For more than four decades, residents from across the City have trekked to Pelham Gardens to see the annual festive display on show at the “Holiday House” located at the corner of Pelham Parkway North and Westervelt Avenue, created each year by the local Garabedian family.

 

Visitors come from near and far to see the annual holiday lights, decorations and depictions of nearly 200 characters from world history, fairy tales and pop culture in the form of mannequins fitted with handmade outfits.

 

However, while some remnants of the annual display were still seen this year, visitors were nonetheless a little disappointed that the usual holiday lights outside the home were dark for at least the third year in a row and Santa and most of the mannequins were also absent.

Early Christmas morning, Sunday, Dec. 25, “Saulovino,” a resident of Massachusetts, was disappointed having traveled all the way to The Bronx to visit the popular “Holiday Home” only to find the lights dark. He was observed taking photos of the house, nonetheless. “I saw this on the internet: ‘The Home of the Lights’,” he said. When told that the family had put the annual tradition on hold, Saulovino asked, “Oh, no more lights?”

 

He continued, “I live in Massachusetts, but I am doing different things to learn about New York. I found different Christmas houses on the internet in New York.” Saulovino added that he was in the process of visiting several holiday houses on his list, including some located in Manhattan and Brooklyn which were somewhat similar to the Garabedian one, before returning home to Massachusetts. Of the darkened Garabedian Bronx home, he said, “It’s beautiful anyway.”

The annual tradition was first put on pause in 2017 when Gary Garabedian and his sister, Linda, were still recovering from a serious motor vehicle accident that had occurred in 2016. The display went ahead in 2016 albeit a bit later than originally intended. At the time, Gary had declined to provide further information about the incident.

 

Speaking by phone to Norwood News this year on Dec. 26, he explained, “We did have a car accident in 2016. We’ve had multiple operations so we’ve been held up. We’re going to do it again, God willing, and we haven’t stopped.” Gary added, “Everybody’s writing we’re dead, we’re gone…. We’re not!”

 

When asked about the ripped-up floorboards seen in front of the home and the absence of the mannequins of celebrities and other characters seen in previous years, Gary explained, “We’re redoing the outside. We’re getting it ready which, if you looked outside, you saw the contractor working. He was ripping up the boards and [he’s] going to redo it.” He said the family hopes to be back with the regular holiday display next year. “A lot more new stuff is going to come back – different,” he said.

With some more surgeries still to be undergone before he and Linda are fully recuperated, Gary added, “We’re hoping we can be 100 percent, because it’s not only just setting up every night. These mannequins go in and out. As you know, we never left the mannequins out. We take them in and out every night.”

 

As reported previously, Gary and Linda have been running a successful, custom-made, bridal gown business out of their home for several years. Once tailored for the rich, famous and for heads of large corporations, the brother and sister team have since opened the business to the general public. Excess material from the gowns is saved and later used to create costumes for the life-size celebrity and historical figures on display at year-end.

As Linda and Gary have been recovering, they have also been busy preparing the new mannequins and creating new costumes for next year. Linda teased, “There is a big surprise coming out that they won’t see until the last minute, but it is a very, very big surprise that they would never in their minds think of that’s going to come out.” Gary added, “We’ve been working a long time on it.”

 

Asked if he could reveal the surprise, he declined, saying, “No, that’s the surprise! No, if I tell you then it leaks out to everybody.” A guess of the late Queen Elizabeth II, only drew a “No,” followed by laughter from both creators. Gary would only say that “everyone knows who it is.”

Linda added, “I think this is going to be something spectacular for them to see and I’ve been waiting a long time for them to see this surprise, but I got hurt and sick, and I was working.” Gary added, “They just have to sit back and wait like we are.”

 

After a final attempt to name the new statue, Gary replied, “If I show it to you, you’re the press, you’ll go tell everyone!” He then added, “We’ll be the first to call you up!”

 

The home has remained dark throughout their recovery and later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gary recalled how they first decorated the interior of their home with mannequins in 1973 and moved their designs to the front, back and sides of the home in 1975. Even Santa Claus and his reindeer were affixed to the roof at one point.

Of the planned future design of the display, Gary said “When we fix the outside, it’s going to blow their minds.” He added, “You know how many times ABC called me? I didn’t really do this to be in a contest. I did this for the people who sometimes don’t have enough money to go to the City, to go see stuff, to see lights, so they bring their kids here and they could enjoy it and forget the everyday, ugly problems in the world.”

 

He continued, “There’s so many problems in the world today. I just wanted them to forget, but then we got hurt very badly.” Referring to the other driver involved in the accident, he said, “He hit me from the top of the highway and threw us over the balcony, so we’re lucky to be alive.”

 

Gary concluded, “In 2025, it’s going to be 50 years, so we’ve got to get going because it’s going to come soon. What’s going to be coming is what they don’t expect. They’re going to be shocked. You’ll be very, very impressed, I’m sure of it!”

 

Last Christmas, one male resident of the block said that while some residents were not opposed to the annual tradition, they were sometimes a little bit irritated by the heavy traffic the display drew to the area. The resident explained, “No, I don’t mind. I love to have some Christmas spirit, you know… I support it.”

Another longtime resident was more disappointed by the addition to the original display of such icons as Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and Superman, who later joined mannequins of the Baby Jesus and Santa Claus. The resident said, “I guess, as a kid, it was fun. It was more Christmas-themed, but then over the years it just got to be ugly, and they never took it down during the summertime and it was just like an eyesore after a while.”

 

Only time will tell what the nearby residents and fans of the home will think of the redesign. Stay tuned.