Christmas House, a decades-old tradition in Bainbridge Island and Poulsbo, will be closed most of this holiday season after the death Nov. 18 of Robert Pedersen.
Pedersen, who turned 90 June 15, passed away at St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale.
In a Facebook post, Matt, one of his sons, says family members hope to open it for a few days, but that is yet to be decided. “We appreciate your love and patience as we process and deal with our loss,” he says.
Of the 50 years that my parents (mom Carolee) enjoyed their lives together, 46 of them involved the Christmas House, he says. It evolved from a little neighborhood pop-up into a beloved tradition for many families, a gathering place to catch up with friends for the holidays, a reason—or maybe an excuse—for my parents to travel around the United States and abroad.
“My dad, Bob, loved working on old clocks, repairing furniture, making wooden toys, boats and birdhouses; and carving his special Santa Clauses,” the Facebook post reads.
A Nov. 2 entry says the couple was working hard to get the store ready for the holiday season, but people could drop by and wish Carolee a happy birthday as she was turning 82. It asks that people share photos and stories of Christmas House on the Facebook site that can be shared with mom and the family.
Christmas House was located on BI for 39 years before they moved it to Lemolo Shore Drive in Poulsbo.
A story in the Review in 2004, celebrating Christmas House’s 25th year, says once Carolee retired from teaching and Bob from construction they devoted most of their time to crafting and searching for treasures around the world for Christmas House. The house is filled with Bob’s hand-painted hand-carvings of Santas, bears and baby chicks; vintage linens, quilts, dishware and silver; jewelry, paintings, lamps, furniture, jewelry and old clocks.
“We live this,” Carolee says in the story. “Most of these rooms are full all the time, except for the two months after Christmas” when shoppers have stripped the shelves. “And then it just fills up again.”
