{"id":84491,"date":"2024-12-12T14:32:14","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T22:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=84491"},"modified":"2024-12-12T14:57:12","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T22:57:12","slug":"bixby-knolls-christmas-lights-dancing-house-falcon-avenue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/bixby-knolls-christmas-lights-dancing-house-falcon-avenue","title":{"rendered":"Miracle on Falcon Avenue: This decked-out Long Beach home is inspiring Christmas cheer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since moving into their Bixby Knolls house four years ago, Joe Hayden and Chris Payne\u2019s spectacle of Christmas lights has not stopped growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What started with around 5,000 lights at their roughly 1,400 square-foot home on Falcon Avenue has expanded to over 100,000 lights synced up to dozens of songs from Christmas classics to pop hits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shows run each hour after dark with music playing through outdoor speakers or through car radios on 88.7 FM. If a show isn\u2019t playing when guests walk up, they can push a button to begin one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple\u2019s roof features 228 vertical strands laid out in a grid that essentially acts as a digital display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setup takes about three months, but \u201cit\u2019s always a work in progress,\u201d Hayden said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Thousands of lights on a home for the holidays in Long Beach, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hayden, a self-described \u201ctech nerd,\u201d programs all of the shows himself and built the FM transmitter that broadcasts the tunes for free with a half-block radius. Hayden estimated that it takes him roughly five or six hours to program each song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s decorations feature a Letters to Santa mailbox complete with a virtual message from the big man himself via \u201cSantaLink.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a child drops off a letter or pushes the button on the box, Santa checks whether they have been naughty or nice. So far this holiday season the box has received 38 letters. Each letter will get a response from Santa as long as there\u2019s an address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayden said he does not have a lot of fond memories from his childhood, but Christmas lights were always a welcome reprieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the holidays were always kind of tough for me, so there\u2019s something sort of magical about Christmas lights and taking a step away for a second to enjoy something in the moment and forget everything else that was happening,\u201d Hayden said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Hayden and Payne added light-up wristbands and lightsticks that also sync up to the music. The couple kindly refuses donations for the costs associated with the show, but guests can purchase a wristband and\/or lightstick for $5 each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through a website<\/a>, guests can queue up songs starting at 5 p.m. each night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayden admitted he\u2019s a little behind this year, with only 20 songs currently synced up compared to the 45 offered at the house last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI could probably make it easier on myself by doing the same thing every year, but I like variety,\u201d Hayden said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year\u2019s most requested song was \u201cYou\u2019re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch\u201d by Thurl Ravenscroft, followed by \u201cCha Cha Slide\u201d by DJ Casper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayden said the song about the mean green creature likely took the top spot last year because of the poop emoji that displays on the roof during the show, soliciting giggles nearly every time from watching children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neighbors joined in on the decorating this year, adding about 140 lighted archways in front of 25 houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayden and Payne supplied the materials, but each neighbor decorated their own archway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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