STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. - Stores and businesses in Stockbridge were putting the finishing touches on holiday decorations Friday, honoring a tradition and a town ordinance to resemble Norman Rockwell’s “Home for Christmas” painting.

Rockwell used reference images to capture the town he lived in at Christmas time.

“He was a perfectionist," said Judy Daly, a tour guide at the Norman Rockwell Museum. "No doubt about it.”

Daly explained the method behind a few details about the famous work.

“If you see the Christmas tree, right up over the meat market – it’s now a café but it was a meat market," Judy said. "He spent the first two to three years of his time in Stockbridge in that studio.”

Rockwell’s studio is now an AirBnB, but the Main Street is pretty much the same as it looks in the painting, which has become a big reason people visit Stockbridge.

“I think it’s hometown America to begin with and I think everybody comes for that reason as well as for Rockwell,” Daly said.

Spectrum News ran into newlyweds Olivia Grochmal and Michael Tuccolo, who said part of the reason they chose the Red Lion Inn for their wedding this weekend was because of Christmas in Stockbridge.

“Growing up, every Christmas, the day before Christmas Eve, we would come to the Red Lion Inn for dinner with my family and extended family," Olivia said. "When I met my now husband in college, we used to come up to the Berkshires a lot to see my family and we would often stay at the Red Lion Inn.”

The Norman Rockwell Museum said the American painter wasn’t a fan of landscapes, but he created the Christmas image because he loved Stockbridge and the people here.

“He always said that New England was the best of America and Stockbridge was the best of New England,” Daly said.

Stockbridge has events going on all weekend to celebrate the season, leading up to the main event on Sunday when they recreate the famous Rockwell painting which was finished 55 years ago this December.