SKANEATELES - Forests of evergreens have rolled, like tumbleweeds, down the deserted years of Christmases since Queen Victoria passed away in 1901.

Likewise, cities of gingerbread houses have crumbled between the fingers of time, fading like forgotten presents that once were so new and bright.

But not so on Sunday.

The queen was all of 18, sitting with her handmaiden, sipping tea, wet frosting held shredded wheat shingles atop candy covered homes, and a Christmas tree pointed proudly, wearing a coat of trimmings, all the way to the Stella Maris Retreat Center living room's ceiling.

“We want to thank you! We had punch and cookies, made a gingerbread house, and had a wonderful time,” said Marnie Thompson, of Hamburg, to Gerrie Kaluzny, director of the retreat.

Her two children, Bailey, 6, and Reilly, 3, beamed smiles of gratitude, as well. Dad, like many other grownups throughout the day, balanced a cutout cardboard box that carried the house the children had constructed, through the polite crowd of constant visitors, and out the door to the car.

This family, like most of the more than 600 people that came to the Victorian Christmas and Open House, hosted by Stella Maris, were strangers to the Skaneateles premises, and to Kaluzny.

But then again, they weren't.

“You want to know how the spirit of Christmas is, here, today? Just look at their faces,” Kaluzny said joyously, motioning toward the children. After goodbyes and wishes were exchanged, Kaluzny was once more greeting guests, leaving momentarily to this room or that, providing directions.

Often left alone, there on the table just inside the front door, was a clear, crystal bowl, steadily filling with green bills of all denominations.

“I should be more worried, I suppose,” she said, regarding leaving the donation bowl momentarily unwatched. “But sometimes there's a part of me that, if someone needs it more than us, then maybe they should have it. We have crystal all over the house, and look at all these people, but we've never had a problem.”

Such was the ambiance - and spirit - throughout the Victorian mansion. Every room was seemingly filled with visitors who were suddenly family, from the flute driven caroling of musicians, who played from the landing of the staircase, there in the foyer, to the solarium upstairs, where Queen Victoria, and her handmaiden, sipped tea.

There, Stephanie Wisniewski, a Skaneateles High School junior, impersonated the queen, impeccable in her costume and personality, primly answering questions the guests at her table asked.

Was she more than a handmaiden? If you went on an outing, would she be with you? What if others didn't like her? They were just some of the many questions Stephanie, and her sister Katie, an eighth-grade student at Skaneateles Middle School, who played her handmaiden, took turns answering.

“She had a lot of respect,” said the queen, of her lady in waiting. “Because I kept her all those years before I died. She was at my side all the time, wherever I went. If it was hot, she'd fan me - she took care of all my needs.”

By the end of the day, the two sisters privately declared they would not, could not, drink any more tea for quite a while. Much easier, were requests to be photographed with their guests.

“It was sort of cool. She looks really pretty,” said Phoebe Kolesar, a fourth-grade student at the State Street School, who posed with the queen.

She was also excited about having just made a gingerbread house, downstairs.

With all the delectable building materials provided, such as peppermint candies, animal cookies, and M&Ms, she admitted to some sampling during the construction.

“Oh yes! Mostly the tiny little things that look like marbles, they taste fruity - oh, and especially the frosting! It was really good,” she said, adding: “It was really fun - you can decorate it any way you want.”