A Home for Christy Ross: Thanksgiving

Here in the Rocky Mountains, entertaining for Thanksgiving is a much anticipated tradition... just like in the rest of the country.

But for me and for my husband, Randy, this year is especially meaningful... it's our first Thanksgiving in this historic Breckenridge home, called Swan's Nest.

It's the result of three years of restoration, and now our home is ready for its first holiday gathering of family and friends.

So join me as I prepare for this special Thanksgiving celebration.

You'll find decorating inspiration, traditional recipes with a contemporary twist... And you'll see the story of how this 19th century manor was transformed into the home it was always meant to be.

I'm Christy Rost, at home for Thanksgiving.

Narrator: In the mountains of Colorado, Christy Rost found her dream home.

A renowned chef, author, and expert in celebrating family and home, Christy loves a challenge.

Hey, you know, I'm into this demo stuff.

But this one may have been her biggest yet -- revitalizing an historic English manor, built by a 19th century gold baron... in time for Thanksgiving!

Along the way, Christy and her team sweat, laugh, learn, and cook to create "A Home for Christy Rost."

For me, the celebration of Thanksgiving begins outside the kitchen long before my guests arrive.

And it starts with a horn of plenty in kind of a tree of plenty.

It's a whimsical take on a cornucopia, and the way I started it was with a Styrofoam cone and then, I covered it in Sphagnum moss, and then started inserting all my vegetables and fruits.

So I have apples and quince and pears and potatoes and all kinds of boiler onions, all different colors.

And I top it off with a little baby pear at the very top of the tree, and then, I'm going to use some florist pins and I just take silk leaves like that, pin the bottom, and every now and then, I insert that in between the fruit.

It gives it kind of a nice fall look and so this is the perfect traditional decoration right by the door.

Over here, it's all about a light-hearted approach to decorating.

Starts with the scarecrow with his cheerful face, and then I have a lantern, kind of an old lantern, and I just added a little bit of greenery to it.

Some Autumn Mums... A big pumpkin... and a smaller one... A small pumpkin here...

And then at the very end, I have this darling truck I found!

And I filled it with all kinds of autumn produce, and just kind of adds that final little touch of, "Hey, we're going off to have a great Thanksgiving!"

So when my guests arrive, they're going to have a beautiful touch of elegance at the front door.

But they're going to enter in with smiles, because they're going to have a touch of whimsy right next to it.

When guests arrive at Swan's Nest, they immediately sense the history of Christy's new home, which began with a Rocky Mountain gold baron, named Ben Stanley Revett.

Revett's tale is similar to that of many gold barons... one of boom and bust.

Although he was just 5'7", some people said almost that wide, he cut an enormous figure in mining history.

He pioneered the dredge, which drew millions of dollars out of the creekbeds and the riverbeds of Summit County.

He was a fascinating man because of his mining savvy, and his bulldog tenacity.

Revett brought his new wife, Mary -- a cultured San Francisco native -- to a very different life in these Colorado mountains.

The couple soon had a daughter, Francis.

The Revetts' elegant home, built in 1898, became instantly famous.

To please his new wife, Revett designed it to be reminiscent of a swan with two wings extended.

For himself, he insisted the doors be 42 inches wide to accommodate his large frame.

The home quickly became a favorite site for lavish parties.

But eventually, Revett's fortune diminished... evidence of which was found within the walls of Swan's Nest... And I therefore write to ask you whether under the circumstances you would try and help us out of our present difficulty by making us a temporary advance of $25,000.

An unmailed letter discovered by the construction crew revealed the down-on-his-luck speculator during one of those bust periods, that eventually closed a colorful chapter in the history of the Breckenridge area.

I feel the history in this house every day.

I'm always mindful of the people who lived here before.

The home was abandoned, and he and his wife, Mary, split...

He moving to Denver, and Mary returning to her home in San Francisco.

Swan's Nest itself was looted in 1916 of its fine furnishings, with only a dress suit left hanging in the closet.

The house was vacant, the house was a hunting lodge, it was a camp for kids twice, and then it was vacant again.

The house was condemned when the people before us, the Campbell's, bought this house in, I think it was 1969.

The home and its surrounding acreage then became known as Tiger Run, a successful snowmobile operation.

In the years since, much of the land has been developed, but the once elegant Revett Manor remained.

They called it Revett Manor because it was Ben Stanley Revett's original home, but he had named it Swan's Nest, so that was really important to us to go back to the original name.

And for more reasons than just keeping the name...

When Randy asked me to marry him, there were two swans on the little lake below the bridge.

And there were swans on our wedding cake.

And so it, you know, to us, this was a coming back, a coming, you know, making full circle and here we are.

It's no wonder Christy and Randy are eager to give thanks and share the special home with friends and family.

When I'm shopping for Thanksgiving, I always have a list, but I like to stay flexible and take advantage of what's freshest in the market.

And so there are some gorgeous, sweet, juicy oranges here.

They will be so lovely for my ambrosia.

Ambrosia is a southern tradition, it's kind of a salad kind of a dessert -- combination of oranges and fresh pineapple that will be sweet and juicy, usually topped with some coconut.

This pineapple is lovely, it's got a little bit of yellow in here, which means in a couple of days, it's going to be very sweet.

And quince.

Quince is kind of an ugly pear-shaped fruit.

This has a nice crisp texture, not very good for eating out of hand, but it's really delicious when it's cooked and so next week after Thanksgiving, I'm going to cook those with some cinnamon and they will be fabulous over ice cream.

Ooh, baby pears.

Baby pears are fun, they will be pretty on my Thanksgiving table, and then my guests can just help themselves and have a little extra dessert.

So let's see what else I have on my list.

I still need sweet potatoes, squash, and onions.

I've got some more shopping to do, but entertaining at Swan's Nest is a long-held tradition...

The builder, Ben Stanley Revett, hosted grand celebrations there.

That's why I'm looking forward to this Thanksgiving, because we're going to do the same thing.

Thanksgiving for Christy and Randy will not only celebrate the achievements of a three-year restoration, but also a magical reunion with Swan's Nest itself.

The day Randy and I found Swan's Nest, it was pouring rain.

It was in the late summer, and we were actually out looking for property.

Christy and Randy lived in Texas, but since spending their honeymoon in Breckenridge 31 years earlier, they had always wanted to return to Colorado, and establish a home in Summit County.

On our right, there was a sign that said, "For sale, inquire within."

So we did.

And we drove up to this house, and the owner came out, and she was taking us through the house, and she was telling us about the history of it, you know, this was Tiger Run and they had started that and all, and I said, "Wait a minute, Tiger Run, you mean this is where the snowmobile operation was?"

And she said, "Yes, it was just over on the south side of the house," and I said, "Well, we came here and rented snowmobiles on our honeymoon.

So if I had turned around and looked, you mean I would have seen this house?

And she said, "Oh yes, the house was here."

So this house waited for us for shall I say, 31 years of marriage, until we came back.

It was our home and it was waiting for us.

When Christy and Randy purchased the home, it needed a lot of work...

It had drastically inadequate and inefficient heating, drafty windows, and little insulation.

Many original elements had been either removed or covered over with outdated decor and remodels, every room needed a renovation.

But Christy also found wonderful original elements -- lighting fixtures, hidden transom windows, and woodwork that she realized with the right treatment could become beautiful again... in keeping with her plan to revert to its original Swan's Nest grandeur.

I'm not sure either of us thought of a project this immense.

Swan's Nest is a huge, huge undertaking to renovate.

The work ahead included a massive new foundation, new electrical and heating systems, and restoration of a grand old fireplace, windows, floors, woodwork and much more.

But from the beginning, Christy's vision for each space kept the renovation moving forward.

Oh, my gosh!

This room is just going to be so gracious, so beautiful, so elegant, and yet, very approachable, very cozy.

In fact, Christy's vision of the home is nothing less than a complete renovation and restoration... one that will bring this ugly duckling back to its original condition and name as Swan's Nest.

So now, this is its time to come back and become the gracious home that it was always meant to be.

The first step in bringing Swan's Nest back to its original glory, starts at ground level.

We knew that everything hinged on the foundation.

Well, the foundation of anything is the foundation!

From that zero point to the other side of the room, that is four and -- four and an eighth inch difference, so just in a single room, we have that big of a drop.

I'm a little worried about the extent of the foundation damage and what we're gonna have to do to straighten it out.

According to project supervisor, Larry Reeve, the materials and construction used to build Swan's Nest a century ago, were first-rate.

But the years and a long unchecked seepage of water beneath the house have taken a brutal toll on its foundation.

LARRY: They had built it on a framework of logs and beams, and they were quite large when it was built, but over time, they rotted.

The prescription?

Replace eight rotted beams with new ones, and drive concrete piers into the ground below them to add stability.

So this pit that you see in front of you, and you can see just a little bit of guys underneath, that was all solid dirt.

So there was quite a bit of excavation that went on to have that accomplished.

With the old beams removed, it's now time for the tricky task of inserting the massive replacement beams, which need to be accurately premeasured and cut.

You want it flush with the studs on the outside.

I was worried that we wouldn't properly shore up the house, while we were waiting to get the new beam in.

There was a risk that it could come down, and it was successful though.

Larry, I'm amazed how fast you got it in there.

Yeah, it was good teamwork and we actually prepped the beam and checked it several times.

(laughter) After all of the new foundation beams are safely in place, Larry breathes a sigh of relief.

The next task is to transfer the house's weightload onto the new beams.

To accomplish this, 72 concrete piers would have to be driven into the earth.

But how do you do that with a 100-year-old house in the way?

This is pre-stressed concrete.

It's a cable lock system, and they're gonna be pushing that down with a hydraulic ram down into the ground.

The piers are driven in, one small section at a time.

Epoxy is poured into the cavity, which will fuse each piece with the next, forming a single supporting pier.

LARRY: The weight of the house is actually helping push the concrete down into the ground.

When the pressure reaches 3,000 psi, it means the full weight of the house is on the new piers, and the most critical phase of the foundation restoration is complete.

Right now, we're ready to jack this area, all the beams have been replaced, and we're ready to restore.

The house is gonna be lifted six to eight inches.

Some areas are actually more.

After Larry and the foundation crew completed the slow task of bringing Swan's Nest back to level, Christy and Randy are back inside with the definitive golf ball test.

Randy, I've been dying to try this.

So I wonder if these balls are still going to roll to the center.

They better not.

I hope not.

Okay, let's put it down and see what happens.

BOTH: Yes!

It seems the crew completed the task flawlessly.

That's good.

That's very good.

Preparing my Thanksgiving desserts one day ahead means my home is filled with tantalizing aromas, for two days instead of one.

Like the fragrance of the Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake I'm making for this year's celebration.

I have graham cracker crumbs here, and I'm adding melted butter and a little sugar.

And I stir this up until the crumbs are moistened, and my oven is preheated to 325 degrees.

And I pour this mixture into a springform pan.

Then I just use my fingers to press it down into the pan... just like this.

Then, pop this in the oven for just ten minutes.

And it's going to create a beautiful crust for my cheesecake.

So now, to make my filling, I have four packages of softened cream cheese, nice and tangy.

I'm just mixing this at low speed, until I incorporate all of the sugar, and I add in a little bit of flour.

The sugar will add sweetness, and the flour will stabilize the mixture as it bakes.

Next, I add four eggs and a little vanilla, and I beat at low speed.

Here we go.

I pour this mixture into my ready-baked crust... just like this.

And I'm going to reserve about one and a quarter cups of the cheesecake mixture, and to that, I will add the pumpkin.

Just smooth this out a little.

And I can set it aside.

I scrape this mixture into the bowl, to make it easier to add my pumpkin.

And in goes about three quarters of a cup of pureed pumpkin.

Also, into this, I'm going to add ginger.

Little bit of cloves, nice and pungent.

Saigon cinnamon, the aroma and pungency of Saigon cinnamon is amazing and adds tremendous flavor qualities to any dish.

Freshly grated nutmeg, I always grate my own.

There's nothing like the fragrance -- mmm -- of freshly grated nutmeg.

Now I mix this briefly.

And add this mixture to my cheesecake in nice big dollops.

Oh, this is so fragrant.

It smells like Thanksgiving, I'm excited.

My family is going to love this, because this is the kind of dessert that makes memories.

And just swirl with the knife.

And this is ready for the oven.

I bake the cheesecake at 300 degrees for about an hour, then turn off the oven and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes.

And when I serve my Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake, my family and guests have a real holiday memory.

The foundation's level, but there's still a lot to do before we can host our first Thanksgiving.

Fall has arrived and the early mountain snowfalls are gorgeous, but they also indicate that temperatures are really dropping quickly.

We've had our first couple of snowfalls here at Swan's Nest, it's getting cold.

The other morning, it was two degrees... two degrees here!

Swan's Nest was built to be a summer home without insulation, but at 9,000 feet, it can get cold any time of year.

To help warm the home, the fireplace provided heat downstairs, some of which migrated upstairs through in-floor open grills.

Also for the upper floor, holes in the chimney indicate there may have been heating stoves upstairs.

While its standards may not have been very high for today's living, at that time, it was the only way to really be comfortable.

But the word comfortable may be kind of a stretch because I guarantee you with what was here in the house in the early days, those people were cold.

In the early 1970's, cast-iron hot-water radiators were added on the ground floor.

But for 21st century year-round living, a new system was needed.

So work began to install tubing throughout the house, connecting to 15 different heating zones in the 5,000 square foot structure.

Swan's Nest will not always be full, there will be times when it will just be the two of us.

Randy and I will not need to heat the upstairs, because it'll just be us downstairs.

The tubing leads to locations where new low profile hot-water radiators can provide warmth while preserving the home's historic character.

At the source of all this would be a new wall-hung high efficiency boiler located in the new mechanical room in the garage.

After the tubing was put in, an expanding foam insulation was added inside exterior walls to reduce heat loss.

But as temperatures continued to drop, installation of the boiler and radiators have fallen behind schedule.

Well, as you know, those radiators was supposed to have been in last week.

Yeah, I know.

And we had it all planned out.

We pre-sanded this floor, so as soon as the insulation was in, we'd put up a piece of sheetrock behind it, and then set the radiator.

And the tubing was supposed to come up right here in the floor.

Through here.

Right.

There's no hole for it.

No, but that's because they needed the radiators to bring the tubing up.

So now the problem is, the tubing is in the room down below, the edge of the master bath, and we can't sheetrock that ceiling until we can feed the tubing up here in the floor.

That's a problem.

That's a problem.

Well, this morning's cold.

It's been getting down in the low digits, or in the minuses.

Yesterday, I made a mistake of leaving my water in the house.

Normally, I take it home.

And as you can see, ice.

This is inside the master bedroom.

The heat is running about three months late.

As of this morning, they ran a pressure test on the system and it leaks.

It is actually beyond disappointment.

Without heat, this whole project has been set back about two months.

Without working heat, drywalling mud freezes, paints and stains will not dry properly.

Hardwood can be sanded but not finished.

And even the availability of running water in the house to prevent freezing pipes is impacted.

Portable heaters run in an attempt to make a dent on the cold.

We cannot finish the kitchen without heat, and obviously, we cannot finish the house.

CHRISTY: Although we're still working out some problems with the heating system, we finally have heat.

A major obstacle to sharing this home with family and friends during the holiday season.

There's still plenty more to do, but projects go much more smoothly with heat in the house.

Christy's vision of creating an elegant, gracious, and authentically historic atmosphere for holiday guests, includes paying particular attention to lighting and electrical.

A special challenge in a 19th century home, where electrician Bill Tinker has to navigate a tangle of outdated wiring upgrades, dating back 80 years or more.

As you can see, in this hole here is two green wires.

That goes back to the days of the old knob and tube wiring, when nothing was grounded at all.

The knob and tubes go back into the teens, early '20s for sure.

Here in the dining room, Bill has found that the existing wiring surrounding the old knob and tube is up-to-date, it saves him from having to run new wire to all the lighting in the room.

But in the master bedroom, the desire to update Swan's Nest while staying true to its original design isn't so simple... Bill, this room has been the biggest challenge for me, and I'm hoping you can help.

The reason this is a challenge is, the wood is absolutely gorgeous.

It's original from when the house was built, but it's really, really dark.

To add more general light to this room, Christy and Bill quickly narrow their options from historic-looking sconces, to recessed lights that would require cutting into the wood ceiling, to cove lighting.

These strips of lights hidden at the top of the walls could be the best way to brighten the room, by reflecting off the shiny wood ceiling.

The beauty of it is, there's a bulb all along the entire strip, so you get a good, even lighting, they come in eight foot strips, you can cut them, they make a joiner piece so you can continue with it.

The strip sits on top of the wall, and a piece of crown molding installed at an angle forms the cove.

I definitely want to keep the source of the light as high to the top of the molding as you can, so we can get the maximize amount of light out of the strip.

The only criteria is you don't want to see them from the floor.

Right.

Exactly.

Christy and Randy were sold on the cove lighting, and in fact, had it installed in other spaces in the house as well.

The only major electrical decision left was the low-voltage wiring plan for phone, TV, and computers.

A structured cable which combines four cables in one, allows for maximum versatility.

So you could put a data port on that one, you could put up to four telephone lines on that one, and still have two coaxial cables -- say, one for TV, or one could be for high-speed Internet.

One major consideration was price...

The structured cable, while flexible, costs 75 cents a foot making it too expensive to run everywhere.

The plan they came up with makes limited use of the structured cable, opting for the less expensive, single-wiring options in most of the rooms.

Well, if you do know what you want now, we can go ahead and do you a very economical job by making individual home runs.

This kind of detailed planning is exactly why Christy and Randy hired Bill in the first place.

And it turns out that the electrical work was one of the smoothest phases of the renovation, producing precisely what Christy was hoping for -- an authentic historic home with all the modern conveniences of the 21st century.

Thanks to Bill's expertise, the master bedroom, like the rest of the house, is a much brighter, elegant space, and has retained all the charm and history of its original construction.

This critical step moves Christy and Randy even closer to being ready for their first Thanksgiving celebration.

One of the things I love most about celebrating Thanksgiving is gathering around the table with my family and friends, and this year, it's so exciting because our sons, Timothy and Bob, will be joining us, so I love setting a beautiful table, and it starts with the warmth of the wood.

Placemats that are gold but kind of muted so that they aren't too elegant.

Gold chargers to add a little sparkle to the table.

And fabric, I always use fabric on my tables because it creates texture and added color and interest to the table.

I use silk garland of autumn leaves that kind of sets the theme for the table.

And then I go from there and I add my fresh fruits and my vegetables.

I also, on this table, have caramel-colored pillars.

Nice, big pillars that pick up that warmth.

They're very, very seasonal and I love that!

And then I have all these wonderful autumn vegetables and fruits.

And what I'm doing, I'm creating the sense of bounty and harvest on this table.

I'm also decorating in a very cost-effective manner because next week, these fruits and vegetables will show up in my menus.

Persimmons -- next week, that will be in a bread.

Baby pears -- baby pears are so easy for my guests to just bite into during dessert.

Red Garnet sweet potatoes -- those will be yummy with a little touch of butter and some brown sugar next week.

And leaves -- autumn leaves that I've collected in Pennsylvania, the state where I was born -- And every time I visit in the fall, I always look for the really pretty ones -- and here's a pretty red one -- and I press them between the pages of magazines, and then I carry them home very carefully and dry them so that I have them for each year.

Then I like to do napkin folds that are very natural looking.

It's a very simple touch, but it's the simple things that make family gatherings so memorable.

All of the work on Swan's Nest has focused on renovating the existing structure so that Christy can entertain family and friends, the way Ben Stanley Revett did in this very space.

But there is one exception -- The addition of a large, new kitchen to the back of the house.

This is my new kitchen.

The most exciting part for me is this area, because that is my pantry.

I am going to have a gorgeous, large pantry for the first time ever.

As a prominent chef, Christy holds industry gatherings, special events, and is even planning to host a cooking series from Swan's Nest.

This means Christy will keep the existing kitchen as well, to make all of that possible.

Over time, the new kitchen starts to take shape, and Christy's excitement builds.

As I drove up today, I got to see the walls of my new kitchen up for the first time.

When I arrived today, the front wall was up, and you could see where the double-tier windows were going to be and all, and I actually stood there and looked out and said, "I'm looking out my window!"

It was really kind of an exciting moment.

We did have a little glitch with the back wall however -- As Randy and I were talking, I said, "Well, how long is this?"

Got out the tape measure and he started measuring out and all of a sudden he goes, "Wait a minute, this isn't even!

It's ten feet and something on one side, and nine feet and something on the other."

That's not bad except that the sink where the window is was supposed to be centered.

I mean, that won't take long to fix.

Okay.

It's still a big kitchen.

Yeah, it is.

Little glitches, they do happen, but they've already, in the course of me being here today, corrected that.

But it is such a thrill to see the walls go up!

And I can actually envision myself in the kitchen.

With framing squared away, the new kitchen's walls go up, roofing is put on, and cabinets are installed.

At the same time, the home's existing kitchen needs a complete facelift.

This step is crucial to allow Christy to prepare a Thanksgiving celebration for her family and friends.

You know, I think this is just gonna lift off.

Ha!

Look at that!

We don't need tools for this, just a little strength!

The first step to get the current kitchen up-to-date was to remove countertops and cabinetry.

Gosh, it should all be this easy.

Including those in the adjoining space, which had originally been used as a vault for Ben Revett's gold.

Any surprises?

Uh, no treasure.

These holes down here are actually breathing holes, so it allowed air to circulate, and then you see the slots up on the top.

If somebody got locked in the vault I guess, they would breathe.

But also to keep things constant in humidity.

CHRISTY: The gold vault is about to undergo a major transformation.

It had been used as kind of a butler's pantry for the last 20, 30 years; we're going to pretty much keep it to that use except we're also going to make it into a wine cellar.

MAN: There was a layer of concrete on top of the original flagstone, and we went and chipped it out.

We'd hoped to recover the original stone, but it's been damaged and stuff, so... Yeah, I think some folks were looking for gold, since it was the vault.

A lot of the stone has been removed, and there was rubble that was put back in with the concrete on top of it.

You can see the original flagstone right there, that would have been the original floor, but the center of it's all been removed.

So with the vault and main kitchen stripped, it was ready for building back up.

The 111-year-old floor was sanded for later finishing.

New maple cabinetry with a butterscotch glaze was installed in the vault in the cooking area.

And in the passage leading to the dining room, a large buffet with leaded glass doors, and in-cabinet lighting.

Eventually, electrical, heating, and plumbing were all brought up to code.

The kitchen received energy efficient appliances, quartz countertops, a new sink, recessed lighting in the ceiling, and re-installation of original antique light fixtures.

So as the new kitchen addition continues its construction, Christy still has a wonderful place to prepare Swan's Nest first Thanksgiving turkey, with all the trimmings.

Oh, this turkey is going to be so good, and with it, I'm going to serve cornbread dressing.

Cornbread dressing is a southern tradition my family loves.

So this year I'm serving Italian Sausage Cornbread Dressing.

And I start with flour, cornmeal, a little sugar, just to add a touch of sweetness.

Some baking powder, and a little bit of salt.

And I stir this together, just until it's mixed.

And then I have two eggs, and I beat them with a fork.

And then add milk, and then I will add in some oil.

Then I pour this mixture into the cornmeal mixture, and I stir just until it's blended.

I love this recipe.

I make the cornbread, usually the day before Thanksgiving.

It saves me lots of time on Thanksgiving day.

And it's just so simple and easy.

And that little bit of sugar in there gives the cornbread just a nice touch of sweetness, and I like that.

Then I have a baking pan that I have sprayed with a little non-stick spray, and I pour this mixture into this 9 x 13 inch pan.

Smooth it out just a little.

There we go.

And pop it into the oven.

This is going to bake at 350 degrees, for about 40 minutes, until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Then once it's baked, I have my cornbread like this, and I just crumble it a bit.

And to this, I'm going to add a couple slices of wheat bread that I have dried.

I just let it sit out for a little while until it dries, and just mix it with my hands.

Then I add some chopped celery -- nice crunch.

Sweet onions...

Some chopped apple and the apple will give this a nice sweetness.

Some golden raisins for just that little chewiness, plus some pretty color.

And then I have dried sage, and fresh sage.

And a little bit of Italian seasoning.

And I give this just a little bit of a stir... just 'til it's mixed a little bit, there we go.

And I break this up.

And then I have the Italian sausage, and I have pre-cooked this until it's nice and brown.

This Italian sausage is going to give the dressing a nice little kick in the back of the throat, terrific flavor.

And you know, there's something about cornbread dressing that, you know, it's tradition, it's what people look forward to every year on our table, and it's going to make my friends go "Wow, this is terrific with the turkey!"

Then after I have that mixed, I take two eggs, and I just whip them a little bit with a fork, and add some chicken broth.

Then I add this mixture to my cornbread.

And I'll hold back just a little 'til I see how much moisture it needs, to see if I need to add the rest.

Mmm, it's pretty.

Look at all the pretty colors in this.

You know, I think that's enough, so I won't add the last little bit.

And I don't want to overmix it, but -- so I'm going to put that into a greased pan, and bake this covered in a 350-degree oven for about, oh, 45 minutes.

Then I'll uncover it for ten more minutes, let it brown on top, and this Italian Sausage Cornbread Dressing is going to be what Thanksgiving's all about -- great flavors and lots of tradition!

Thanksgiving isn't complete without stuffing... And for Christy, it's also not complete without a warm and welcoming space in which to celebrate.

She and Randy mapped out several alterations to the layout of Swan's Nest, some of which involved removing walls... Whoo!

Whoa, we're getting it!

But demolition doesn't happen in a house this old without plenty of thought beforehand...

When you're gonna take a wall out, one of the first things you have to do is determine whether it's bearing.

Bearing meaning that it's supporting the roof and we assessed this wall and determined it wasn't bearing, we were able to take it out.

And there are surprises, too... As the wall was demoed, a transom window was discovered that had been hidden for decades.

Throughout the house, numerous hidden elements were discovered... like this painted window in the first floor bath.

And in the living room, the original fireplace was hiding behind a facade, added by the home's previous owners.

While much of the original wood is still in tact, the fireplace would take a lot of care to restore, just like trim and molding throughout the house -- some is damaged, does not match, or is just plain missing.

Oh, look at the color.

Oh, I like the color much better than this.

So can we clean this up?

Yes.

The job here is to create identical molding from new wood, taking care to match both size and grooving.

But perhaps an even bigger challenge is to match the finish of the new wood to the old.

This particular stain is very rich and it brings out the beauty and the age of the wood.

And then it would also, as this dried, if I were to just varnish this with clear varnish, it would look like a new piece of pine.

But for some little magical reason, the red varnish deepens it and gives it an aged look.

So I'm going to layer this in.

You'll still see the existing grain, it just deepens it and brings the beauty of the wood out.

It does, it brings out a lot of dimension.

Matching the entryway trim to the adjacent wainscoting is just one example of the excellent craftsmanship applied to every phase of the Swan's Nest restoration.

Another is Larry's work on this oval window, adjacent to the second floor tub.

In addition to being a project supervisor, Larry is a specialist in Victorian era carpentry.

Throughout the restoration of Swan's Nest, Randy and Christy applied their own expertise, and just plain hard work every step along the way.

Still true to form, Christy did find time to entertain.

You know, you don't have to have the perfect kitchen, and you don't have to have the perfect time and all that.

You can still put together a meal, call up some friends or neighbors, or your family, and sit down and enjoy it together.

I'm so lucky to have our sons here for Thanksgiving this year.

And now they're helping me in the kitchen.

Timothy and Bob, thanks so much.

Oh, you're welcome.

There's lots of activity in the kitchen during that final hour before Thanksgiving dinner is served.

So I like to make a side dish that pretty much cooks on its own.

Today I'm making Autumn Roasted Vegetables, and I do all the chopping the day before.

And that's a welcome timesaver on Thanksgiving day.

I have White Creamer potatoes... and sweet potatoes... and white sweet potatoes.

And I'm just pouring them into a roasting pan.

Butternut squash -- ooh, this is going to have a nice caramelized flavor when this comes out of the oven.

Look at all the pretty colors, I love that.

Acorn squash, just peeled and sliced up.

Mmm...lovely.

And then for color and great flavor, red boiler onions.

So Timothy is making cranberry filled orange cups over there.

That's going to be nice with the turkey, Timothy, great garnish; and Bob is making ambrosia.

Combination of...oranges... Oranges, some pineapple slices, orange juice, the coconut I was just throwing in, I have pomegranate seeds in here, and at the end, I will sprinkle some fresh mint on top of everything.

Oh, that sounds pretty.

A very traditional dish, and it can be used for dessert, it can be used as a salad.

Thanks guys, that's gonna be a big help.

You're welcome.

And now I'll put in the white boiler onions.

Oh, this is going to be fabulous.

Okay...There we go, and we've got one there.

Okay, and then, fresh garlic.

This garlic is going to turn very sweet when it's roasted.

And so I like to use just the whole cloves.

That way some people who really like garlic get the whole thing, and that makes it kind of fun.

Then I just season this a little bit with coarse salt... and freshly ground black pepper.

Going to pour on some olive oil, about a quarter of a cup total.

And then when everything roasts in the oven, these vegetables are going to get caramelized and tender and juicy and fragrant, and I have some fresh thyme, and I just pull down on the leaves to release them from the stem.

And I use that to add great flavor to this.

I'm gonna make it kind of a little walk in the garden kind of flavor.

It's very, very fresh, it's very fun.

I like to grow my own herbs during the summer, and in the winter, I keep little pots of them, so that I can always have some fresh herbs on my recipes.

And then at the end, I just place a little bouquet of fresh thyme right there, and this is ready to pop into the oven.

By the time these are done, the turkey will be done, too.

And we'll be ready to sit down for a good old-fashioned family Thanksgiving.

There were times that I felt like I was restoring this house for someone else.

There was just so much going on in this house, it didn't feel like it was mine.

But now this truly is my home.

It's the home that Randy and I have created for our family and our friends.

It's the home that we love and we get to share that love with others, and I could not be happier.

Everything at Swan's Nest is set -- after 24 months of persistence, determination, and just plain hard work, the renovation of Swan's Nest is almost complete... more than ready enough to entertain again... in grand style in the dining room, just as Ben Stanley Revett himself loved to do.

Here it is, everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May we start with a grace please?

We come together with thankful hearts for this beautiful home, the warmth of friendship, the love of family, and the food we will share, amen.

Amen.

Oh, thank you, dear.

I'd like to propose a toast to Randy and Christy for bringing us all together here to share this traditional meal and a wonderful, wonderful home -- cheers!

Cheers!

Thank you, Kurt.

Ooh, happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Let's begin!

You know, Bob made the ambrosia.

And Timothy did all the orange cups with the cranberries for the turkey.

Oh, I would, thank you, thank you.

I'm so glad everyone could be here this year.

This is our first Thanksgiving in Swan's Nest!

Oh, thank you so much, thanks, Kurt.

Very delighted to be a part of this project.

It was a big project.

This is the largest historical home in Summit County.

It's got a lot of rich history associated with it.

It was a fun opportunity.

Oh, excellent!

Oh, happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Yay!

For more information on recipes and tips, visit ChristyRost.com.

Additional support for "A Home for Christy Rost Thanksgiving," was provided by Shenandoah Cabinetry... And by KitchenAid.