Each year in Sulphur, it begins to look a lot like Christmas the first weekend of December. That’s when the small downtown becomes ablaze at night with Yuletide lights and outsized decorations, along with all kinds of picturesque kitsch like horse-drawn carriage rides, candlelit historical tours, and bands of roving carolers jolly enough to put old man Fezziwig to shame.

“Sulphur comes alive for the holidays,” says Linda Davis, proprietor and chef at Flower Bluff Manor. “It’s a real Hallmark feel we’ve got here.”

From the outside, the manor is something to see at peak seasonal luminescence, but even undecorated, it stands out by virtue of its unique architecture—call it an Arts and Crafts Foursquare mansion replete with Southern charms like a wraparound porch and second-floor veranda. Built in 1924 by businessman (and onetime Sulphur mayor and sheriff) Jesse Denton Ramsey, the mansion is said to have been a gift to his third wife and former maid, Sophia. Their ghosts are reputed to still haunt its upstairs rooms, which are available to rent nightly for those wanting to explore the manor’s spookier side.

But for a more wholesome, less supernatural kind of holiday spirit, dinner should do the trick. Entering its cozy front dining room, visitors might infer from the garland-and-holly-decked mantel and crackling fireplace that the manor can provide the ideal Christmas Eve dinner for those not wanting to cook it themselves. Somewhere between sumptuous and rustic, the period-specific atmosphere is helped along by historical photos lining the walls. The restaurant’s service approaches fine dining but with a relaxed country flair. There’s even a fire pit outside for guests to warm their hands while enjoying the frosty air in the wintertime.

Flower Bluff Manor feels well-established now, but Davis admits that launching a new restaurant after acquiring the property in early 2020 was hardly the perfect timing.

“When COVID hit,” she says, “I had to get creative.”

After some triage and belt-tightening, now she can count on the region’s weekend tourists to help fill the fifty-plus seats within and without the manor and concentrate on feeding her guests home-cooked meals, the most popular of which are the steaks, unsurprisingly, since Davis serves Certified Angus Prime beef that she cuts on the premises and grills to perfection with the help of a salamander broiler. These steaks can compete with some of Oklahoma City and Tulsa’s finest-—without the big-city prices.

It’s a point of pride that nearly everything that hits the table is made in-house. The Marry Me chicken, a menu standout, takes its name from an herb-driven, sun-dried tomato sauce that’s verdant, enigmatic, and sensuous enough (just maybe) to inspire propositions of matrimony.

For the holidays, it’s not just the décor that makes the season. A special menu built around winter comfort food features roast beef, ham, beans and cornbread, chicken and dumplings, a Christmas meatloaf, and Davis’ signature baked potato soup. And the Cajun pasta, featured on the take-and-bake menu and accented beautifully by sautéed bell peppers and sausage, is intricately spiced until it’s lush and peppery-rich enough to make New Orleans natives homesick. It’s not necessarily a traditional favorite, but it soon will be.

Guests can rent Flower Bluff Manor for private events like family reunions and holiday parties, but since its reputation has grown as a place to make merry, they’ll want to make their reservations early. Davis knows that the manor offers something singular, something that recalls a vintage Christmas card from a bygone era.

“With families so separated these days, I want them to feel like they’re eating at Grandma’s house,” she says. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it.”