Blue and silver ornaments adorn this tree on the home’s second floor.

Built around 1790, the historic house has been decorated by the Hornes in the spirit of the Twelve Days of Christmas with 12 Christmas trees spread throughout the home. Like the rooms themselves, each Christmas tree is decorated in its own style, including a Santa Claus tree that wouldn’t seem out of place in J.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

This elegant spiral staircase graces the foyer of the Nuckolls House. It was hand-carved from teak in England and assembled in the house after it arrived in America. The Hornes will open their home for tours Saturday, Dec. 11, and Sunday, Dec. 12, from 2 to 5 p.m. Candlelight tours can be made Saturday evening from 6 to 9.

Admission is $10. The tours are being sponsored by the town of Pacolet, Pacolet Area Museum Commission and Pacolet Amphitheatre Commission. All proceeds will go toward establishing a museum in the Pacolet area.

Each room in the Nuckolls House is decorated in a different scheme, from whimsical to traditional. There are 12 festive trees scattered throughout the historic home. Located at 571 Asbury Road, the Nuckolls House has long been a favorite holiday destination for those interested in seeing a vivid reminder of Cherokee County’s heritage. The 200-year-old treasure has been restored and preserved by the Hornes.

William T. Nuckolls built the house in 1792. It burned and was rebuilt around the original chimneys.

Nuckolls, a successful planter and United States congressman, once entertained Congressman John C. Calhoun at the plantation. The congressmen left following his stay and returned to Washington, D.C., by stagecoach.

Many traditions of the Nuckolls family were unique.

During England’s Civil War, the houses of York and Lancaster struggled for 30 years. The conflict is often called the War of the Roses because each house’s emblem was a rose. A white rose was the emblem for the House of York. A red rose symbolized the House of Lancaster.

The Nuckolls family sided with York. After many years, some family members immigrated to America and brought the white rose emblem with them.

Whenever members of the Nuckolls family went out to establish their own home, a cutting was taken from the rose bush and carefully planted as a living symbol of their ancestry.

Descendants of the Nuckolls family gave the Hornes a cutting from a rose bush, thus continuing the tradition of the white rose.

While establishing themselves in America, family members became involved in the struggle for independence and sided with the Patriots in the American Revolution. A portion of the Green River Road is located on the plantation property.

Gen. Daniel Morgan camped near the Nuckolls Plantation at Grindal Shoals along the Pacolet River before marching along Green River Road to fight the Battle of Cowpens.

The second plantation owner was John D. Jefferies, a prominent cotton farmer, who owned the Nuckolls house until he had financial problems in 1920. He sold the house to George Becknell.

The Becknell family owned the home until 1996 when Gene and Nancy Horne purchased it. After two years of extensive restoration and renovation, they moved into the 6,600 square foot home a week before Christmas in 1997.

The Hornes spent another year improving the grounds, adding wooden fences and building barns. The plantation house was designed in a square with four rooms on each of the two main levels. Fireplaces are located in all eight rooms. A hand carved spiral staircase was manufactured in England and assembled in the house when it was rebuilt in 1843.

Historians during the Roosevelt administration featured the house as a southern mansion.