Top 916 Christmas Nieghborhoods

Photo credit: Eddie Walker

Welcome

to the City of Chrsimas trees

by Katerina Graziosi As Sacramento dusks, homes twinkle with the soft glow of string lights, a telltale sign the holidays are in full swing. Epiphany’s rounded up two of the most popular neighborhoods to visit for light seeing this season.

Fab 40s Neighborhood, east sacrameNto.

Photo credit: Eddie Walker

Steve Lovotti, a self-proclaimed “bah humbug,” lives in the most decorated house on the 46th block of the Fab 40s neighborhood. Dozens of wooden cutouts depicting cartoon characters adorn the lawn surrounded by candy canes, snowmen, Christmas trees and 20 or so spotlights. Gigantic ornaments hang from a maple and higher still, above the portico, sits “Star Wars’” Millennium Falcon. The glittering scene seems straight from a hodgepodge fairytale of sorts, far from anything curmudgeonly. “It’s not for us at all,” Lovotti said about the elaborate set he and his wife, Pamela DiTomasso Lovotti, have created. “These kids make it all worthwhile.” Each year the historic neighborhood – developed in the 1920s – attracts thousands of visitors with its display of decorations, making it a popular hotspot for holiday light seeing.

In the grid created by 38th through 47th streets, between J Street and Folsom Boulevard, visitors can stroll or drive through the approximate 20-block neighborhood, each with a slightly different style of decor. On 42rd Street, dangling lights hang both across the street and up and down between the houses on either side, while on 43rd Street multicolored lights continue running parallel up the block but not across. And on 47th Street, the trees that form an archway overhead are wrapped in lights at their base. Fab 40s resident, Donna Crabbe, told Epiphany Magazine that while a coordinated effort was initially made years ago to establish the lighting patterns throughout the blocks, the installation and maintenance of the lights are down to individual efforts. DiTomasso said many of the characters in her own yard have been requests by visiting kids and handcrafted by the couple. She added that an eclectic mix of figures has amassed organically since 1990 when the couple began their decorating tradition. “When we put these up, it’s a labor of love,” DiTomasso said, adding that it is a team effort often with the help of some of the kids in the neighborhood. “The first day we light it, the first kids that run up, the smiles on their faces… that’s what keeps us going.”

Pebble Creek Drive, Rocklin.

Photo credit: Eddie Walker A 20-mile drive from the Fab 40s, in Rocklin’s Pebble Creek neighborhood, residents Laura and Dave Eaton also prepare for holiday visitors. Like the historic community to its southeast, Laura Eaton estimates the tradition of decorating the Pebble Creek loop became popular in the early 1990s. Here, too, wooden characters reign supreme. “A lot of them have been passed down,” Eaton said about the painted cutouts dotting the lawns. “As people have moved they’ve left them behind.”

Resident Gina Turner said that along with a towering 10-foot polar bear, her family sets up characters from Disney’s “Tangled,” based on the classic fairy tale “Rapunzel.” “We use bright yellow lights for her hair to make it look like it’s glowing,” Turner said. Turner suggests visitors allow for a 2-hour window to get through the neighborhood during peak season as it has no shortage of fans. “People start [coming] around 5:30 pm and they’ll even go past midnight on the weekends,” Turner said, adding that some residents sell hot cocoa or treats from their garages. “It’s very festive.”