LOS ANGELES — Every Saturday in December, the Schiavoni house puts on one of the most extravagant light shows in the valley, and the preparation that goes into it might surprise you.
Ryan and Tara Schiavoni have a quaint house on a lively street in Reseda, the kind where neighbors chat on driveways and kids play in the street — but theirs is definitely the favorite house on the block. The neighborhood waits with baited breath for the annual holiday light show at the Schiavoni house, which is decorated with over 15,000 lights that includes choreographed theme music.
The lawn strobes with 75 dancing bulbs, reindeer animate on the roof, the trees sparkle with stars and flame throwers even light up the night sky. The couple puts on this extravagant 15-minute light show every Saturday in December, to everyone’s delight.
“Everybody remembers that one house, so maybe this is that house for someone else,” Ryan said.
It’s such a big production that the Schiavonis say they start preparing and planning for their light show up to a year in advance — and actively start setting it up two months in advance. To manage all of it, Ryan has a special computer program that coordinates all the lights, and has installed 20 electrical boxes throughout the property.
“All of this is [an] electrical system that I had installed on the house, this was a completely bare side of the house,” Ryan said as he pointed to over nine electric panels on just one side of the house. “Basically I get charged in tier three for the month of December.”
Ryan is so dedicated to this light display and light show, that Tara has a nickname for herself: "A Christmas light widow."
And the pair, who recently got married, even planned their wedding around the scheduling of the light show.
"We decided to get married in July, so that he would have the next few months in the fall to start prepping everything and be ready to go," Tara said.
So, why so much time and dedication to this? Ryan explained that it’s because of an unfulfilled childhood desire to be the most extravagant house on the street, after something his dad said to him.
"'Son, go get your own house, and you can do whatever you want to it,'" Ryan said. "So I finally bought my own house, and here I am."
The show lights up at the Schiavoni house every Saturday in December at 6 p.m. and continues for 15 minutes. Traffic gets backed up, and neighbors eagerly line the street, so it’s wise to arrive a few minutes early and claim a spot front and center.