The historic rooms of The Ellwood House sparkled with holiday decorations and cheer this weekend.

The house, 509 N. First Street, was once home to Harriet and Issac Ellwood and is open to the public for tours. This past weekend, the rooms of the house featured festive decorations by some local businesses.

Besides giving visitors the opportunity to tour the historic Ellwood mansion with much of its original furniture and fixtures, the event also featured live holiday music, complementary refreshments in the Visitor Center’s Hearthside Room, as well as Santa Claus, live and complete with magic sleigh.

Attendees can also visit The Ellwood House’s gift shop, which is stocked with holiday gifts and handcrafted decorations and ornaments.

“It’s a great way to start the Christmas season,” said Bernard Engh, volunteer tour guide with the program for 16 years.

Tour guide Rodney Borstad said the house was built in 1874 by the Ellwood family after Issac Ellwood became a partner in Joseph Glidden’s barbed wire business. The house was passed on through three generations until it was finally donated to the city.

It was made into a museum by an early group of volunteers, who began hosting the Ellwood Elegance event 40 years ago.

“The event was only one day,” said museum director Gerry Brauer. “I think it was only one afternoon.”

Since then, it has grown into a two-weekend holiday extravaganza, with area businesses decorating different rooms of the house. Brauer said some of the businesses involved this year are Target, Wal-Mart, Kohl’s Department Store, Glidden Campus Florist and Kishwaukee YMCA.

Other businesses and organizations involved include the Kishwaukee College floral design class, Altrusa Club of DeKalb/Sycamore, Cracker Jax, DeKalb Park District, TAILS Humane Society and Celebration Events.

“Twenty years ago most of [the stores involved] were small, local businesses, Lincoln Highway businesses, but with the development out on Sycamore Road and the big box stores and all that coming in, we have less and less of these small, local jewelry stores,” Brauer said. “We depend more on the bigger merchants too.”

Some of the bigger stores involved provide incentives for their employees who decorate a room, Brauer said. Businesses like Wal-Mart give money to The Ellwood House for the hours their employees spend decorating.

“They essentially pay for the volunteer time of their employees,” Brauer said.

Money donated to the House, as well as all the proceeds from the event, go toward running The Ellwood House Museum, a non-profit organization.