‘It’s such an honor’: North Carolina Christmas tree headed to White House

ASHE COUNTY, N.C. — It is a huge honor for a tree grower to be chosen to provide the official Christmas tree for the White House, and that’s exactly what has happened at Peak Farms in Ashe County.

Officials from the White House were at the Christmas tree farm near Jefferson last month to select a tree for the upcoming holiday season. That tree was cut down on Wednesday.

It’s the third time the farm has been selected by the White House.

“It’s such an honor. This is the biggest prize that you can have as a tree grower,” owner Rusty Estes said. “We’re representing all of the United States.”

The Fraser fir selected is about 30 years old and about 20 feet tall. The huge tree will arrive at the White House on Thursday and will be officially presented to the First Lady, most likely on Monday. It will be displayed in the White House Blue Room.

The couple previously provided Fraser fir trees for the Blue Room in 2008 and 2012. They also provided a Fraser fir tree for the vice president’s residence in 2018.

There are 850 growers in North Carolina selling 4 million trees each year. Currently, more than a quarter of the Christmas trees sold in the United States come from North Carolina.

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