Elaborate holiday displays light up yards, faces of residents

For most of the year, Sandy Sutton’s home by busy Parkway Boulevard in Coppell looks similar to those that surround it. However, for one month out of the year, the two trees in her yard are strung with hundreds of multicolored lights and a huge inflatable bear greeting passing pedestrians and cars.

For the holiday season, neighborhoods across the city are lit up to celebrate the season, but some houses shine a bit brighter.

The Suttons

The giant inflatable bear is the newest addition to Sutton’s illuminated yard display, however, when it arrived, it did not appear to be the colossal decoration she’d envisioned.

“It came in a box literally about 18 inches square,” Sutton said. “That was what was so funny, I was like ‘really?’”

Setting up so many lights is no easy feat but Sutton got a hand from her son Danny, who visited from Houston to help her set up.

Sutton’s dedication to decorations has grown over the years as she adds more and more to her yard. However, the lights are not just for her to enjoy but the community as well.

“We’re on the [Coppell Christmas] parade route, so we want to make sure we have everything up before the parade,” Sutton said.

The Coppell Christmas parade did not occur this year due to inclement weather, but citizens can still enjoy her holiday decorations.

The Hills

Yvonne Hill’s house sits on the corner of a quiet neighborhood but comes to life as soon as the sky gets dark.

“We do it every year,” Hill said. “We’re very festive.”

Hill estimates she has spent around $500 on the Christmas lights that encircle her yard, home and trees.

Although Hill enjoys the decorations, it’s really her husband who takes the most pride in their elaborate display.

“My husband posts it on Facebook, this is kind of his domain,” Hill said. “He’s actually at [Ace Hardware] now getting some screws to put up another piece.”

The Brancheaus

Driving down Denton Tap Road at night, cars occasionally turn into an unfamiliar cul-de-sac, attracted by the house with a huge array of lights.

Complete with Rudolph, Star Wars characters and much, much, more, Tim Brancheau’s yard literally “glows”.

“We had some [cars drive by] Sunday night, we had a few last night,” Brancheau said. “We sit right there and you can see it, ‘oh, look there’s another one, slowing down.’”

Setting up the display – although Brancheau has no idea how many parts it contains – was a three step process. Two hours of getting decorations out, a whole afternoon putting them together and seven hours of yard setup later, the Brancheaus were ready to light it up.

To create the perfect holiday house, Brancheau and his wife work as a team; she selects the decorations, and he puts them up.

“I let her deal with that, I just hook it all up and make sure it all works,” Brancheau said. “My wife loves to do this so we do it every year… she loves it when people enjoy the lights.”