Fountain Valley goes festive with holiday home decorating contest
Residents across Fountain Valley shared in spreading holiday cheer by going all out in decorating their houses and front yards.
The first word on the contest dropped during the city’s tree-lighting ceremony on Dec. 7. That’s when Mayor Ted Bui said he wanted to bring back an old tradition — festive sightseeing during the holiday season.
“Years ago, Fountain Valley has been known as a city during the holiday festivities, people will come from different cit[ies] to go look at the house[s] that’s been decorated throughout the holidays,” Bui said. “I just want to bring back that tradition to Fountain Valley — but not to a particular neighborhood but throughout the entire city.”
Participation across town was a point of emphasis, so as not to create an adverse effect of traffic congestion, Bui said.
Local businesses came forth to put up prize money for the top three houses and sponsor tables that provided refreshments during a viewing event on Sunday evening.
The judges, selected from or by the local businesses, surveyed the 16 competing houses on Thursday, Dec. 19. The next day, the top 10 houses were notified that they were being recognized.
“It’s such a great feeling,” Bui said. “When you see that, you can see the joy for every neighbor, too, coming together, talking about what they’re going to do to design their house. … It’s really a way to pull the community together, get to know your neighbors, get to know your friends. It’s such a wonderful feeling.”
The first-place prize went to 8803 Swallow Avenue, which received $1,000 from Do Builder & Design. The Fountain Valley High Troubadors also performed Christmas carols outside the house.
“We had 16 contestants, and so we were tasked with going out to find … the most beautiful, the most elaborate decorations,” said Gary Forman, who served as one of the judges. “That was our task to drive by each house and evaluate each one and pick it based on what we thought were the best-looking and the best-dressed properties.”
Councilman Glenn Grandis wore a Christmas sweater with flickering lights to the festivities, while Councilman Patrick Harper’s holiday-themed sweater displayed a wrapped gift across its front.
Forman said the first-place house was having a party on the night it was announced as the winner.
“What was really strange was they had people coming in,” he said. “We had about 30 people out there. We had the Troubadours out there. We had all of us. The mayor was there. We had some bystanders out there. Everybody was going in the house, carrying stuff in. … This house is beautifully done. They had a little hockey rink and all kinds of stuff. It was ironic because all these people were going in and bringing their food and whatever they were bringing to the party, and nobody came out to see — from the homeowners — what was going on.
“If I had 13 people walking into my house saying, ‘Hey, there’s a bunch of people out front.’ Whether they thought it was just bystanders that were just coming by to admire it, or they didn’t realize it was a contest, until we knocked on the door, they didn’t come out. It was really cool, and they were totally shocked.”
The second-place prize of $750 from FAM Vans went to 8752 Hudson River Circle, and the third-place prize of $500 from Huntington Beach Auto Dealers Assn. went to 16321 Rosewood Street.
Among the houses also mentioned as part of the honor roll, two came from the same street at Wintergreen Circle.
Decorative ideas included lights wrapped around palm trees, more lights strewn from awnings, and candy canes and snowmen on the front lawn.
Forman said he believed the contest would draw wider participation if it returned.
“I believe that from what the community has seen, that should this contest be run again, then more people would sign up,” he said.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
