Sylvia Nash has more Christmas trees in her Chino Hills home than the President’s House in Washington, D.C. She has 54 themed trees compared to the White House’s mere 41.
More than 400 friends and neighbors will visit her Brookside Drive home this Christmas season for holiday parties, socials and gatherings.
On Dec. 2, she hosted her 10th annual Christmas Women’s Dessert open house.
Women were amazed to see detailed Christmas villages, tables glowing with candles nestled in greenery, and 7,000 lights adorning two trees and the banister that spiraled upwards with torrents of garland, pine cones, fruit, and baby’s breath.
Ladies treated themselves to an abundance of desserts neatly arranged and labeled on tiered trays, as well as hot apple cider and coffee.
Fifty-four Santas were spotted in the upstairs Santa’s Village, 81 Santas on the Santa tree with 28 more in close proximity, 39 Santas on the living room coffee table, plus a smattering of 78 downstairs, for a grand total of 280 Santas.
Her newest trees are the pink body angel tree, red tree, the Santa tree, the reindeer tree, and red/white tree.
Her doll tree in the dining room has 58 dolls and the “angel bathroom” downstairs has 73 angels on the tree plus 27 in the room, totaling 100.
It takes her an entire evening to decorate the kitchen village and another evening to decorate the piano village.
Mrs. Nash said decorating began on Labor Day and concluded Oct. 20. The outside was completed Nov. 17.
She does it because she enjoys it and considers it a gift for women.
Mrs. Nash said she wants to inspire women early in the month, especially the younger women, to create Christmas memories for their families.
“Many women say they go home and start decorating, even baking, for their family,” she said. “That is always so encouraging when I hear that.”
A peek into one of the bathrooms reveals two stuffed bears taking a bubble bath in an oval tub where clear ornaments resembling bubbles sit atop fluffy cotton looking like soap suds.
Mrs. Nash even allows guests to tour the garage. Here she shows off her husband Loren’s handiwork and more than that, his long-enduring support of her annual endeavor.
Mr. Lillestrand, who calls himself an “enabler,” installed pegboard throughout the garage for ever-increasing storage capabilities.
The hanging curtains reveal even more boxes for other holiday decorations including Easter and Independence Day.
Mr. Lillestrand also installed 88 feet of storage space by putting shelving on each side of the garage beams, built cupboards in the garage and two upstairs offices, and built storage space in the laundry room under the stairs for decoration storage that includes a playroom for the grandchildren.
“Loren is always willing to help me lift the heavy boxes that are just too much for me,” she said. “He is a master at finding crawl spaces or space under the stairs that he builds out for storage.”
The couple married in 2002 and have lived in their Chino Hills home since April 2003. Mrs. Nash is a community volunteer and serves as chairperson of the Chino Valley Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast Committee and chairperson for the home tours for the Chino Hills Community Foundation.
Mr. Lillestrand has six children and Mrs. Nash has one daughter. They have 12 grandchildren.
