Visiting the Long family's light display has become a holiday tradition for many Walla Wallans.
Courtesy of Cali Long
Drive down Wallula Avenue in Walla Walla, Washington, on a December evening, and Chris Long’s place — known as the “Christmas house” to some — is hard to miss. The yard is covered in brightly lit candy canes, singing trees and a giant Seahawk, all flashing on and off to the beat of Christmas songs.
Long is a lifelong Walla Wallan and a true lover of Christmas lights. In 2011, he tried synchronizing his lights to music for the first time. Each year since, Long’s display has gotten a little bigger, as has his home’s reputation.
Today, visiting the Long house is a beloved holiday tradition for many local families. The light show usually plays every night from Black Friday through New Year’s Eve, except when it’s raining.
“ We enjoy seeing the songs out there and seeing the community come and enjoy it,” Long said. “Just part of giving back and spreading a little cheer.”
To get their display ready, the Long family starts prepping long before winter. They make most of their decorations themselves: from PVC pipe, tomato cages … and lights. Lots of lights.
Long said there’s around 100,000 lights in his yard, as well as four or five miles of extension cords. The Seahawk alone — a new, handcrafted, rooftop behemoth — has 11,000 lights on it.
Luckily, since Long switched to LED lights, he said his electric bill isn’t as crazy as it used to be.
Long synchronizes the lights to songs using a computer program. This year, he said it took him around eight hours per song. The display features eight songs this season, five of which are new.
Setting up the lights and cords starts in October. Long, his wife, his three daughters and their boyfriends spend weekends working to pull it all together.
When asked if she thinks her parents are crazy, Cali, the oldest, laughed and said: “My dad just started it one year. I actually have loved it as much as he does. So we’re all crazy, I guess.”
Cali said it’s especially convenient when someone is dropping her off. All she has to do is tell the driver “the house with all the Christmas lights,” and they know where to go.
At night, as people park outside their house to see the show, the Longs keep their blinds closed. But they peek out the windows and do “car counts” from time to time. The number of visitors, they said, has grown every year.
The Long family doesn’t park in their driveway at night, so as not to block the view. If one of them has to leave, the family said people often roll down their car windows and yell “thank you!” as they’re walking by.
“It’s really sweet to see, especially when there are lots of kids out there,” Cali said. “Sometimes people will be outside of their cars with the music up, just dancing. And it makes us feel really good that everyone’s enjoying it as much as we do.”
The Longs are already thinking about what they can add next year.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
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