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Few people do Christmas decorations on the scale of Michael Pasqualino’s.
Each year, Pasqualino, broker-owner of Door Finder Real Estate in Tustin, Calif., and his family awash their home in about 65,000 holiday lights. And they do it not just to spread holiday cheer to the community—Pasqualino’s house attracts 30,000 to 40,000 looky-loos annually—but also to raise money for many charitable causes over the years.
This year, Pasqualino’s family is collecting funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Pasqualino’s home has served as a holiday canvas for more than 20 years. The self-professed “Christmas light enthusiast” admits it’s an “over-the-top holiday display,” but he says he takes pride in his homemade decorations. It takes eight hours a day over 14 days for Pasqualino’s family of four, plus a few neighbors, to decorate their home in its full Christmas glory. The roof is coated in colored light bulbs, two-foot snowflakes surround the home, light-up archways line the walkway, Santa and his reindeers are positioned atop the roof, the lawn is blanketed with fake snow, and a towering 20-foot Christmas tree beckons people from afar.
Pasqualino’s home has earned the label “The Christmas Lights in Orange County”; locally, it’s known as “The Christmas House.”
“Several years ago, we realized that the popularity of ‘Christmas Lights in Orange County’ could be a great way to give back,” Pasqualino says. “We began organizing fundraisers alongside the display.”
Each year, Pasqualino holds a fundraiser drive and asks visitors to scan a QR code and donate to the family’s cause. Pasqualino says they’ve raised about $3,000 to $4,000 each year for various charitable organizations. Last year, his family collected donations and nonperishable food items for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. This year, they’re holding a 10-day fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, collecting monetary donations while handing out candy canes to cars that drive by.
Lighting Up the Town
When Pasqualino and his wife purchased their house in 1998, they committed to going “big” with their outdoor holiday decorations. However, the energy consumption of incandescent Christmas lights at the time kept their displays smaller because just 1,000 lights would result in blown fuse boxes. The advent of LED lights over the years helped them to expand their display—which tops out at about 70,000 bulbs this year.
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Further, Pasqualino’s two children motivated him to add more homemade creations when they were younger. Years ago, when Pasqualino’s young son wanted giant candy cane decorations, the family made it a project to mold PVC pipe into six-foot giant candy canes. They still line the driveway today in the Christmas display. When Pasqualino’s daughter thought of fake snow as a fun addition, they spread giant rolls of Dacron—a white, soft material used in furniture cushions—across the yard and sidewalk.
Pasqualino’s holiday spirit isn’t contained to his home. For the last few years, he’s also featured other Christmas light displays throughout Orange County on his real estate website, providing a guide to more than 300 decorated homes in the area. “This is just one way I combine my love for real estate and community engagement,” Pasqualino says.
He recalls that one year, a friend brought his 100-year-old mother to look at the family’s holiday display. “She was looking up at the house from her wheelchair, saying ‘Wow,’” Pasqualino says. “When you get that same look of amazement from a [centenarian] to a 50-year-old to a young child—this is fun, and it’s why we do it each year.”
