Tasteful Trimmings Photos

“Inside, My home does not reflect the average person’s conception of what a Santa Fe home should look like. There are no howling coyotes. instead it’s a cornucopia of things I’ve amassed throughout my life.” --Paul Davies

Wreaths on the front door are a welcoming addition.

Davies gets into the Christmas spirit without resorting to traditional decorating. Adorning the original plaster kiva is an eclectic mix of antiques, mercury glass, pine boughs and a few shiny ornaments in hues of silver, gold and frosty blue.

Decidedly eclectic, this bedroom features four Japanese woodblock prints Davies purchased in Kyoto. Adding Southwestern appeal is a Penitente religious figure, in the form of a skeleton, from Northern New Mexico.

The master bedroom’s focal point is the intricate Portuguese hand-carved mahogany bed. A self-described fanatic for old portraits, Davies bids adieu each evening to James, the Duke of Monmouth, who peers down from above the bed. Adding pattern and texture to the room is an antique Iranian Mahal carpet, while a mahogany American Empire dresser, c. 1835-40, adds a splash of color.

Using family heirlooms to trim his live white fir tree, and other objects he’s particularly fond of to decorate the remainder of the house, Davies creates an elegant, holiday-inspired interior. The unique armchair, a 17th-century English replica, is intricately detailed with carved angels and elegant twists. Gracing the glass-topped table are a trio of antique Chinese porcelain dogs. In the corner, an antique full-height Spanish saint made from pine guards the room, while an antique Persian carpet pulls everything together.

Creating a Christmas vignette with non-Christmas-themed objects and a few pine boughs, Davies pairs two repousse altar candlesticks from the Philippines with terracotta angels he found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. An antique Chinese lamp sits atop a late 18th-century oak blanket chest from Norfolk, England, while the oldest painting in the house, dating to 1617, depicts Señor Capra at age 19.