November 01, 2024

16 One-of-a-Kind Gifts to Impress

This holiday season support National Trust Historic Sites and Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios

Do you find there’s always one or two people on the list that leave you flummoxed every holiday season? Maybe they have everything. Maybe they’re impossibly hard to please. Maybe you just haven’t gotten to know them yet. Whether it’s an in-law, new-to-the-family significant other, acquaintance, or family friend, you’ll find their perfect gift on this list!

The National Trust Historic Sites and Historic Homes and Artists' Studios have shared their favorite items in their online gift shops. Trust us, your gift recipient will be utterly charmed by each as you reveal your exquisite taste.

As you peruse our gift offerings from these sites across the country, we encourage you to take the time to learn about our sites' full histories, and their initiatives to further share the lives and experiences of all. Some of the places in the list below are sites of enslavement, and any purchase you make will further support their work to tell the full American story at these places.

1. The Lily Candlestick, The Glass House, $115.00

Two brass candlesticks with black tapers. The bases look like the peeled back petals of a lilly.

Shopping for someone truly elegant? Or perhaps someone who throws grand dinner parties? A true hostess? You can’t go wrong with this stunning Lily Candlestick. Designed by sculptor Ivar Alenius Bjork for the World’s Fair in 1939, this reproduction by Skultuna is as eloquent as the original. The high polished brass will shine gracefully in your giftee’s home.

3. Official 2024 White House Christmas Ornament, White House Historical Association, $24.95

A metal ornament that pays homage to President Jimmy Carter from the White House Historical Association.

Know someone who loves presidential history? You can’t go wrong with the annual Official White House Christmas Ornament from the White House Historical Association. This year’s ornament honors President Jimmy Carter. Made from solid brass, finished in 24-karat gold, the design highlights historic moments from his life and presidency. For instance, the anchor shape represents Carter’s service in the United States Navy while the peace doves are symbolic of his work for peace in the Middle East.

4. Andrew Wyeth Studio Ornament, Andrew Wyeth Studio, $24.95

A cutout ornament of a house with trees that are green metalwork. The words of the site Andrew Wyeth Studio is along the bottom.

If you’re shopping for someone who loves the arts, you need this ornament. Andrew Wyeth, one of America’s best-known twentieth-century artists, painted many of his most important works of art in his Chadds Ford studio. The studio, a re-purposed schoolhouse originally built in 1875, served as the artist’s principal Pennsylvania workplace from 1940 to 2008. Thousands of paintings and drawings were created there, inspired by the people, architecture and landscapes of Chadds Ford. This ornament is brand new, and it has been custom designed exclusively for the Brandywine Museum of Art.

5. Dove Lapel Pin, The Madoo Conservancy, $45.00

A gold pin on a piece of paper with some poetry about Madoo on it. The image has yellow and white flowers in the background.

This golden dove pin created by Janet Mavec for Madoo has a remarkable resemblance to the dove that Robert Dash drew as the logo for Madoo. And, of course, Madoo translates to “My Dove” in Old Scots. Perfect as a tie tack or lapel pin or buy several to create a flock! The pin also comes with a poem Dash wrote about the imaginary little bird.

7. Main Street Stockbridge at Christmas Puzzle, Norman Rockwell Museum, $24.95

A puzzle of one of Norman Rockwell's famous paintings.

Looking for something the entire family can do while stuck inside during cold, wintery nights? This charming 500-piece jigsaw puzzle depicting “Home for Christmas” (Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas) is available exclusively from the Norman Rockwell Museum store. Norman Rockwell's painting has come to symbolize Christmas in New England, just as Rockwell intended in 1967. Rockwell wanted the editors at McCall's to identify the scene as Stockbridge in the text—and they did. Hopefully, your giftees will have feelings of cheer when completing this inviting streetscape.

8. Handmade Woodturned Objects from Woodlawn and Pope-Leighey House, $12.95-$75.00

An image of three different wood vases with lids. One of them has the word Woodlawn etched up the side.

Tom Huber, a local woodturner, makes items out of boxwood, sycamore, red oak, osage, and ash wood harvested from the grounds of Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House. Huber has been a woodturner since 1995 and crafts pens, bowls, platters, boxes, kitchen items, sewing accessories, and jewelry from discarded wood. Gifting one of these will be like giving a piece of history. These items are not available online. To purchase call 703-780-4000.

11. Campfire Mug, Montpelier, $19.99

Two mugs with wintery scenes on them on a table with some greenery in the background.

Perfect for sipping hot chocolate in front of a blazing fire on a frosty evening. This 15-ounce mug features the Temple, the Montpelier House, and the South Yard surrounded by snow. It’s great for that person on your list that appreciates history and warm beverages.

12. Harney and Sons Olana Black Currant Tea, Olana State Historic Site, $12.95

A tin box of tea with a black floral design by Harney and Sons.

Olana Black Currant Tea offers a delightful blend of rich black tea and sweet, tangy currants. The stylish box adds a touch of sophistication, making it a perfect gift this holiday season. This tea can be enjoyed hot or iced and suits a variety of preferences, so it appeals to both tea aficionados and casual drinkers alike. Gifting Olana black currant tea is a thoughtful way to share a cozy experience with loved ones!

13. New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture Apparel, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Studio, $26.49-$46.49

A black sweatshirt with a hood and the the logo of the New York Studio School emblazoned on it. It is an eagle with two pillars under the words of the school.

If you’re looking for the perfect gift for an art lover, consider a t-shirt or sweatshirt featuring the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture logo. This iconic art school was formed in 1964 by a group of students and their teacher, Mercedes Matter. They were frustrated with the current state of art education and set out to create a new school that committed to the daily continuity of study through work in the studio. It is also the site of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s original location.

14. “Matchmaking” Embracing Owls from Chesterwood, $89.99

View of two owls intertwined with a bowl for matches.

Although Daniel Chester French is known as a sculptor of heroic public monuments that dominate public spaces in America, he was equally adept at working in a smaller scale, creating domestic sculptures filled with warmth and humor. This charming pair of embracing owls was first made in 1871. Match Making was first mass-produced in parianware, a form of porcelain that is poured into a mold and resembles marble. These reproduced owls are from a mold that was sold to a Boston firm that added elements such as a cup for holding matches.

15. Stemless Wine Glasses, Demuth Museum, $12.50

A stemless wine glass against a black background with an etching of a dove.

These stemless wine glasses feature an etching of Charles Demuth’s "Dove," a contour sketch that Demuth etched onto a window pane at Sunnyside Farm in Gap, Pennsylvania. Owned by Isaac and Helene Stauffer, it was tradition for guests of Sunnyside to sign one's name by engraving it onto a window pane. In addition to his name and the date (November 24, 1928), Demuth etched a dove with his diamond ring.

16. Autumn Choker, Wharton Esherick Museum, $285.00

A necklace with wooden designs along the neckline.

If you’re shopping for someone who is fashionable and always has the rarest finds, you need these unique choker necklace. Created from sassafras, maple, red oak, walnut, and brass by Rainy Lehrman. Lehrman is an artist, educator, fabricator and facilitator based in Brooklyn, New York. Her handmade bent wood accessories echo the flowing lines and warm tones of a visit to Esherick’s Studio.

Haley Somolinos Headshot

Haley Somolinos is the manager of email marketing at the National Trust. She has a passion for places and the stories that they hold.

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