Personality Swoops in for a Florida Community's Christmas
Yards and homes in this retirement neighborhood in Florida take full advantage of loosened holiday decorating rules
John Hill
December 25, 2012
Houzz Contributor. I am an architect and writer living in New York City. I have Bachelor of Architecture and Master in Urban Planning degrees, and over ten years experience in architectural practice, split between Chicago and NYC. Currently I'm focused on writing and online pursuits. My daily blog can be found at http://archidose.blogspot.com
Houzz Contributor. I am an architect and writer living in New York City. I have Bachelor... More
The Villages, near Orlando, may bill itself as "Florida's friendliest retirement hometown," but it's hardly friendly in terms of personal and architectural expression. Residents are limited to picking one of a few house designs, and they are then restricted in what they can do to the exterior, per the Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions. This includes the maintenance of houses and yards, what cars can be kept in driveways or on streets, and when and how garbage may be put on the curb; also restricted are signage, lawn ornaments and other clutter that would add a bit of individuality to the fairly homogenous suburban streetscapes.
But in the weeks leading up to and following Christmas Day, these restrictions are lifted, at least in terms of the decorations that may be placed on the houses and in the yards (air conditioner units and satellite dishes, among other elements, still cannot be installed improperly). So for about a month, The Villages is transformed from a beige and green place to an extremely colorful one. The same can said of a lot of place in the United States, but probably not to such an extreme. The photos from this ideabook are from a small area near my parents' house in The Villages, giving an idea of how the area comes alive during the holidays.
But in the weeks leading up to and following Christmas Day, these restrictions are lifted, at least in terms of the decorations that may be placed on the houses and in the yards (air conditioner units and satellite dishes, among other elements, still cannot be installed improperly). So for about a month, The Villages is transformed from a beige and green place to an extremely colorful one. The same can said of a lot of place in the United States, but probably not to such an extreme. The photos from this ideabook are from a small area near my parents' house in The Villages, giving an idea of how the area comes alive during the holidays.
One of my favorite Christmas displays is one of the most tasteful, taking advantage of the blank gable ends that all too often happen on corner lots. By day the white silhouette of the Nativity scene is seen against the biege wall, but at night a trio of lights casts shadows on it, turning it from something plain into something telling the story of Christmas.
On the other end of the spectrum is a full block on which each house is done up with lights on the house eaves and ridges, trees and bushes; various constructions decorate the lawns (arches, snowmen and this "tree" in front of one house).
But what is unique about this one block (many blocks have dense lights) is how all of the lights are synchronized to blink and change color with music. Note the change in the "tree" from green to red here.
People gazing at the lights (and there are plenty, creating long lines of cars and golf carts — the latter being the preferred mode of getting around The Villages) are told to tune to 95.1 on the radio at the house that anchors the choreographed show. They can then experience the lights synchronized with various Christmas songs.
Not only do people drive by in their cars and carts; they park on adjacent blocks and walk over to watch the lights and listen to the music blaring through speakers.
Elsewhere in The Villages is a life-size statue of Santa Claus, waving at passersby from under a palm tree — quite the juxtaposition.
Inflatables are pretty popular, and my daughter's favorite was easily this one of Tow Mater (from the Cars films) wearing reindeer antlers.
But inflatables require power for the constant supply of air, so during the day The Village is awash in what I call "deflatables." Here is one of a few reindeer pulling Santa in his sleigh.
Didn't believe me, did you?
And next door is this fairly sad sight of limp nylon and other objects in the yard.
But at night the Nativity scene and small trees forms glow, as do the inflatable Santa and snowmen.
Merry Christmas from The Villages!
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I really needed to get that off my chest. Whew!