Jill Biden’s first White House Christmas brings back a warmer, simpler vibe

The light, sound and smell of wood fires burning in the Green and Red Rooms were just the first sign of the intimacy Jill Biden sought for the White House’s holiday decorations this year. The Bidens, it turns out, love to spend a cozy night in America’s home warming up by a crackling fireplace; the White House has 28 of them.

The first lady chose the theme “Gifts From the Heart,” with each room decorated in its own mini-theme, including the Gift of Family and the Gift of Service, which is dedicated to the military, front-line workers and first responders.

Gone are Melania Trump’s imposing — and some said, scary — blood-red trees in the East Colonnade, from 2018, which late-night TV host Jimmy Fallon likened to Christmas in hell.

Gone are the dozens of life-size "snow people," wearing scarves and hats, in the first lady's garden, installed by Michelle Obama in 2015, and moved inside in 2016. President Barack Obama told People magazine that they reminded him of a horror movie. "There's a whole kind of Chucky element to them," he said. "They're a little creepy."

Jill Biden’s first foray into holiday decorating at the White House was not glitzy or opulent, but rather an enhanced version of how many American families decorate their own homes, with lots of candles and twinkling lights.

But it's not Christmas as usual here. Public tours of the White House are still canceled, masks and sometimes coronavirus tests are required to enter the building. The White House hasn't said what kind of events it will host during the holiday season, beyond a Hanukkah open house on Wednesday.

Biden has been working on the Christmas decorations since late May, according to Carlos Elizondo, the White House social secretary.

Biden carried over many of the traditions of other first families. The Marine Corps band played such Christmas songs as "The First Noel" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem" outside the entrance to the East Wing, which is decorated with a towering arch of huge red boxes tied with ribbons. Then, guests were escorted through a hallway filled with framed photos of the first family, including Jill Biden receiving the White House Christmas tree last week.

The official 2021 gingerbread house — a favorite every year — is made with a theme of gratitude for the country’s front-line workers. “She wanted to help highlight the people that have gotten us through this pandemic that we’re still in,” Elizondo said.

The display features eight community buildings, such as a hospital, a fire station and a schoolhouse adjoining a huge replica of the White House, which, just like the real thing, has wreaths hanging in most of the outside windows.

Susan Morrison, White House executive pastry chef, said five people worked on the 350-pound house for several weeks. During a tour of the decorations Sunday afternoon, Biden placed the final touch: a gingerbread schoolteacher holding an English grade book and an apple-filled satchel reading “#1 teacher.”

The theme, communications director Elizabeth Alexander said, was chosen because the president and first lady “wanted to focus on things that unite us, that bring us together, and that’s a gift.”

There are replicas of handwritten thank-you letters that Americans had written the Bidens hanging from trees in the East Room, representing the Gift of Gratitude. The first lady is a fan of color and of orchids, Elizondo said, so the Green Room is filled with purple and fuchsia live orchids woven into the mantel and arrangements on the antique tables. In the windows, which look out onto the Washington Monument, stand tall trees made entirely of sparkly purple ornaments, clustered together like grapes.

The most personal touches came in the State Dining Room, representing the Gift of Family. On each side of the mantel are two large trees decorated in red and gold and trimmed with framed photos of the Bidens and other first families, including the Kennedys, Roosevelts and Nixons.

Hanging from the mantel under Abraham Lincoln's portrait are knit red-and-white-striped stockings with the Biden grandchildren's names in green yarn: Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, Hunter and Baby Beau. Biden ordered them from the same person who made the ones she has in her own home.

Every year, the White House holiday decorations manage to reflect the mood in Washington. The number of people able to see the decorations in person has steadily declined since stricter security measures were implemented after the 9/11 attacks, and, of course, the pandemic.

This year, there will be interactive and augmented reality features released on official White House digital platforms as well as Snapchat and Instagram. PBS Kids is taping a special on the decorations so that children could experience holidays at the People’s House from their own homes.