Thanksgiving is over and the holiday season is coming up quickly, so people are beginning to decorate their houses festively. The David Davis Mansion is no exception.

Start the holiday season off with Christmas at Clover Lawn. Tour the David Davis Mansion all decorated for the holidays. Daytime tours run from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

The mansion, named Clover Lawn, was completed in 1872 and is a model of mid-Victorian style and taste. Clover Lawn was the home of David Davis, who was a friend, mentor and campaign manager for Abraham Lincoln.

“The mansion will be decorated until Dec. 31, and is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and on Christmas Day,” Jeannie Riordan, assistant site manager, said.

Their biggest tradition is the mansion being decorated for Christmas and open for tours on the Friday after Thanksgiving every year.

“People will see a collection of Christmas decorations from the 1870s when David and Sarah Davis lived there,” Riordan said.

Antique dolls and toys, spectacular evergreens, and hundreds of 19th-century paper and glass ornaments are among the decorations that make the Davis house a Yuletide wonderland.

“There will be around 25 types of Christmas trees with various types of decorations. There will also be lots of toys and Belsnickels, but you’ll have to come here to find out what those are,” Riordan said.

There are quite a few people who are involved in decorating the mansion.

“Site manager, Dr. Marcia Young, is the primary driving force behind the decorations. She has researched Christmas, writes the basic concept and knows what is historically accurate,” Riordan said.

Volunteers are told the concept and assist with decorating the mansion for the holidays.

“The volunteers run with the idea and the mansion comes out looking fabulous,” Riordan said.

The David Davis Mansion will also be hosting Christmas at the Mansions, which is a tour of the mansion along with two mystery mansions that have also been decorated for the holidays.

Costumed guides, period music, theatrical skits and seasonal refreshments will be featured on the tour.

The tour runs from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Dec. 15. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door, and the price includes free shuttle transportation from mansion to mansion. For more information go to www.daviddavismansion.org.

Touring the mansion during the day is free and provides an inside look into a time when certain traditions of Christmas, like Santa Claus, stockings and Christmas trees, were just beginning.

“This is a wonderful tradition in Bloomington-Normal, and many families start their holiday season with a tour of the mansion,” Riordan said.