Reborn in Light: Millersburg’s Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill

Millersburg, Kentucky, is a juxtaposition of what was and what will be. It is a town that has, over the years, ridden a roller coaster of incredible highs and crushing lows. Now, thoughtfully and with purpose, it is ascending once again.
These days, beginning in late summer this once-forgotten town in northern Bourbon County begins to hum with an intention emanating from the campus of Mustard Seed Hill. Throughout the fall, it spreads through the tiny town as 800 residents prepare to welcome an estimated 40,000 visitors over the course of the holiday season.
Each year by Thanksgiving, the transformation is complete: trees robed in lights, wreaths hung with care, dazzling displays waiting expectantly for the flip of a switch. Even the air seems to pulse with anticipation. Then, as dusk falls on the appointed day
and hour, the lights come on at Mustard Seed Hill and Millersburg, alive once again, glows like a scene from a Hallmark movie.

Remembering the Past, Envisioning the Future

For much of the 20th century, Millersburg revolved around the Millersburg Military Institute (MMI), a stately campus of red-brick buildings renowned for turning out top cadets for more than a century. Its closure in 2006 felt like the death knell of a town increasingly marked by shuttered businesses and empty homes, the result of an exodus of people seeking opportunity elsewhere. Many feared Millersburg’s best days were behind it.
But the locals never lost hope, or their sense of pride. When opportunity knocked to breathe life back into the old military campus, the town seized it. Renovation began in 2016, and out of the near-ruins of MMI rose Mustard Seed Hill, an elegant campus now known throughout Kentucky and beyond as home to one of the most enchanting holiday traditions in the South.

Humble Beginnings and Community Pride

In 2018, a much smaller version of Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill was born with the goal of uniting the townspeople through a vision of hope for the town’s future.
Shawn Burns, Community Ventures’ Chief Data Officer, was at that time the President of Mustard Seed Hill. He recalls that what began as a few lights, carols piped over campus speakers and the grounds opened for strolling had by year two begun to gain momentum. Food and craft vendors were added, and the very first annual Gingerbread Competition was held.
Burns’ fondest memories center on the residents of Millersburg and the times they pitched in to make Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill a success. While some volunteered to inform and guide, regaling visitors with stories of MMI’s glory days, others offered their grandchildren to help wherever needed. One neighbor of the campus saw Burns struggling with setup and hurried over to help.

It Takes a Village to Decorate a Village

Flash forward to 2025, and Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill is expected to draw a record number of visitors, and Millersburg is still rising to the challenge.
“We have an amazing crew to bring this all together; without them we couldn’t do it,” explains Victoria Benson, President of Mustard Seed Hill. “It’s like a Christmas village all fall, with everyone working towards a common goal—providing a spectacular yet peaceful moment for families to enjoy this holiday season.”
Chad Salyers of Corman’s in Lexington this year put together an “amazing team” of interior designers to decorate the Allen House, McIntyre Hall and 703 Main St. Stephen Furnish and his brother Jon, owners of Twin Oaks Floral decorate all the windows downtown on Main Street as well as Helena’s Cottage, The William’s House, The Boarding House and The Parsonage.
Benson is clear, “It’s important that visitors to Millersburg get a taste of Christmas everywhere they go.”
As early as August, workers are climbing ladders, hammering, and stringing millions of lights across the campus.

Scotty True, Community Ventures’ Director of Maintenance, and his crew set up and install three acres of large light installations and handle other details, big and small, around the campus.
By early November, the stately Allen House is adorned both inside and out, and walkways are prepared to glow under displays of gold and white. Around every corner, visitors will discover a new display more enchanting than the last. A tunnel of lights that feels like walking through starlight, and a full-size, fully-lit sleigh that beckons couples and families to snap their best photo ever.
Robert Collins and his son are responsible for keeping the Mustard Seed Hill grounds impeccably manicured, but when Christmas rolls around, they throw in to help with the massive lighting display installations across the three-acre campus. Despite best laid plans, every once in a while something goes awry. Last year, when a huge display blew over in a wind storm at the 11th hour causing severe damage, Collins knew just who to call—local welder extraordinaire Monty Wells—who dropped everything to save the day.
“It is nothing short of amazing how all of this comes together,” marvels Rodger Campion, owner of Light Up Lexington, LLC. “Everything is well thought out and put together efficiently, with no corners cut.”
Each year, Campion and two assistants begin the herculean task of wrapping each of the campus trees in lights in late summer.
“The guys I work with are very impressive,” notes Campion. “They are 25’ up in the trees, wrapping individual branches. It is impossible to get a lift in there, so we manually climb the trees while wrapping them with the lights on so we can see where the lights need to go. Then we circle back after the final grounds mowing of the season to lay the cords, and then again after the live Christmas trees are delivered to put lights on them.
“When we are all done, we pick a night to test the lights. Victoria flips the switch, and the grounds instantly go from pitch dark to dazzling. It’s so beautiful. Magical is not even a strong enough word to describe what the feeling is like.”

Miracles Small and Large—Hands, Hooves and the Nativity Story

Unlike most large-scale holiday attractions, visitors will find no Santa Claus here, no animated snowmen or booming loudspeakers. The story that unfolds across Mustard Seed Hill is the Nativity—the quiet miracle of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem told through murals, soft music, and light.
Visitors gathering for carriage rides through town are treated to a progressive narrative set against the backdrop of 8ft tall hand-painted murals of the Christmas story.
Kentucky artist Kaylie Polk almost declined when approached about creating artwork to depict the Christmas story. At the time pregnant and unable to find a suitable home, Polk and her husband were living in her parents’ basement. The sheer size of the requested art would require a very large workspace. But although her head said “no,” her heart and her mouth said “yes.” As Polk notes with a laugh, when God is at work, the ripples are everywhere.
“I didn’t think I could do it. Not physically. Not emotionally. Not spiritually. I literally didn’t have anything to give, and that’s what it felt like I was going to have to do—give up everything to do this project,” Polk recalls.
“Then a miracle happened—the perfect house with the perfect studio space dropped into our lap. Then the project began giving back to me. Turns out, I desperately needed those hours of alone time in my studio to reflect on the Christmas message myself. To be able to paint something that truly reflects the miracle of Jesus’ birth, I had to study it. But God gave me the time—so much time—to just study, reflect and paint in the quiet of His presence. That was the true gift.”
As the horses move from stop to stop, their breath visible in the cold night air, revelers are tucked under cozy lap blankets. The clip-clop of hooves echoes off the old brick storefronts and the sound of sleigh bells and the soft snorts of the teams—Bill and Bob, Hank and Frank, Snow and Repete—carry on the winter air.
Lisa Campbell, Millersburg resident and owner of WhyKnot Carriages, is the skilled purveyor of these nightly horse-drawn carriage tours. She has watched the transformation of Millersburg from the perspective of an insider and relishes her special part in Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill which has included playing a part in some momentous occasions.
“There is a big tree on the grounds where people tend to pop the question,” Campbell imparts. “We are always on the lookout, and when we see that happen we offer those couples a free ride. It is just so magical to be a part of their engagement celebration.
“We had a lady last year that was taking her first carriage ride. It was what she wanted—and what her husband got her—for her birthday. So many beautiful memories being made.”
Indeed, it’s a quiet kind of magic that is more reverent than flashy, more heartfelt than commercial. A harkening back in time and the thing that brings people back year after year to Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill to make memories that last a lifetime.

An Infectious Kind of Joy

Hosting so many guests would test the limits of any small town, but with each passing year more residents join in, decorating their homes and storefronts. At Mustard Seed Hill, townsfolk step up nightly to greet visitors and share the history of the town and the campus. Students from the Business Academy for Young Entrepreneurs class at Bourbon Christian Academy, prepare to serve up sweet treats and steaming hot chocolate to Christmas visitors.
Beyond the lights, the holiday offerings at Mustard Seed Hill have taken on a life of their own. The Artisans’ Market now showcases a large array of regional craftspeople selling handmade Kentucky goods—woven textiles, pottery, wooden toys, jewelry, and holiday ornaments. Visitors can chat with the artists, learn about their work, and bring home gifts that support Kentucky art and the families that create it.
Nearby, the Gingerbread Competition entries transform both the Allen House and McIntyre Hall into a wonderland of enticing smells and edible architecture. Children press close to see candy-cane fences, sugar-glass windows, and whimsical, fairytale scenes painstakingly sculpted from icing and candy. A panel of noteworthy judges awards prizes to the competitors, but it’s the wonderment on children’s faces that means the most.
Music fills the air, whether it’s time-honored carols providing the backdrop or talented musicians performing live. For many, it’s those simple moments, carols sung by candlelight, children marveling at the twinkling lights, that define the spirit of Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill.

New Businesses and “Third Places” Fueling The Fire

Just down the street from Mustard Seed Hill across from the town square sits The Mill Yard. Housed in the former Millersburg Coal and Lumber Company, the restaurant opened this fall and has quickly become a place for locals and visitors alike to gather.
With its cozy interior left largely intact from its former life, the breakfast-lunch eatery is where patrons can find a hot cup of coffee, hearty hot sandwiches, ice cream and locally raised beef. Where possible, everything is regionally sourced.
Mayor Julie Hopkins notes that The Mill Yard is proof that revitalization in Millersburg, aside from Mustard Seed Hill, is taking root. Now that the restaurant has begun a regular lunch service on Wednesdays and Thursdays, Hopkins sees many out-of-towners making the drive. She explains that for years, Millersburg has been devoid of “third places,” meaning somewhere for folks to gather and connect apart from work or home. The Mill Yard is quickly becoming a third place, as will the city park just across the street once its transformation is complete.
After Hopkins moved to Millersburg and became a City Council member, she sought ways to actively support the town. When the renovated McIntyre Hall at Mustard Seed Hill opened up new office space, Hopkins opted to move her Lexington-based insurance business closer to home—a win both personally and for the town.
“The best thing happened,” Hopkins laughs. “My business exploded. People who had visited Millersburg at Christmastime were excited to come back. Now instead of me going to their homes, my clients want to come see me in my office. They don’t seem to mind the extra six-mile drive from Paris, or even a drive from Lexington, because they want to visit Mustard Seed Hill.”

A Faith That Moves Mountains

It’s hard to overstate how far Millersburg has come. What began as a single restoration project has become the heartbeat of an entire community. The revival of Mustard Seed Hill has sparked new pride and new possibilities. As the campus has re-emerged as a popular year-round wedding and event venue, it has opened the door for other opportunities by creating jobs, supporting new business development, and adding to the tax base that keeps the town running.
Amy Farmer, a frequent visitor to Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill, offers a then-and-now perspective on the former MMI. Freshly graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1993, MMI provided Farmer her first-ever position as an educator. She taught math to the entire student body, grades seven through twelve.
Now retired after a lifetime of teaching elsewhere, Farmer waxes nostalgic remembering her time and her students at MMI.
Of her first visit to the restored campus, Farmer says: “It was heartwarming remembering all the friends I made in my short time at MMI. Stepping into the Allen House, so gorgeously restored, it was a flashback and a flood of memories. It gave me comfort to think back on all of the things that campus had supplied for the community, and that the community had supplied for the campus.”
Many here speak of the transformation as something close to miraculous. And in many ways, it is. The name “Mustard Seed Hill” was chosen from Scripture: Faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. For Millersburg, those words have never rung truer.

Quiet Leadership and a Shared Mission

Behind the scenes of this rebirth is a network of funders and supporters who believed in Millersburg when few others did.
Years ago, Community Ventures, a Kentucky-based nonprofit known for its work in housing, economic development, and community revitalization saw potential in the shuttered Millersburg Military Institute and took a chance on restoring it brick by brick, beam by beam. Although the preservation of MMI’s storied history was a large part of the plan, reimagining it with new purpose as an economic driver was the goal. In doing so, the foundation was laid for the town’s revival.
But Community Ventures could not have accomplished this alone. The ongoing revitalization of Millersburg has harnessed the power of institutional funders and Federal and State programs like New Markets and Historic Tax Credits. Also integral are the passionate contributors to the Jan Wagoner Millersburg Revitalization Fund. This $4.5 million fund was launched by Community Ventures as Phase Three of Millersburg’s revitalization and includes $3 million from tax credits as well as $1.5 million from additional fundraising.
Community Ventures continues to work alongside local residents to help them cultivate the infrastructure needed to attract new homeowners and businesses year-round. The results are evident not only in the bright lights of Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill, but in the renewed spirit of the people who call Millersburg home.

Experience the Magic

Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill serves to call attention to the true meaning of the season: The divine story that began in a manger two thousand years ago, and faith in what can happen when a community comes together with open hearts and willing hands.
If you find yourself seeking a more meaningful Christmas experience this season, come visit Millersburg, a town reborn through resilience, renewal, and the unwavering belief that from even the smallest seed of faith, great things can grow.
To experience the nostalgia with your family and reserve your tickets online, please visit: https://www.mustardseedhill.events/christmas