Christmas at the OBX
A house already decorated for Christmas
A gas fireplace, a covered hot tub, and a quiet beach — with the tree, the stockings, and the lights already up, so no one spends the first night of vacation decorating a rental.
Decorated top to bottom, not just the listing photo
A rental that only looks festive in a stock photo is still a bare rental on Christmas morning. This house gets dressed for the season in person, floor by floor — a real tree in the entry, holiday quilts on the beds in multiple bedrooms, the dining table set with holiday dishes, and small touches in the kitchen — all up and in place before the first Christmas-week guest checks in.
Christmas in Corolla
Corolla runs its own small holiday season, centered on Historic Corolla Park and the village's one year-round church, all within a few minutes of the house.
Corolla Chapel, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
The only year-round church in Corolla, and interdenominational — welcoming locals, visitors, and seasonal residents alike. The chapel takes part in the village's Grand Illumination and holds a candlelight Christmas Eve service at 7pm, full of scripture and carols, followed by a Christmas Day service at 9am. It's a five-minute drive from the house.
Corolla Chapel Christmas schedule →Christmas Craft Village
A free outdoor show at Whalehead in Historic Corolla Park on the first Friday after Thanksgiving (November 27, 2026, 11am–4pm) — local artists and vendors selling pottery, ornaments, jewelry, art, and baked goods.
Corolla holiday events →Corolla Village Holiday Market
A newer evening event in Historic Corolla Village — craft vendors, food trucks, hot chocolate, a s'mores fire pit, live music, and caroling, with the whole village strung in lights.
Christmas in Corolla details →Whalehead Christmas Candlelight Tours
Friday and Saturday evenings from late November through mid-December, the 1920s Whalehead mansion is toured by candlelight with period décor, live piano, and carols. $20 per person; reservations required at (252) 453-9040.
Whalehead candlelight tour info →Christmas on the rest of the Outer Banks
Corolla stays quiet, but the towns south of it fill December with real programming — all within an easy drive.
Duck Yuletide Celebration
A short drive south, the Town of Duck lights its crab-pot Christmas tree, brings in Santa on a fire truck, and fills the town park with live music and hot cocoa for one afternoon each December.
Town of Duck event details →WinterLights, Elizabethan Gardens
An hour south in Manteo, the Elizabethan Gardens string the whole ten-acre garden with lights for most of the season — timed-entry tickets, an open fire, and a genuinely different kind of evening out.
WinterLights tickets & dates →Manteo Christmas Tree Lighting & Parade
Manteo's waterfront hosts a Friday-evening tree lighting with a gingerbread house competition, followed by a Saturday-morning parade through downtown — the closest thing the Outer Banks has to a small-town Christmas.
Town of Manteo holiday events →The house, ready for the holidays
A few practical details worth knowing before booking a Christmas-week stay.
Is the pool open at Christmas?
No — the private pool is seasonal and closed for the winter by December. The covered hot tub and the gas fireplace both run all season, and are really what carry the house through a December stay.
Is check-in still Saturday during Christmas week?
Yes. Flex Stay's non-Saturday arrivals run October 1 through May 1, but explicitly exclude Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks — those two weeks follow the standard Saturday check-in.
Is the house actually decorated, or is that just a listing photo?
It's decorated in person for the season — a tree, stockings, and lights throughout the house — not a single staged photo. The gallery on this page is the actual house.
The house sleeps 18 across 6 bedrooms with an elevator serving all three floors — enough room, and enough step-free access, for the whole family to gather under one roof. Returning guests save 5% automatically through Brindley.
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