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SUFFIELD — Connecticut florist Ruth Loiseau knows our nation’s most storied home intimately. It’s her floral style that sets the stage every year for the holiday season as part of the White House decorating team. Starting with the Reagan administration, her decor has made its way through the entire White House from the West Wing to the State Room. It’s a job she’s held for nearly three decades.
“I was able to get this position indirectly through my mother, who had her own flower shop. I followed in her footsteps and went to school for floral design to learn her craft,” said Loiseau. “A mutual contact eventually got the job of White House florist. I volunteered for her and from there it’s history.”
The White House is typically decorated like a museum. However, Loiseau’s approach includes grouping flowers into 3-5 batches to ensure that the centerpiece truly pops. Every year, the White House uses a theme to decorate for the holidays. Loiseau likes to use monochromatic room décor. For instance, in a red room, decorate with red roses, ranunculus, etc.
Loiseau’s keen eye will be put to use at Suffield’s Phelps-Hatheway House Garden this holiday season to commemorate Homes for the Holidays Suffield. Connecticut Landmarks’ Phelps-Hatheway House Garden presents a special Holiday Preview Party on Friday, December 7th, from 5:30 to 7 pm. Décor by Loiseau, in partnership with members of the Suffield Garden Club, features an array of fresh flowers and foraged local greens and materials, which will transform the Phelps-Hatheway House into a holiday wonderland.
The evening will begin with a champagne punch and toast, followed by a private reception from 6 to 9 pm across the street at Julia Roberts’ (formerly Emma Fuller’s) 1824 house at 60 South Main Street and Janet and Dave Leishman’s 1767 house at 78 South Main Street. Luminaria will light the entry to these homes, which will be decorated by members of the Suffield Garden Club and offer wine, heavy hors d’oeuvres and a dessert display.
Homes for the Holidays Suffield is sponsored by First Niagara Private Client Services, the First National Bank of Suffield and Highland Park Market. Tickets are $50; proceeds benefit the Phelps-Hatheway House Garden. For tickets, contact Jamie-Lynn Fontaine at (860) 247-8996 x23 or jamie.fontaine@ctlandmarks.org. Ticket to the event includes re-entry on Saturday or Sunday.
On Saturday and Sunday, December 8th and 9th from 12 to 5 pm, tour the Phelps-Hatheway House Garden and the two private homes at 60 and 78 South Main Street. Tickets are $15, children 6-18: $10 (children under 6 Free). The weekend will also feature a Holiday Greens Boutique by the Suffield Garden Club on the Hatheway House grounds, with an extensive offering of greens, wreaths and topiaries, in addition to Phelps-Hatheway Museum Store, featuring period-inspired gifts by local artisans. Guests may also purchase select decorations by Ruth Loiseau and the Suffield Garden Club, available for pickup at the end of the weekend. Children are invited to participate in a special holiday craft activity creating holiday decorations.
Ruth Loiseau is a nationally renowned master floral designer and owner of Ruth L. She is an experienced lecturer in the art of floral design and was a keynote speaker at the 2010 Bouquets to Art event at The de Young Museum in San Francisco, CA. She has worked at the White House as an SBA since the Reagan administration and continues to assist with special events during the current administration.
The Phelps-Hatheway House Garden is located at 55 South Main Street in Suffield, CT. The museum is closed for the season for regular tours, re-opening May 2013. For school groups or tours by appointment, please contact the education department at (860) 247-8996.
The Phelps-Hatheway House Garden highlights the luxurious lifestyles enjoyed by two wealthy eighteenth-century Connecticut Valley families. Merchant Shem Burbank built the house in 1761, but as a Tory sympathizer, his business suffered during the American Revolution. In 1788 he sold the house to Oliver Phelps, who added a wing in 1794, flaunting the riches earned from land investments in western New York. Considered an architectural masterpiece, this wing still features original Parisian wallpaper. Eight years later Phelps left Suffield, bankrupted by his failed land schemes. Continued…
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