Colorful garlands intertwine with an antique tea and coffee service. A tall clear glass cake stand holds holiday citrus aloft.
A view of the garden tree hung with seed packets and apple and pear ornaments, with an onion bunch tree topper.
The Victorian tree soars to the ceiling, set with bright lights, Victorian-style ornaments and glass prisms for extra sparkle.
The front door sets a festive tone for the holidays.
Bears lounge in front of the hearth. Decked with garland, the mantel and lights make for a nice highlight in the room.
The dining room table is set with a red and cream toile cloth, a reindeer centerpiece, a tall candle in a vintage candleholder and a glass vessel filled with red ornaments.
Jane Sandretti collected the white porcelain Nativity set on this mantle in the early years of her marriage to Bill. The staggered heights of the figures, perched on books, is a signature design element of Bill Sandretti’s arrangements.
Even the chandeliers get stellar holiday treatments.
A close-up of the phonograph tree that shows the 45 rpm inserts Sandretti turned into ornaments.
A small “I Love Lucy” tree hung with Lucy ornaments, interspersed with red ornaments, an homage to her fiery hair and signature red and white polka dot dress. The comedian is a favorite of the Sandretti family. The tree and its neighboring light are elevated on milk glass cake stands.
Every year, homeowner Bill Sandretti decks the halls, the grounds, the porches, the outbuildings and nearly every room in his historic home in Lebanon for the holidays. His red clapboard house with its deep-green shutters and front door, built in 1898 by McKendree College professor William Willoughby and his wife, Jane, seems tailor-made to be a Christmas home on the St. Clair County Historical Society’s Virtual Holiday Tour this year, which premieres Dec. 13 on YouTube.
Sandretti and his late wife, Jane, had admired the two-story home with its steep pitched roof on road trips to visit his parents in northern Illinois. “On one trip in 1984, we noticed a ‘for sale’ sign. We called the next day, looked at it that night, and moved in within six weeks,” he says.
“Technically it wasn’t move-in ready,” he says. “We only moved what was absolute necessary to live into the house — beds, a coffee maker, minimal dishes and our clothes. Everything else went into a guesthouse in back.
“I remember my daughter’s face the first time she saw her new room with this ugly paneling on the walls and a tapestry hanging of a beast with red eyes. ‘I can’t sleep here!’ she said. It was awful.”
The record tree pays homage to Sandretti’s extensive collection of 78 and 45 rpm records.
Even though the situation wasn’t ideal, the move proved auspicious. “We moved in on July 11, and our house number is 711. Our daughter, Katie, was 11 and our son John was 7,” he says. The unplanned convergence of sacred numbers representing spiritual enlightenment, empathy, new beginnings, enthusiasm, creativity and inspiration seemed fitting for the enterprise that has guided Sandretti and his family throughout the years.