"Are you really Santa Claus?" he asked the white-bearded man in the red suit who greeted Ryan, his mom Becky and a host of other visitors to the home, legendary for its over-the-top holiday decorations.
A visitor takes in the lights at Edmundo Rombeiro's house on Devonshire Drive on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013, in Novato, Calif. Every year for 22 years Rombeiro decorates his house and invites thousands of visitors in. (Frankie Frost/Marin Independent Journal)
Receiving a "yes," Ryan, a San Rafael resident, shot back: "Then where are your reindeer?"
"They're resting," replied Edmundo Rombeiro, with an expertise born of 22 years fielding such questions, the amount of time he and his family have been opening the home to visitors during the holidays.
This time of year, it's a confluence of candy canes, a spectacle of Santas and a drama of decoration in Marin County as many residents go all out, decking their halls and, as with the Devonshire Drive house, drawing hundreds of onlookers to enjoy the spectacle.
While the Rombeiros expanded their decorations to include the inside of their home, Sylvia Costello of Mill Valley appears to be slowly taking over the neighborhood.
"I started with my house" at 31 Egret Way, then expanded to the vacant lot, also her property, next door, Costello said. "Now I decorate my neighbor Linda Bradley's house as well. It grew from one house to the next."
Costello's son Craig Schultz and a couple of other helpers work with her to create the mammoth displays, which include a blow-up snowman that sings a variety of Christmas carols, a blow-up monkey and a blow-up Santa Claus. Costello has been an avid holiday decorator since 1987, in the house she and her late husband owned in Sunrise Point.
Another perennial favorite, Roy Nisja's Marinwood home at 383 Quietwood Drive, has come to be known as the Bear House. "There's all kinds of bears. There's a bear blowing bubbles that's really popular with little kids. There's a bear writing letters to Santa," said Nisja, who wanted to make sure his son, Donn Nisja, got the credit for the decorations.
"We have five trains with over 300 feet of train track. One has a handcar with Santa and a snowman," said Roy Nisja. "One of the new things this year is the 10 lighted 24-inch snowflakes in my oak tree. One is close to 35 feet in the air, and the snowflakes go on and off to music."
While most folks purchase their decorations ready-made, putting in the bulk of their labor on organization and placement, for some the displays are a labor of love. In Greenbrae, for more than 20 years a platoon of mechanized wooden elves has worked away industriously on Via Barranca. Their creator, Vince O'Brien fashioned the Santa's Workshop completely by hand, lock, stock, elves, Santa and all.
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Edmundo Rombeiro and daughter Kathy stand in front of his home
on Devonshire Drive in Novato. She grew up in the
house and helps decorate it for Christmas.
(IJ photo/Frankie Frost)
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"When the carriage (a lighted carriage that tours Novato decorated homes) comes around, our kids go out and give out candy," said Julie Ramser. It's worth the labor and the four-figure electricity cost, Ramser said, "when we see the looks on the kids' faces. This is our favorite time of year so we go all out to make it beautiful."
When Shirley Derner was raising her children, "I didn't have the money to (decorate) and then I went into 'Bah, humbug' mode. But when my first grandkid was born 21 years ago, everything changed," said Derner, who with her husband Frank, an electrician, creates an amazing display at their home at 38 Echo Ave. in Corte Madera.
"I have six huge reindeer on the lawn and they all have my six grandchildren's names on them," Derner said. A teacher at St. Patrick's School in Larkspur, she enjoys sharing the displays with her students.
"I thought when I was started doing this it was for the little children. But one man told me his dad is in his 90s and every day after work he picks up his father and they come by to look at the house," Derner said.
Back at 34 Devonshire Drive, as a crowd of people alit from the lighted carriage and approached his home, "This is a beautiful time for me," said Edmundo Rombeiro. "I am proud that so many people come to see our home. We want to share the joy of Christmas with everyone."
MARIN LIGHTS
Post photos and addresses of your favorite Marin holiday lights house on Twitter or Instagram with #MarinLights. See the presentation online at http://bit.ly/18JOKNA
A few of the many marin homes decorated for the holidays
383 Quietwood, Marinwood
77 Pikes Peak, San Rafael
9 Prince Royal Passage, Corte Madera
1 Sumac Court, Novato
5 Hune Court and 2 Hune Court, Novato
34 Devonshire, Novato
417 Blackstone Drive, San Rafael
Photos are and articles sourced from the MarinIJ: http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_24730729/marin-homes-light-up-holidays-over-top-decorations
