Fears Over a Dark Toyland

By CAITLIN LIU

Dec. 31, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

WOODLAND HILLS — With 1999 drawing to a close, one of the most enduring and popular traditions in a San Fernando Valley neighborhood called Candy Cane Lane might also be at an end.

Every holiday season for the past 21 years, a house nicknamed “Toyland” has been delighting the young and old, drawing families from all over--even across the world--to the area famous for its elaborate holiday light displays.

But the house at Lubao Avenue and Calvert Street has been put up for sale by its owner, Hollywood stuntman Gary Davis, who plans to move to a small town in Northern California.

Davis has offered all his decorations for free to whomever buys the 4,000-square-foot home at its $769,000 price tag, but there haven’t been any takers so far.

The next family that moves in might inherit the collection. Then again, that family might not want to assume the responsibility.

The fate of Davis’ colorful, handcrafted cartoon-character displays remains uncertain. And longtime fans of Toyland have been bracing for the worst.

On a recent evening, Deborah Nayar of West Hills stood in front of Toyland, sweeping a hand-held video camera over the scene.

“I can never get enough of this place,” said the 21-year-old woman, who had heard the decorations might not be around next year. She has made seven or eight visits to the house over the past few weeks.

“I’ve been coming here for years,” she said. “To have this house not have Christmas lights will tear my heart out.” She finally decided to record it, she said, to keep the images with her forever.

If the buyer does not want the decorations, Davis might sell the collection. Many people have inquired about it over the years, he said, and he could sell it as a set or in pieces to various families.

The idea that Toyland could be liquidated has people shaking their heads.

“It would be a tragedy if we lose this,” said Ignacio Castell of Mission Hills, who carried his 2-year-old son, Jonathan, on his shoulders. The faces of father and son glowed from Toyland’s blazing lights. “It should be here for many years to come, if I had my way,” Castell said.

For the 48-year-old Davis, the time has come for a break, not only from big-city life but from Toyland.

He began the tradition after his family moved into the house 21 years ago. He started modestly, with a Santa on a motorcycle. His daughter, now in her 20s, delighted in the lavish decorating. But, he added, “it was more for me more than anything.”

Over the years, Davis crafted more displays, carving and painting most pieces by hand. Now, his yard and rooftop resemble a wax museum of cartoon celebrities through the 20th century, from Snow White to the Flintstones, from Cruella DeVil surrounded by Dalmatians to Pikachu of Pokemon fame.

Davis has spent endless hours erecting and dismantling his decorations. Most of the year he keeps them in a 10-by-15-foot storage space in Canoga Park at an annual cost of about $2,000.

Then there is the holiday-season maintenance. Davis turns on the lights only when he or family members are home for fear of fire, and someone always tries to be there to keep the lights on.

When Davis left his lights off earlier this week out of sadness over the Christmas night shooting across the street of a man who was taking in the sights with his family, annoyed Candy Cane Lane visitors honked their horns, buzzed his doorbell and heckled his family until he gave in and turned the lights back on.

When the lights are on, he walks around the yard every 15 minutes to check for fire dangers and to make sure all the moving and rotating parts of the displays are working properly.

Over the years, gushing Toyland visitors from as far away as Denmark have left thank you notes for Davis. Recently, a Las Vegas family sent him a bottle of red wine.

“It’s a real gift he’s given to the community,” said Virginia Stallings, a retired auditor from Encino, as her granddaughter, 6-year-old Elizabeth, pranced about giggling.

When asked if he would miss Los Angeles or Toyland, Davis said, “I don’t think so.”

He yearns for the peacefulness of Loomis, a town near Sacramento where he grew up. “The movies I make are all over the world. It doesn’t matter what airport I leave from,” Davis said. “It would be nice to relax one of these Christmases.”

’ I’ve been coming here for years. To have this house not have Christmas lights will tear my heart out.’

Deborah Nayar, on ‘Toyland’ owner’s effort to sell the Candy Cane Lane house