Every room on the main floor of the Naval Observatory represents a verse from the poem by Clement Clarke Moore, officially titled “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” Pence has a family tradition of reading the holiday classic to his three children every Christmas Eve even though they’re adults now and the gang includes a daughter-in-law.
Stockings hung by the chimney with care? Nine red ones hang from the fireplace mantle in the dining room: Six for the Pences and three for pets Hazel, Harley and Marlon.
Instead of visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, kids can stop by a special candy station to fill up on them.
The library was transformed into a den for Santa’s reindeer, with all nine names on the wall above a 125-pound gingerbread replica of the observatory. The library has reindeer decorations on the mantle and a tree decorated with reindeer ornaments, a reindeer topper and presents wrapped in reindeer-print paper underneath it.
Wrapped gifts suspended from the foyer mimic presents tumbling down the staircase and straight into Santa’s nearby sack.
“New fallen snow” covers the branches of a tree in the sunroom.
The main attraction shines in the living room: an 11½-foot (3.35-meter) North Carolina fir decorated with ornaments symbolizing the “bundle of toys” Santa “had flung on his back.” A life-size Santa replica stands next to the tree, reviewing his naughty or nice list.
Guests arrive to an oversized copy of the poem opened beside a high-backed red velvet chair.
Pence’s wife, Karen, recently gave The Associated Press an exclusive tour of their holiday decorations.
AP
18/12/2018
