Couple Put Their All Into Christmas House Showcase

Charles and Dorothy Stitham take their Christmas decorations seriously. Every year, their 2-story house in this quiet San Francisco suburb is transformed into a winter wonderland.

“Our first decorations were just some cutouts on the roof,” recalled Dorothy Stitham, 61. “Over the years, we’ve kept adding, and it just keeps growing.”

From its humble “cutout” beginnings in 1959, the Stithams’ Christmas showcase has grown into a huge project that takes Charles Stitham nearly 1 1/2 months to assemble.

“Of course, I’m not 27 anymore,” Charles Stitham, 58, said jokingly. “I don’t move as fast as I used to.”

“He usually has Santa on the roof while the pumpkins are still on the porch,” added his wife.

Moving Sleigh

The Stithams’ other Christmas charges include a moving sleigh with elves and a train on the roof, a talking Santa in front of the house that asks children for their wish lists, a miniature toy land in the front window with moving toys of all shapes and sizes, a motorized E.T. wishing everyone a happy holiday, and miles of glimmering blue, green and red lights.

One of Dorothy Stitham’s favorites is a fairy princess that greets visitors as they arrive. “When you come up the driveway, she waves a wand that makes you believe that you really are in a land of Christmas.”

“We’re adding a space shuttle this year--with an elf coming out of it,” said her husband, a semi-retired contractor who has worked on the decorations as a hobby for almost 30 years.

While he is eager to talk about their acquisitions, he is more reticent about their electric bill. “We don’t tell anybody that because they would feel bad. We put money away for it every year,” he said. “It’s just a thing we do for people, and it’s a tradition.”

Tradition aside, the Stithams’ holiday display does keep up with the times. Several years ago, some tots told Stitham that the characters weren’t real because they didn’t move. “So I started cutting these large dolls open and putting motors in them to make them do what the kids think they should do,” he said.

Animated Display

Since then, he has installed more than 70 motors in the Christmas characters, creating an animated display that rivals the most creative child’s imagination.

The Stithams estimate that they have close to 30,000 visitors each year. They give out close to 7,000 candy canes to the younger guests.

“What’s nice is that we’re getting second-generation children,” Stitham said. “Kids that came in the ‘60s are now coming back with their kids. It kind of overwhelms you.”

Letters come from people all over the country who have visited the house in years past. But one of the Stithams’ favorites came from a woman two or three years ago.

“She had come with her husband and their three little toddlers,” Stitham said. “They looked kind of disturbed, and she was crying. About a month later, we got a letter from her saying that they had been in the process of a divorce at the time and, that night, with the love and the children and everything, they decided to give it another go.”

After all the work and money that the Stithams invest in what has become known as “The Christmas House,” both consider it worthwhile.

“The looks in the kids’ eyes are just utterly fantastic,” they said.