It started simply for Dan Moussette, with a pattern for a wooden rooftop Santa and sleigh gifted to him by his father-in-law 25 years ago.
Today, Moussette is known by friends and neighbors as Clark Griswold, Jr., from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” With more than 38,000 lights and 150 handmade wood and metal displays, the Moussette home on Tucson’s northwest side is known as Christmas House.
That would make Moussette Father Christmas. Not a bad analogy for this outside sales rep for Western Refining Wholesale, who spends virtually the entire year thinking of ways to improve his eye-dazzling display.
He spends the off season dreaming up new décor, all made by hand in his garage. Setup starts the day after Halloween, with about 100 hours of labor invested over the next few weeks. The annual display is energized at 5:30 p.m. Thanksgiving night, to the amazement of family members and neighbors who make it a part of their Thanksgiving tradition.
“I do it for the kids,” said this father and grandfather, who collects food for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona at the display. Last year he and his wife, Patty, donated enough food to fill 40 large trash bags.
Every evening during the season, cars pull up for a gander and neighbors stroll through the display, which takes over the entire front of the home and spills into the neighbor’s yard next door, with a towering Grinch who appears to be making off with the lights.
Neighbor Donna Rodriguez brings her grandchildren to see the display every year.
“I love it,” sang out granddaughter Jazlynn Loebe, 5, as she danced around the lights. Her grandmother has brought her to see the lights since she was a baby.
“It’s awesome. We look forward to it every year,” Rodriguez said.
The 38,000 lights emit quite a glow from the diverse displays, from ice skating snowmen – with this year’s addition of Olaf from “Frozen” – to a choo choo train with a railroad crossing, Mrs. Claus at Santa’s Workshop, busy elves, a bake shop, a countdown to Christmas sign, a 20-foot-tall Christmas tree with 4-foot-tall star, a towering saguaro dressed up like Santa and more.
Everything is old school – no computer technology or high-tech adornments.
“It’s all handmade and nothing is store bought,” said Moussette, who has been decorating his Tucson home since the family relocated from Buena Park, California in 1993.
Most of his lights are now LED, which are more durable and have cut his lighting bill.
“We were spending about $45 extra for electricity, but now that’s down to about $20,” Moussette said.
He said the sturdy LEDs have made life easier.
“They are plastic and they do not break. And I can run 45 strands of LEDs on one extension cord. Before I could only run three on one extension cord. I had lots of extension cords.”
Moussette’s wood displays, all hand-crafted and painted, are supported with rebar, which he stores away each year along with all the other Christmas décor in an outdoor shed. He keeps a map of where each item is placed.
In addition to the new Olaf, a Happy Holidays sign over the driveway was created from lights and two 10-foot-tall candy canes were added this year, much to the delight of his granddaughters, Kaylee, 5, and Alyssa, 3.
“It’s all about kids at Christmas for me,” he said. “If you can make them go ‘ooh and ah’ over the lights, that is what it is all about.”
