In the wee hours of the night, Bristol residents were reintroduced to the house of an old friend, St. Nick. The James D. Reilly Foundation’s Santa House made its way from the North Pole on Saturday, Nov. 2, and will host its first-eve open house on Saturday, Nov. 23.

The open house will give guests the chance to tour the house and will feature live music for the guests. It will be the first time that the Santa House has been subject to an open house.

“Previous years, we just announced the first day and the public came and they took pictures,” Michael Reilly said. “We just want to kick it off a bit better this year.”

Reilly mentioned that in previous two years, people often did not get to come into the house as a result of long lines. He believes this will be an easier way for people to at least get to tour the house.

In addition to live music, the open house will feature free hot chocolate and cookies and, for the first time at the Santa house, Mrs. Claus will be making an appearance.

“We usually do the lighting, and Mrs. Claus will do the lighting with us and other events, but I think this will be the first time we have Mrs. Claus at the Santa House.”

While the house is now standing next to the Bristol State House on the Town Common, it is a shell at this point, as it has not been decorated yet. The foundation bought a tiny house a few years ago and built it up from scratch, making its public debut in 2021. The core mission of the house is to provide the Santa experience for children with intellectual and physical developmental issues. People come from far beyond the East Bay area to see the house, with families from Alaska and California coming for private meetings with Santa last year.

The foundation wants to have the house on permanent display in Bristol throughout the year. They have been given offers from neighboring communities regarding a permanent home for the house, but Reilly wants to keep the home in Bristol.

“This is my town. I’ve lived here all my life. This is the main goal, to keep the house in Bristol,” he said.

The foundation and their volunteers will begin decorating the house for the arrival of Santa Claus in the coming days.