On Thursday, November 12, the Ainsley House at 300 Grant Street opens its doors with every room dressed as a Christmas movie. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Elf, The Polar Express and It's a Wonderful Life each get a scene. The Carol of Lights, the downtown street festival most people think of as the start of Campbell's holidays, comes on December 5. By then the house will have been open for three weeks.
Campbell's holiday season is really a six-week run built around one historic house, with one free Saturday night in the middle of it. Both parts depend on the people who show up. The museum's biggest holiday fundraiser is a sit-down tea. The street festival is funded by donations, and the Downtown Campbell Business Association says plainly that it gets no money from the City.
A House That Has Already Moved Once
The building at the center of all this didn't start out on Grant Street. The Campbell Historical Museum says John Colpitts Ainsley was an Englishman who came to California in 1886 and made his fortune canning fresh fruit, most of which he exported to England. He contracted to build the house and garage on January 20, 1925, on the southwest corner of an 83-acre orchard at what is now Hamilton and Bascom, and his family had moved in by that December.
His granddaughters gave the house to the City of Campbell in 1989. On November 18, 1990, it was moved to 300 Grant Street, and it opened as a historic house museum in 1994. The house and its Carriage House went on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, according to the museum's Ainsley House page. This year, the anniversary of that move lands on the Wednesday of the season's first week, 36 years after the house rolled across town.
City of Campbell employees run the museum day to day. The Campbell Museum Foundation raises money for it, and the holiday season is when it raises a good share of that money.
The Whole Season on One Calendar
Spread across six weeks, the dates are easy to lose track of. Here they are in order.
| Date | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 12 – Dec. 20, Thu–Sun, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. | Hollywood Holiday self-guided tours and Holiday Boutique | Ainsley House | $12 adults, $10 seniors 65+, $8 ages 7–17, free 6 and under |
| Sat., Nov. 21, 9 a.m.–noon | Photos with Santa | Ainsley House Sunporch Room | $20 per family, up to six people |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 4–7 p.m. | Carol of Lights | E. Campbell Ave. and N. First St. | Free |
| Dec. 4–6 and Dec. 11–13, seating at noon | Holiday Tea & Tour | Carriage House, then the house | $70, $65 museum members |
| Thu., Dec. 17 and Sun., Dec. 20, 5:30–8 p.m. | Holiday Evening Open House | Ainsley House | $15 public, $10 members, free 17 and under |
The house is closed on Thanksgiving Day, November 26. Since the tours run Thursday through Sunday only, that leaves 23 daytime visiting days between opening and December 20. Full details and reservation links are on the Campbell Historical Museum holidays page.
Where the Money Comes From
The tea is the dressiest event of the season, and it also pays for the rest of the year at the museum. It starts in the historic Carriage House with finger sandwiches, desserts, a custom Ainsley blend tea from Steepers, and a glass of sparkling wine or cider. After that, guests take a self-guided tour of the decorated house and can browse the boutique. This is the 32nd year of the tradition, and proceeds go to the Campbell Museum Foundation to support exhibits, educational programs, collections preservation and the care of both the Campbell Historical Museum and the Ainsley House.
Seats go fast. In late October, the museum's listing for the Friday, December 4 seating was already down to one ticket. Reservations are required for every date.
Downtown, the Carol of Lights pays its way differently. The Downtown Campbell Business Association's event page says the festival is "independently produced" by the association and a group of volunteers, is "entirely funded by donations," and is "not funded by the City of Campbell or from any other public sources." The page asks anyone who can to give $5, $10, or whatever they're comfortable with. For that, the evening offers Santa visits, a petting zoo, donkey rides, bounce houses, craft tables, face painting, carolers, free festival snacks and community performances.
Paying for it has been a stretch before. In 2015, the Mercury News reported that the event cost about $10,000, came in nearly $5,000 short, and that the association covered the gap. The City waived street-closure and other fees at the time. Those numbers are more than a decade old, but the model is the same today. Last year the Mercury News carried the call for volunteers to staff the kids' play area, serve as safety monitors and run the popcorn machines. The association's own 2025 notice also asked for cotton candy volunteers and for extra help with setup and teardown. The 2026 page thanks last year's sponsors and invites new ones to email [email protected]. The association also notes that the date or time may change, so check the page before you go.
So the free night and the $70 tea run on the same idea. Each depends on local people choosing to put money in, whether through a ticket, a museum membership, or a few dollars dropped in the donation link.
Choosing Your Day at the House
With six weeks to work with, it helps to match the visit to the people you're bringing.
- Young kids: Photos with Santa on Saturday, November 21, is booked in hourly slots at 9, 10 and 11 a.m., with Santa in the Sunporch Room. Families get complimentary cocoa, crafts and coloring, and dancers from the Academy of Classical Ballet are on the program. One $20 booking covers up to six family members.
- Teens or a group of friends: The evening open houses on December 17 and 20 have live music in the living room and refreshments in the Carriage House. Anyone 17 and under gets in free. The museum encourages reservations, and tickets at the door depend on availability.
- Gift shopping: The Holiday Boutique is open during regular visiting hours in the Carriage House and the first-floor kitchen. It carries ornaments, jewelry, scarves and home décor, and members and volunteers get 10% off.
- Out-of-town guests: A weekday-hours visit on a Thursday or Friday gives you the decorated rooms for $12 per adult and $10 for seniors, with no reservation listed for daytime tours.
If you visit often, look at a museum membership before the season starts. Members get free daytime holiday admission, $5 off the tea and the evening open houses, and the boutique discount.
Filling Out the Afternoon Nearby
A Saturday or Sunday at the house fits easily with a stop downtown. The Downtown Campbell farmers' market runs every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at East Campbell Avenue and North First Street, the same corner where the Carol of Lights sets up. It runs year-round and is managed by the Urban Village Farmers' Market Association. It's worth a quick look at the market's schedule page around holiday weekends.
For lunch after a Santa visit or dinner after an evening open house, two places have opened this fall. The Silicon Valley Business Journal reported in September that Honō Izakaya & Sushi opened in downtown Campbell. The restaurant lists its address as 33 South Central Avenue, the same street as the Campbell Historical Museum at 51 North Central. In October, the Business Journal also reported that Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen is opening at the Pruneyard, 1875 South Bascom Avenue. The Pruneyard sits on Bascom, the avenue where Ainsley's orchard and his house stood a century ago.
If the Ainsley House is already on your family's calendar this year, or you're thinking about volunteering at the Carol of Lights for the first time, I'd love to hear which evening you've picked. Please also say hello if you see me downtown on December 5. Whenever you want to talk about Campbell, at the holidays or any other time, Lori Robitaille Biasca is always glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.
