Getting a second home ready for the festive season

The festive season in a second home plays out on a reverse calendar: works and heating settled well before, tree and decorations put up in late November, provisions and gifts delivered in the first half of December, bedrooms and spare beds made ready for guests. When the family arrives before you, the day itself is shared remotely, with photos and coordination to match. After the festivities, the take-down closes the parenthesis and the property returns to its waiting rhythm. This guide walks through the weeks, from November to January.

What reverse calendar for the festive season?

The principle is the same as for a show: everything long gets done early, everything fresh gets done late. November works will not wait, nor will December’s tree, and the Christmas Eve groceries even less. Here is the typical calendar, week by week:

Week	Goal	Who acts
Early November	Heavy works completed, boiler serviced, chimney swept, attic and guest bedrooms cleared	Tradespeople coordinated by your dedicated contact, on an approved quote
Mid-November	Heating on a gradual rise, beds and linen checked, stocktake of supplies	Upkeep team, written report
Late November	Tree installed and decorated, garlands hung, lights checked	Upkeep team, photos approved remotely
First half of December	Provisions, gifts delivered and hidden, fresh linen, spare beds prepared	Teams supervised remotely, approvals by message
Festive week	Bedrooms ready, meals ordered from the caterer, guest transfers confirmed	Your dedicated contact, in direct contact with you
After the festivities	Take-down, tree recycling, cleaning, closing the property	Upkeep team, end-of-stay report

Two classic traps are defused in this table. The first, believing a small job can wait until spring: in December tradespeople are swamped, and the guest room’s paint gets done in November or not at all. The second, wanting to carry everything in your luggage: gifts delivered ahead travel better than in a hold, and hide very well in an attic organised for that purpose.

Another point, less visible but decisive for comfort: a house that has spent the autumn closed does not come alive in a single evening. The temperature rises in stages, the rarely heated rooms are opened one by one, the traps run, the shutters are worked, the sheets breathe. That is the whole point of the mid-November phase: the residence comes back to life gradually, so that the first guests walk into a lived-in house, not a house still waking up.

The preparation and welcome service carries most of this calendar, with one single pilot scheduling the visits and reporting back, photo in support, while you prepare the festivities elsewhere.

How do you welcome guests coming from abroad?

The festive season gathers scattered families, which means flights landing at different hours, sometimes over several days. Three preparations absorb that flow:

• Transfers: a car or a driving service booked for each arrival, with flight numbers tracked and a plan B if a flight slips.
• Keys: a second set entrusted to your dedicated contact, to welcome the first arrivals even if you are still on your way.
• Bedrooms: every spare bed identified, mattresses checked, fresh linen, a working bedside lamp, and some free space for cases.

A practical note, sent to guests before they leave, avoids midnight questions: the wifi code, how the shower works, the exact address for taxis, a number to call on site. Guests who are self-sufficient on the first evening make relaxed hosts the next morning.

The arrivals table, kept by your dedicated contact, sums up this little world: who lands, when, on which flight or train, who is expected at the airport, who will take a taxi, who holds their keys. Every line updates as delays and changes come in, and the unexpected, a diverted flight, a lost case, is handled without waking the household. By the time you arrive yourself, the table already belongs to the furniture.

How is the day itself shared when the family arrives before you?

The scenario is common: children and grandchildren land on the 20th, you only join them on the 23rd or 24th. During that gap, your dedicated contact acts as relay: preparing the house, coordinating the caterer for Christmas Eve, having fresh produce delivered on the right date and sending you the photos of the table setting.

On the day itself, the table is laid to the approved plan, the caterer’s food arrives at the agreed hour, and you follow the scene from your time zone: a message as things are set up, a photo of the table before guests sit down, a video call over dessert or coffee. Distance grows discreet when everything is documented.

This remote sharing has one condition: decisions are made beforehand, not during. The menu, the hour, the seating plan, the niece’s allergies, everything is settled in the first half of December, so the final days hold only confirmations.

The Christmas Eve menu follows that principle. The caterer proposes it in November, you approve it on description, and the adaptations, a gluten-free main, a vegetarian starter, chocolate in place of the traditional dessert, are fixed at the same time as the headcount. Quantities are set against the arrivals table, which still moves; one update a week before, then a confirmation at three days, is enough to avoid a turkey for twelve when only eight remain.

How do you take down and close up after the festivities?

January has its liturgy. Decorations come down and go into labelled boxes; the tree leaves for recycling under the local scheme; Christmas Eve leftovers are shared or discarded; the house is cleaned thoroughly after the guests’ passage. The linen goes back to the wash, the spare beds close up, and the heating returns to absence mode.

Closing follows the usual ritual: shutters, water, appliances, check of exits, and an end-of-stay report recording the condition of the property, anomalies noticed during the festivities, a chipped glass, a warming plug, and the proposed follow-ups. That report marks the transition into the new year: the property returns to its waiting regime, ready for the next stay.

A few household accounts are settled in that window as well: opened bottles are noted for the next visit, freezable leftovers are split between freezer and containers, and the linen from every bedroom goes to the wash in a single run. None of it waits for you in spring: January closes the festivities cleanly, just as November opened them in earnest.

Going further

When the festivities herald a longer installation, children’s schooling and the family rhythm in mind, our article on moving in as a family and schooling extends the thinking. For the whole of your stays and events, the bespoke concierge service remains the entry point: one dedicated person who knows your home, your tastes and your time zone. The Journal’s Art de vivre category gathers all our other topics on festivities and tables.

Every family celebrates in its own way: Christmas Eve for twelve or an intimate dinner, a natural tree or a sober wreath. If you are preparing the festivities in your second home, the complimentary personal study offered by French Realty helps build your reverse calendar with your dedicated contact, from the chimney sweep to the tree recycling.