have to be very skilled to cook in a hearth,” Johnson said. “Even though it’s kind of like a barbecue, it’s hard to get an exact temperature.”
The farm holds a lot of history about Christmas, too. When the farm used to be an inn, many settlers were from New England and weren’t too involved with the Christmas holiday.
“The settlers were more conservative so they kept Christmas minimal, but the Catholics would then bring the story of Scrooge,” said Johnson. “This time period really brought the revolution of Christmas.”
Candles and lanterns will light the way, and dulcimer music will fill the air as visitors explore two of the farm’s main buildings. The two farmsteads that compose the museum have a total of 26 structures, Johnson said.
“The period music that will be playing gives the whole day a 19th-century atmosphere,” Johnson said.
The 370-acre Garfield Farm Museum is a historically intact former 1840s Illinois prairie farmstead inn being restored by donors and volunteers from 37 states.
For information, call (630) 584-8485 or visit garfieldfarm.org.
Garfield Farm Museum is 5 miles west of Geneva off Route 38, at 3N016 Garfield Road in Campton Hills. Although admission is free, the museum accepts donations.
If you go
What: Candlelight at the Inn, an open house recreating the atmosphere of a well-lit 1840s inn on a cold winters night
When: 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 3-4
Where: Garfield Farm Museum, 3N016 Garfield Road, Campton Hills
How much? Free; donations accepted; baked goods for sale.
Details: (630) 584-8485; garfieldfarm.org