AUBURN - This final week of the yearlong 50th anniversary celebration at the Seward House has been a hectic time for the staff.

And things certainly weren't winding down at the historic home Thursday.

As one tour group, lead by a volunteer, made its way up the winding staircase adorned in evergreens and large red bows, another group waited patiently at the bottom near the tall 1950s-themed Christmas tree.

“We have been very busy this week between holidays,” said Jennifer Haines, Seward House curator of education and outreach.

She credits the increase in guests to school break and that many people are hosting family members from out-of-town during the holidays. These are the final days the Seward House will be open for a while. After Saturday, the museum closes to the public for a month.

“Yesterday we had three tours going at one time,” she said.

The Roth family of Auburn took in a glimpse of the parlor just off the entrance prior to their tour.

“We have been in the area for about a year and a half and try to see all of the museums,” said David Roth, principal of Auburn High School. “This is one of the places we have yet to see.”

Roth, his wife, Jame, daughter, Hailey, 11, and son, Jonathan, 5, are originally from Rochester and pleased with the multitude of culture in their new hometown.

“Auburn is definitely filled with a lot of history,” Jame said. “We've done a lot here already but a couple of our neighbors raved about the Seward House.”

The past year was packed with events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the house being open as a museum. The National Historic Landmark served as home for William H. Seward and his wife, Auburn native Frances Miller, even during his time as governor, U.S. senator and secretary of state to presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.

“This year well there have been well over 10,000 visitors coming from all over the country and several foreign countries,” said Peter Wisbey, executive director of the Seward House, who, along with Haines, is pleased with the results of the past year.

Wisbey expects the trend to continue in the future due to the recent publication of the book “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which discusses the role Seward played in Lincoln's cabinet.

“It's on the best-seller list and starts out with Seward in the garden waiting for notice of Lincoln's nomination,” Wisbey said. “The response to the book has brought Seward to new audiences.”

In fact, just the other day a woman from Schenectady drove to Auburn to visit the house after completing the book and a family from Boston came this week, as well.

“My mother's been visiting since before Christmas and we are on our way to take her home,” said Nancy Krystofik, of Auburn. “We came because she loves to read about museums.”

The house will close its doors to the public during January and re-open Feb. 1. During the interval, staff will be busy with cleaning, researching, and planning. There will be much to look forward to in the coming year with new topics for the Lunchtime Garden Lectures, the annual Garden Party held in July, the Holiday Open House in December, and special tours, workshops and craft events.

“We feel the enthusiasm for Seward will continue into 2006 and build in the next few years,” Wisbey said.