Holiday L.A.: A City of Lights

ALTADENA

* 1960 Mendocino Lane: Like a community castle, the 1922 Mediterranean-style mansion owned by ice cream magnate George Balian, at the fork of Mendocino Lane and Glenview Terrace, sits majestically aglow with thousands of lights. The display will be lighted through Jan. 1.

* Christmas Tree Lane: Thousands of visitors’ cars--with their headlights off--drive through what looks like an electrically enchanted forest of 111-year-old cedars, towering 100 feet high along a one-mile stretch of Santa Rosa Avenue between Woodbury Road and Altadena Drive. The lights are on through Jan. 1.

BEVERLY HILLS

* 9463 Sunset Blvd.: As they have for 15 years, the residents create a monument as they outline the contours of the mansion with single strands of lights. They also plant poles in their yard and turn them into pyramids of lights to create a forest of glittering Christmas trees.

BURBANK

* 278 E. Providencia Ave., 4136 Hood Ave. and 513, 529 and 1119 N. Florence St.: Every year for 14 years, the Burbank Civic Pride Committee seeks the best-dressed homes in its annual Holiday Outdoor Decorating Contest. This year, 10 winners were chosen for their spectacular displays featuring music and animation and a canopy of lights. Other winners are at 730 Clybourn Ave., 415 N. Catalina St., 2009 W. Chandler Blvd., 2001 Richard St. and 3500 Viewcrest Drive.

CERRITOS

* Castle Place, Kings Row Avenue and Arabella Place: With a flip of a switch, more than 30 households bring the holiday spirit to a stretch of Cerritos in the form of thousands of tiny colored lights. Holiday decorations include carousel-type horses, sleighs, Nativity scenes, lights, reindeer and angels. Even the trees that line the street are wrapped with aluminum foil and spirals of plastic ribbon.

DUARTE

* 1500 E. Duarte Road: The City of Hope sparkles with 140,000 white lights adorning trees along the entry to the hospital campus. “The City of Lights” is the largest display of its type ever staged at the hospital. Lights stay on through Jan. 1.

EAGLE ROCK

* 4364 York Blvd.: For 37 years, the Meltons, now in their 70s, have kept the holiday magic alive in their front yard with thousands of lights, Santa riding an old-fashioned bike with a big front wheel, a 10-foot angel and a Nativity scene. Mr. Melton plays Santa on Friday and Saturday from 7 to 8 p.m.

HACIENDA HEIGHTS

* 1105 Jarrow Ave.: Deck the halls and cul-de-sac with a snow-covered lawn, toy soldiers, Santa Claus and a Nativity scene, wishing passersby a merry Christmas at Gale and Jarrow avenues.

HANCOCK PARK

* 276 Windsor Blvd.: An invitingly chaotic display includes two full-sized sleighs filled with oversized gift boxes. Larger-than-life figures of children, dogs, deer and rabbits, along with Christmas trees and a small creche, decorate the northeast corner of Windsor and 3rd Street.

* 301 Rimpau Blvd.: About seven blocks farther west along 3rd Street, sightseers come upon two giant Nativity scenes, Christmas trees, deer, candy canes and figures of Santa, carolers and snowmen.

HAWTHORNE

* 4117 W. 138th St.: Gary and Dottie Williams are the talk of the town with the 11-foot Ferris wheel on their front lawn. A 3-foot Santa turns the light-covered wheel, which has stuffed animals for passengers. Also in the yard are a 6-foot Santa and his workshop, a model train, lighted sleighs, reindeer, a musical carousel with four horses, and 25,000 lights. A 22-foot Christmas tree stands atop a two-story garage.

INGLEWOOD

* 3rd, 4th and 5th avenues and Hardy Street: Twenty arches of metal and plastic piping are decorated with red and silver garlands entwined with lights in an area bordered by West Century and Crenshaw boulevards, Arbor Vitae Street and Van Ness Avenue. Most residents have sprayed their yards with fake snow and put up decorations, including Nativity scenes and life-size Santas and reindeer.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE

* 4951 Indianola Way: Every Christmas for the past six years, teenager Robert Illian has plugged in thousands of lights, a 15-foot Ferris wheel, a gondola that transports stuffed animals to the roof and back, a hot-air balloon and a sleigh that teeters on the edge of the roof. Meanwhile, his parents stand by, watching their electric meter spin.

* 1418 Descanso Drive: For Christmas, Descanso Gardens turns on its Fantasy Light Show. Thousands of lights adorn the five-acre display while musicians perform in the Educational Pavilion, Wednesdays through Sundays from 5 to 8 p.m. through Dec. 29, except on Christmas and rainy or windy nights. Admission is $3 for adults, $1.50 for children 12 and under, or free if they bring a flashlight to be part of the show. (818) 952-4401.

LA MIRADA

* 14371 Ramo Drive: Over the years, Tom and Chris Wilkinson’s front yard has become a mecca for ornament lovers looking to be dazzled by dozens of decorated Christmas trees, two train sets, life-size reindeer, sheets of ersatz snow, a miniature ski slope, a Nativity scene and nearly 15,000 lights dangling from almost everything in sight. Viewers are urged to donate to the Wilkinsons’ favorite charity, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Last year, they raised nearly $8,000.

LONG BEACH

* Daisy Avenue: Christmas Tree Lane, a four-block stretch between 20th Street and Pacific Coast Highway in the Wrigley district, boasts artistic scenes, including hand-painted wooden cutouts of skaters on a plywood pond. The displays, primarily scaled-down Christmas cottages, have been erected between stately cedar trees wreathed in Christmas lights that stay on between 5 and 9 p.m., through Dec. 26.

LOS ANGELES/GRIFFITH PARK

* 4730 Crystal Springs Drive: A mile-long “Festival of Lights” displays seasonal scenes in celebrating the park’s 100th anniversary. Scenes including 15-foot toy soldiers, animated animals, a three-dimensional snowman, an 84-foot riverboat piloted by an electric Santa Claus and a traditional 30-foot Christmas tree are among 20 exhibits of lights placed along Crystal Springs Drive between the Los Angeles Zoo and the park merry-go-round area. Spectators drive through tunnels of light at both ends of the route to enter the display area. For a more leisurely view, a walking path is illuminated by thousands of twinkling bulbs from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. nightly through Dec. 24.

NAPLES

* Bay Shore Walk: In Long Beach, waterfront homes are elaborately decorated on one side, with Christmas trees formed by strands of lights shimmering from water-borne platforms on the other side.

NORTHRIDGE

* 18900 San Jose St.: Sandy and Scott Des Marteau have been decorating since mid-November with more than 120,000 lights, a mechanical Ferris wheel, Santa and his reindeer on the roof and a cast of characters on the lawn, including Barney, Aladdin, Cinderella, Minnie and Mickey Mouse, Pocahontas and the Peanuts gang. The Des Marteaus’ house is a collection center for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots campaign. Spectators are asked to take part by donating an unwrapped toy. Lights go on at 6 p.m. and off at midnight.

PASADENA

* Upper Hastings Ranch: For four decades, residents have put together showy displays to adorn their houses and yards, competing for prizes awarded by the neighborhood association. More than 1,100 homes in a 44-block area north of Sierra Madre Boulevard and west of Michillinda Avenue participate.

PICO RIVERA

* 6313 Bequette St.: Thousands of outdoor lights and a homemade Ferris wheel transform the Sedillo home into a mini-winter wonderland. Several neighbors also participate.

SAN MARINO

* St. Albans Road: A street lined with massive evergreens festooned with lights dominates the landscape of this tiny, immaculate suburb. Lights stay on through Dec. 31.

TORRANCE

* Doris Way, Robert and Reese roads, Carol and Linda drives and Sharynne Lane: More than 200 homes in the Seaside Ranchos neighborhood sport unusually large displays of lights and decorations. The Sleepy Hollow area comes alive as neighbors vie to display the most elaborate decorations. Flocks of children and carolers stop by the houses in the area bounded by Pacific Coast Highway, Calle Mayor, Anza Avenue and Sepulveda and Palos Verdes boulevards. PCH is closed from 6 to 10 p.m. every night through Christmas to accommodate spectators. Enter Linda Drive by car from Palos Verdes Boulevard or enter Calle Mayor from Carlow and Vanderhill roads.

WOODLAND HILLS

* Oakdale, Lubao, Penfield and Jamilla avenues: Candy Cane Lane, a four-block neighborhood of ranch-style homes, is tucked away like a magical world, lighting up the community as it has for almost half a century. Its dazzling salutes using yuletide ornaments can be found within the boundaries of Oxnard Street, Corbin and Winnetka avenues and the Ventura Freeway. To ease congestion, lights go out at 10 p.m.