Candlelight and mistletoe at antebellum Rosalie proved the perfect setting for a holiday proposal Friday night. &uot;We’ve planned on coming here to see the Christmas decorations for a while, and I thought it would be a beautiful place to ask her,&uot; said Dale Cox said, with fianc\u00E9e Markeata Boyd at his side.

More than 50 people visited Rosalie to get a candlelight glimpse of the antebellum house decorated for Christmas.

Members of the Natchez chapter National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which owns the house, draped pine boughs over the fireplaces, assembled holly bouquets and hung mistletoe from the chandelier in the hall.

&uot;It’s just wonderful, very beautiful,&uot; said Virginia Beard of Jonesville,&160;La., a first-time visitor to Rosalie. &uot;It’s hard to believe people once lived in a place like this.&uot;

The tour, which will continue from 6 to 8 p.m. today, gives the Natchez’s DAR chapter a chance to show off the house they own and have decorated for the season.

&uot;And candlelight tours have been done at historic homes throughout the nation,&uot; said Cheryl Branyan, resident manager of Rosalie. Such tours have been done at Rosalie in the past, but not in recent years.

Piano performances of carols such as &uot;Silent Night&uot; and &uot;Hark the Herald Angels Sing&uot; could be heard throughout the house as visitors were ushered through the rooms.

Guides dressed in antebellum costumes told visitors the history of each room, from the origin of the silver serving pieces to the past of the living room’s piano to who handcrafted a bedroom’s mahogany furniture. Ivy, holly and pine boughs decorated each room, and a Christmas tree stood about 11 feet tall in the living room, decorated with handmade ornaments, a crochet angel for the top and unlit candles. Throughout the house, though, lit candles cast a warm glow on the house and its occupants.

&uot;I’m impressed with the turnout, especially since it is our first year,&uot; said Jean Williams Farrar, regent of the Natchez chapter of the DAR.

&uot;It’s absolutely gorgeous, and we’ve had a nice turnout,&uot; said Valerie Bergeron, chairman of the Rosalie Governing Board.