It's nearly impossible to imagine a family that loves holidays more than the Burtka-Harrises. From their near-legendary group Halloween costumes, to throwing a yearly Christmas party complete with an appearance from Santa Claus himself, Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka, and their nine-year-old twins, Harper and Gideon, are masters of celebration. And while the duo busts out decor for every event, no matter how small (“We have a sign in storage that says ‘Super Bowl Party,' and David hates football, so that's how committed this man is,” Harris says), their five-story brownstone in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood is at its most magical during Christmastime. “We are very hands-on. Neil is an amazing tree builder and light trimmer.
“And I usually do all the garlands, the tablescapes and the flowers,” says Burkta, who wrote his first book on entertaining, Life Is a Party, earlier this year. Virtually every room in the house gets decorated, each with its own special theme. The dining room's chandelier gets covered in antique snowflakes, for example, while in the living room next door, a fleet of Nutcrackers hold court on the coffee table. “On a scale of 1 to 10, we're an eight-and-a-half to nine with decorating,” Burtka says, laughing. Adds Harris, “We've been together for over 15 years, which is a lot of holidays. And every holiday you wind up buying a throw pillow, a new Nutcracker, or something. And we've kept it all.”
Festive Cheer
The home, which features enviably high ceilings, can accommodate the tallest of trees, which is one of the reasons the couple switched to artificial varieties a few years ago. “In Manhattan, it's trickier to get fresh trees, and to get big, tall ones.” says Harris. This year, the family put a 12-foot-tall one from Balsam Hill in the music room, which was then decorated with gold-and-white ornaments, including many made by their children. And while this space is one of the more formal areas of the home, it is often the centre of action for their yearly Christmas party. Harris likes to end the night with a White Elephant gift exchange where all partygoers crowd into the room. “I love hosting games,” he says. “It's a very friendly one and everyone brings an expensive-ish gift so that everyone is relatively happy. The holiday party, for us, is a good opportunity to get to reconnect with people that we haven't seen in a long time.”
Upstairs in the living room, however, is a more relaxed space, and where the family opens gifts on Christmas morning. The focal point here is generally the jaw-dropping collection of art—Kehinde Wiley and Banksy are just a few of the artists on display at the home—but for the holiday, there are customised stockings, garlands festooned with bright red ribbon, and another tree, this one a 10-foot artificial Vermont White Spruce, also from Balsam Hill. “We probably spend most of our time there because that's the central floor of the house,” says Harris. Christmas morning usually involves the twins opening presents, while Burtka whips up something in the kitchen, like homemade cinnamon rolls, or eggs topped with caviar left over from the party.
