“I decorate our home for every major holiday,” says homeowner Renee Stout. Christmas, though, is special — and you’ll know it the moment you pass the rustic, restored working sleigh in Stout’s front yard. This particular piece resided in the Crestwood Commons Schnucks lobby for years, until Stout convinced the owner to sell it! Now, it’s the first indication that, for the Stouts, Christmas is more than a mere day. “It’s a feeling,” Stout says. “A scurry extending from Thanksgiving weekend into the New Year.”  

Turn your fireplace into an eye-catching focal point in the room with seasonal flourishes. SLHL asked three local design shops to put their spin on mantel décor in a beautiful custom-designed home in Creve Couer by SR Homes. With only 30 minutes to dress up the space, the results are astounding. Ribbons, bows, garland and ornaments transform the mantel from everyday to Santa’s workshop.

Neal Thompson and John Wallace love to entertain during the holidays. Each year, the couple hosts a party for more than 100 family and friends. Taking in the festive décor that cheerfully fills their three-story Soulard home, first-time guests would never guess that Neal and John tore the place down to the studs and have spent more than 24 years renovating the home from the ground up.

Jim and Ashley Souers collect Santas. Not the traditional variety immortalized by Clement Clarke Moore. Instead, one-of-a-kind figures of all sizes, each hand-crafted and uniquely portrayed by artisans the couple has discovered during their extensive travels. 

For this engaging duo, the winter holidays are a highpoint of the year, and decorating their magnificent residence in Ladue for the season is an art form that takes weeks of preparation. 

Englishman Henry Shaw came to St. Louis in 1819 when he was 19 years old and sold hardware along the riverfront before moving into property management and lending, too. “He made a massive amount of money,” says Missouri Botanical Garden Historical Interpretation Specialist Tyler Nowell. Shaw used some of it to travel — mostly through Europe, where the Kew gardens in London inspired him to grow something similarly striking back home.