Explore a Merry Manor in Woonsocket

A Christmas village welcomes visitors in the foyer. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

It takes Larry Griffin and Richard Hallee-Griffin a full month to decorate their stately Italianate villa — dubbed Griffin Manor — in time for Christmas.  

Countless totes are brought out from the basement and attic, furniture is rearranged and stowed, curios are emptied, dusted and replaced with Christmas trinkets. It takes about a day or two to decorate each room — and when you have eight bedrooms, a formal living room, family room, dining room, library and back sunporch to decorate, well, it certainly adds up. 

The foyer. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

But when they’re done, almost every room of their Woonsocket manse absolutely glows with baubles, treasured heirlooms, elaborate Christmas trees, church bazaar finds, antiques, garlands, red bows and twinkling lights. 

“We don’t just throw up a tree and call it a day,” says Hallee-Griffin. 

Larry Griffin, left, and Richard Hallee-Griffin. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

They’ve been decorating like this since they started dating thirty-three years ago. (They’ve been married for ten and were the first gay couple in Woonsocket to receive a marriage license.) They trace their Christmas spirit back to their mothers, who both loved holiday and decked the halls to the hilt. 

They bought the home — built in 1846 for Woonsocket industrialist Lyman Arnold Cook — in 2014. It had been foreclosed upon, and needed some cosmetic work, but they were hooked on the opulent digs as soon as they stepped inside. 

“I walked in, saw the curved staircase and said, ‘I’m done. Just sign the paperwork. We’re good,’” says Hallee-Griffin. 

The exterior decorations are simple and traditional to enhance the architecture: Green wreaths adorn the windows, and sparkling garlands wind through the front of the home. Inside, the ornate grand staircase is strewn with garland, red bows and potted poinsettias on each step, while Christmas village homes line the foyer, complete with miniature villagers, horse-drawn carriages, streetlamps and snowmen. 

The “winter wonderland” room. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

Each room usually has a theme and a coordinating, full-size Christmas tree. (At last count, they had nine large trees and several smaller ones scattered throughout the house.) One of their favorites is the “memory” tree in the formal living room that commemorates their life together. Every ornament holds a special meaning: some they buy together, some are souvenirs plucked from the streets of Turkey or Greece, some are given by friends.

The formal living room and “memory” tree. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

The grand dining room. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

A tree festooned with tiny teacups lords over the grand dining room, a reminder of their early days. Hallee-Griffin had just graduated college, and Griffin had just been laid off, so money was tight. But Hallee-Griffin really wanted a second Christmas tree, so he found some teacups around the house and some cheap ones at thrift stores and used them as ornaments. They kept adding more throughout the years, and so did family and friends.

“People would come in and fall in love with it and then show up on our doorstep, ring the doorbell and say, ‘Here. This was my grandmother’s teacup. I want you to have it for your tree,’” Hallee-Griffin says. 

It’s flocked with pears, holly sprigs and pinecones — just how a tree would have been decorated in the early 1800s, simply and with things gathered from around the home and yard.

Santa figures in the hangout room. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

A “diversity” tree — strung with Pride ornaments, jazz musicians and a mini leather saddle from Colombia — holds court in the hangout room, along with a bevy of Santa figures, big and small, standing tall, nestled over the door frames, in rich golden robes and the more standard red, white and black outfit. 

A life-size Santa Claus. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

Griffin’s Christmas collection of Lenox pieces takes up an entire curio cabinet, while Mikasa and porcelain angels are strewn throughout the house. 

“We need somebody to watch over us,” Griffin says. 

More than 165 nutcrackers ring the library. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

More than 165 nutcrackers decorate the library, a collection Hallee-Griffin started as a teenager with a simple purchase in Germany. It now rubs wooden shoulders with his grandfather’s hand-painted Magi statues, a 6½-foot-tall model that looks like a terracotta statue, a light-up crystal nutcracker and hundreds of others lovingly gathered throughout the years. 

The “Christmas traditions” room with a Nativity scene that belonged to Hallee-Griffin’s mother. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

The decorations will come down in mid-January, but before then the couple will cap off the Christmas season with their annual New Year’s Eve party to share the home and its treasures with friends and loved ones. 

“We love showing this off to all of our friends. We see the smiles on their faces, and it makes us feel good,” Hallee-Griffin says. “It’s thirty-three years of love.”

Griffins stand sentry outside the home. Photography by Wolf Matthewson