You can see Lakewood home with every nook decorated for holidays
Many enjoy decorating extravagantly for the holidays, but it's going to be hard to top the transformation inside Jennie Longfield's home.
The volume and detail of holiday decor in the Lakewood residence - including 30 Christmas trees up to 12 feet tall, each with a theme - has to be experienced in person to be fully appreciated.
Seashell lights are featured on the Hawaii tree. Tiny cinnamon stick and graham cracker ornaments are entwined in the s'mores tree. A rocket ship, helicopter and ski ornaments hang on the transportation tree. And so on.
"It's really something to see," said Tamara Heavner, a neighbor of Longfield for 18 years. "Everybody who comes in is just amazed."
Imagine packing away nearly everything in your home except furniture as if you were preparing to move, and then replacing it all with seasonal fare. That's what Longfield does starting Halloween night.
"I'm Christmas crazy," the former organic chemist cheerily admitted.
"Every room literally gets decorated everywhere," she said. "The whole house is transformed to Christmas."
Besides the elaborately decorated and lighted trees, every nook and cranny in every room in every room - yes, even the bathrooms - is occupied by Christmas-themed items.
How many? Who knows?
"We tried to count ornaments once and there were over 3,000," Longfield said.
Knickknacks, collectibles, hundreds of nutcrackers, wreaths, place mats, pictures and paintings, quilts, pillows, coasters, dishes and even shower curtains collected over decades are on display.
Creative since high school - she made her prom dress and later, her wedding dress - Longfield has a flair for design and decoration, including seasonal themes. After being laid off as an organic chemist about 15 years ago, she founded her own pottery and textiles company, JL Fields, and became a custom seamstress and pottery maker.
Even so, when it came to Christmas, neighbors and visitors wondered if she hired professional help.
Over time, what began as a treasured neighborhood indulgence evolved into a public display advertised by word-of-mouth, at craft shows, via emails, social media and personal contacts.
Friends began telling Longfield she needed to let others see her intricate displays.
So it has been for about a decade. And after taking last year off, Longfield will again open her home at 8527 Trevino Way in Lakewood to the public beginning today.
Hours are noon to 8 p.m. today and Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Dec. 8 and 9.
A variety of crafters will offer wares for sale.
"It's a great way to support your people locally," Heavner said. "You're doing it in the midst of this three-level home that's been completely remade for Christmas."
The attention to detail is the main attraction.
"It's like a Christmas wonderland here," says Karen Semancik, a crafter from Huntley who made her first visit to the home Wednesday. "This is fabulous and I'm just in the foyer."