WASHINGTON PLACE CELEBRATES THE HOLIDAY SEASON

For Immediate Release:  November 23, 2005

HONOLULU – Washington Place the historic home of Queen Lili`uokalani and Hawai’i`s governors will celebrate the holiday season with a special Open House and performances throughout the evening by the studio artists of Hawaii Opera Theatre.  To recapture the early holiday celebrations, the second floor of Washington Place, which is slated for future restoration and galleries, will feature a fanciful Victorian Christmas tree that might well have been decorated by Mary Dominis herself.  Photographs of the former First Families will also commemorate Christmas throughout the years at Washington Place.

Lt. Governor James R. Duke Aiona, Jr. and Mrs. Vivian Aiona welcome the public on Friday, December 2, 2005 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. to take a free guided stroll though the 158-year-old home to learn more about the occasion that sparked the celebration of Christmas in Hawai`i.  It was in a second floor parlor of the Greek-Revival mansion built by the wealthy Captain John Dominis in 1847, where the Christmas tee made one of its first appearances in the Islands.  Mary Dominis, widow of the captain, is said have grown the tree from a sprig that arrived in the Sandwich Islands by ship a few years earlier.  She hosted a magnificent party in 1858 for a hundred children and their parents, establishing the Christmas tradition—with a tree and Santa Claus—in the Hawaiian Islands, then ruled by King Kamehameha IV.

Lili`uokalani came to live at Washington Place in 1862, as bride of John Owen Dominis, son of the Captain and his wife, Mary.  That same year, King Kamehameha IV proclaimed Christmas a national holiday in the Kingdom of Hawai`i.

All guests will be required to present a picture ID upon entrance to the property and may be subject to a bag inspection. 

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For more information, contact:

Briana Solidum 
Washington Place 
Phone: 586-0240