It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas at the Conrad Mansion Museum in Kalispell.

Staff and volunteers are gearing up for what promises to be a busy holiday season of special tours and Christmas events. But then it’s been a busy year for the museum.

Executive Director Gennifer Sauter said 2014 has been a “year of firsts” for the nearly 40-year-old museum.

“It’s sort of a regeneration as we’re preparing to go into our 40th year,” Sauter said.

In the spring the mansion partnered with the Glacier Institute to host several educational community lectures and fundraising events. The museum offered vendors and activities on the mansion’s lawn on Independence Day. In October they extended their Ghost Tours to include an additional weekend.

As the holidays approach, there’s no sign of slowing down or waning interest.

Sauter said she and the staff are looking forward to the season, especially considering Christmas was “Mrs. Conrad’s favorite time of year.”

THE CONRAD MANSION was home to Charles E. Conrad, a founder of Kalispell who established the Kalispell Townsite Company and later Conrad National Bank. In 1895 he had the mansion built for his family at the edge of the original townsite.

Sauter said Conrad’s wife Alicia loved the holidays. The family would decorate, cook and entertain during the winter season, but Christmas found it’s way into the permanent fabric of the home as well. The hand-painted linen border near the ceiling of the Music Room features designs resembling Christmas ornaments, and the stained glass panels on the second floor have a Christmas wreath at the center.

The mansion’s current Christmas visitors have the chance to view some of the Conrad family’s original seasonal decorations and accoutrements. The skis and sleds displayed on the third floor are family originals, as are the winter quilts, coats, shawls and various decorations throughout the house.

The mansion also has a large, period-style Christmas tree in the Great Hall, a collection of nutcrackers in the Library, what resembles Christmas pudding in the Dining Room, and a nativity in the gazebo outside. Visitors during the season should have no problems getting into the historical holiday spirit.

Christmas Tours begin Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving, and run through Dec. 27. The tours are Fridays and Saturdays at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Guided group tours are available to be scheduled throughout the season.

Christmas Tea and Tours will be Dec. 6, 13, 20 and 27 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. For $25, guests can enjoy a full guided tour of the mansion followed by traditional tea in the Dining Room. Menus vary for each tour.

Children’s Christmas, featuring Santa in the Great Hall, is Dec. 11 from 4 to 7 p.m. Local photographer Karen Weyer volunteers each year for the event, providing children with a keepsake photo for $10. Children will also receive a small gift from Santa.

The Christmas Choir “Evensong” event will feature the Valley Voices community choir on Dec. 18 from 7 to 9 p.m.

“They always give a beautiful concert,” Sauter said.

The event will include hot cider, coffee and dessert following the concert. Cost is $15 per person.

Reservations are required for all winter events. For more information on any of the museum’s tours and events or to make reservations, call the Conrad Mansion Museum at 755-2166.

THE NEXT TWO years promise to be big ones for the Conrad Mansion Museum as they gear up to celebrate their 40th anniversary.

Charles Conrad’s youngest daughter, Alicia Conrad Campbell, lived in the mansion until 1964. A decade later, in 1974, she decided to donate the estate to the city of Kalispell in memory of her parents. The home underwent two years of renovations and reorganization, then opened its doors for the first museum tours in 1976 as the Conrad Mansion Museum.

Sauter said “plans are in the works” for a large celebration event, or possibly even an entire year of events from July 2015 to July 2016, to mark the anniversary.

In the meantime, Sauter said the museum hopes to continue adding new events and tours in 2015. She said most of their tours and events sold out this year, and so moving ahead they want to offer even more opportunities for visitors to see the house.

Sauter and Assistant Manager Margot Jaumotte credit the museum’s staff and volunteers for the success of the tours.

“The staff is absolutely the backbone,” Jaumotte said. “So many people have so many volunteer hours invested in this place.”

The mansion is an important part of Kalispell’s “fascinating” history and worth seeing on its own, according to Jaumotte. But the community involvement and team of people working to keep it thriving make it even more special.

“The house speaks for itself,” Jaumotte said. “We’re so fortunate to be the caretakers.”

The Conrad Mansion Museum is located at 330 Woodland Ave. in Kalispell. For more information visit www.conradmansion.com or call 755-2166.

Entertainment editor Stefanie Johnson can be reached at 758-4439 or ThisWeek@dailyinterlake.com.