1 of 2
Photography by Alise O'Brien
2 of 2
It all started with the tree,” says Karen Halper, gazing up (and up) at her 20-foot Christmas tree. After moving from a 5,000-square-foot home in St. Charles County to a nearby 15,000-square-foot mammoth of a house, Mrs. Halper and her husband, Steve, were faced with the task of filling their home with appropriate décor. “We knew we needed professional help,” says Mrs. Halper.
At their realtor’s suggestion, the Halpers agreed to participate in a St. Charles County Christmas house tour—so they began thinking Yuletide thoughts while most of us were still sporting flip-flops and griping about the humidity.
The Halpers disagree on who led whom to their designer, Joie DiMercurio, who puts the “Josef” in design firm Josef Mykel Fine Accessories.
“My office is near Josef Mykel’s showroom in the Chesterfield Valley, and I came home one day and told you that you just had to see this place,” Mr. Halper playfully insists.
“Noooooo,” Mrs. Halper replies. “I’d been there before and told you about them.” [The showroom has since closed and the company has reopened as Enchanted Embellishments at 12133 Manchester.]
Whoever deserves the credit for discovering the designer, they came to the right place. Mr. DiMercurio offers design services year-round, but has a passion for the Christmas season and its trappings. With decades in the interior-design business and more than 20 Christmases under his belt, says Mr. DiMercurio, “Nobody does Christmas like we do. When it comes to Christmas, nothing can be over-the-top.”
Which brings us back to that 20-foot tree. “I originally wanted a 30-foot tree that would reach the ceiling,” Mr. Halper says, recalling his ambitious vision. So their initial call to Mr. DiMercurio started with that colossal request for the oversized spruce.
“I said, ‘Well, how big is your house?’” the designer recalls. And so it was decided that he’d come out to the Halpers’ sprawling home and assess the possibilities. The couple, in turn, were given a behind-the-scenes tour of Josef Mykel’s backroom, where the designers keep a huge holiday cache. Soon, the Halpers handed Mr. DiMercurio a set of keys, accompanied by a surprising lack of demands.
“The only direction I gave Joie was that I wanted the living room and entrance to be gold-and-white,” says
Mrs. Halper. “I love gold.”
The result? Fifteen thousand square feet of jaw-dropping holiday spirit, with nary a corner unlit, unbejeweled, or unswathed in Christmas glitz. “Every room has a theme,” says Mr. DiMercurio.
As you enter the front door and step into the two-story foyer, the theme is apparent. A grouping of white Christmas trees flanks either side of a 5-foot-tall Santa from Katherine’s Collection, which Mr. DiMercurio says “was the only item Karen just had to have.” With the glossy marble floors, snowy-white décor, black accents, and even a spotlight focused on the Father Christmas, the entryway is a glam prelude to the rest of the house.
“We really wanted that ‘Wow!’ when people came in,” says Mr. Halper.
To the left is the more understated wood-paneled library, decorated in an old-world English–meets–The Nutcracker theme that makes you want to cozy up with The Night Before Christmas and a cup of eggnog. The room is easily overlooked, however, once your gaze settles upon the pièce de résistance, that awe-inspiring Christmas tree in the equally extraordinary living room.
Alas, the tree isn’t 30 feet tall—just a trifling 20-footer that took a team of installers three days to put up. The most remarkable aspect of the tree is its trio of 3-foot Mark Roberts fairies, which are affixed to its middle branches and spin mechanically, like a triumvirate of whirling dervishes.
“When we walked in the door and first saw the tree up, we were stunned,” says Mr. Halper.
“We opened up a bottle of wine and just sat back and marveled at the tree,” Mrs. Halper adds.
The opulent living room flows into the fairy-themed dining room, where the Halpers wanted a more traditional feel. With a palette of shimmering reds and golds, plus dozens of holiday sprites peeking from yet another tree, the room is just as rococo as the others, but aims for a more whimsical effect.
But it’s in the hearth room that Mr. DiMercurio’s quest for whimsy reaches new heights—the entire space has gone to the birds. Mrs. Halper is an avid bird owner, and the hearth room serves as a sort of in-home aviary. Its tree, by which the presents are kept and the family will do their unwrapping, is adorned with dozens of artificial birds, feathers, golden branches, and even hatboxes, all serving as ornithologically inspired ornaments.
Whatever the theme may be, the Halpers and the designer a re solidly in agreement: The house expands upon the joy of the Christmas season. Mr. DiMercurio estimates that it took roughly 40,000 lights, 25,000 ornaments, 7 to 10 miles of garland, 7,000 yards of ribbon, and nearly 300 man-hours to achieve that joy. But those are just numbers—numbers that add up to a “work of art,” says Mr. Halper.
Beaming at her surroundings, Mrs. Halper concurs: “I wish we could leave this up all year.”
