Visitors to the Ainsley House sometimes tell the staff they remember the house rolling past. Kerry Perkins, senior museum specialist for the Campbell Historical Museum and Ainsley House, told The Mercury News in 2015 that people "remember seeing it moved from Bascom Avenue to here." The whole Tudor house was lifted off its original foundation with hydraulic equipment and carried to 300 Grant Street in 1990.
Most people in town now know the house for its December rooms. Few know how long it sat quiet beforehand. For 52 years, from 1937 to 1989, it was a private family home with almost nobody living in it. Every room that fills with holiday decorations this season is decorated by people who never lived there.
Fifty-Two Years With the Curtains Drawn
John Colpitts Ainsley was a canning pioneer, and his family's canned fruit made his name familiar in California and in England. The business ran as the J.C. Ainsley Packing Company, and its old fruit labels are collectible enough that some went up for silent auction at the house's 90th anniversary party.
The house went through five stages before it became a museum.
- The first two homes. John and his wife, Alcinda, first lived on North Third Street, then moved to Second Street near Campbell's first cannery.
- December 1925. The couple moved into their third Campbell home. It was built in the style of an English Tudor Cotswold cottage during the Arts and Crafts movement and stood at the corner of Hamilton and Johnson Avenues. Johnson is now Bascom Avenue, and eBay and Noah's Bagels took over that stretch later on.
- 1937 to 1989. Ainsley died in 1937. His family kept the house and left it largely vacant, opening it only for occasional family gatherings.
- 1989 to 1990. The remaining family members gave the house to the City of Campbell. In 1990 it was moved to 300 Grant Street.
- 1990 to 1994. The city held a series of study sessions on what to do with the house and decided to open it for public tours. In 2005 the house and its Carriage House were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Those half-empty decades also preserved the house. The Mercury News reported in 2015 that original furnishings filled the rooms, from custom-painted tiles in the main bathroom to silk-covered walls in the main salon. The Ainsley family donated most of the furniture, and a few pieces were on loan.
A House With No Residents Needs the Whole Town to Decorate It
A house museum keeps the rooms ready, but somebody has to put up the holiday decorations. At the Ainsley House, community groups, local businesses and volunteers each take a room and give it its own holiday style, according to the Campbell Museums holiday page.
This year marks the 32nd anniversary of the house's holiday celebrations, and the theme is Hollywood Holiday. Rooms are built around Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Elf, The Polar Express and It's a Wonderful Life, with movie scenes and small surprises worked into the decorations. Visitors walk through on a self-guided tour.
The volunteer work goes past decorating. Trained docents lead tours and tell the Ainsley family's story, and other volunteers greet guests and help with tours. Downtown businesses have a part too. The Holiday Tea uses a custom Ainsley blend created by Steepers, the tea shop at 346 E. Campbell Avenue. Steepers stocks more than 200 teas and sells individual ingredients so customers can mix their own. Star One Credit Union sponsors the tea, and the Campbell Museum Foundation hosts it.
The money also stays local. Tea proceeds pay for exhibits, education programs, collections care and upkeep at the Campbell Historical Museum and the Ainsley House.
The Season, Date by Date
The house is normally open Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. From November 12 through December 20 it adds Thursdays and runs four days a week.
| Event | Dates | Time | Cost | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Holiday tours and Holiday Boutique | Nov. 12 to Dec. 20, Thursday to Sunday, closed Thanksgiving Day | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | $12 adults, $10 seniors 65+, $8 ages 7 to 17, free for children 6 and under and museum members | Self-guided tour |
| Photos with Santa | Saturday, Nov. 21 | 9 a.m. to noon, in one-hour slots | $20 per family, up to six people | Reservation required |
| Holiday Tea & Tour | Dec. 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13 | Seating at noon | $70 general, $65 museum members | Reservation required |
| Evening Open Houses | Thursday, Dec. 17, and Sunday, Dec. 20 | 5:30 to 8 p.m. | $15 general, $10 members, free for 17 and under | Advance online or at the Carriage House that night |
Some details that don't fit in the table:
- Santa morning. Families waiting for their slot get hot chocolate and holiday crafts.
- The tea. Guests start in the Carriage House with finger sandwiches, desserts, the Steepers blend and a glass of sparkling wine or cider, then take a self-guided tour of the house.
- The boutique. It is set up in the Carriage House and in the first-floor kitchen of the main house. It sells ornaments, jewelry, scarves, home décor and specialty treats, and museum members and volunteers get 10 percent off.
- Reservations. Tea and Santa bookings go through the Campbell Museums events page.
The Evening Open Houses Come Last for a Reason
Every year the museum closes in January and February for renovation and reopens in March. The holiday season ends December 20, and the January closure follows. The two Evening Open Houses fall in the season's last week, on December 17 and 20. They are the only time this season the decorated rooms are open after dark, with live music in the living room and light refreshments in the Carriage House.
Downtown Campbell has its own holiday events in the same weeks:
Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28. The Downtown Campbell association plans deals and pop-ups and will post the specific offers later in November.
Carol of Lights, Saturday, Dec. 5, 4 to 7 p.m., at East Campbell Avenue and North First Street. This free event opens the downtown holiday season with Santa visits, a petting zoo, donkey rides, bounce houses, craft tables, face painting, live music and local dance teams. The listing says times may change.
Downtown Campbell Farmers' Market, every Sunday year-round, rain or shine, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Carol of Lights falls on December 5, a Saturday when both the Holiday Tea and the regular house tours are running. That puts a noon tea, the afternoon tours and the evening downtown event on the same calendar day. Check the Downtown Campbell Carol of Lights listing closer to the date for any changes.
Anyone curious about the Ainsley family business can follow the museum's self-guided Campbell Cannery Tour. It traces Santa Clara County canning back to Dr. James and Eloise Dawson, who packed 350 cases of fruit in their first season in 1871, and follows the canneries that later opened in Campbell.
Every house on a Campbell street has a story like the Ainsleys', and telling it well is how The Pulpan Brothers Group begins every listing. If your home carries some of Campbell's history, let's tell your home's story. Schedule a private consultation.
