Column: Awarded Biggest Spectacle, Dorothy & Nathan Hansen, 1523 E. 12th St.
Walk of the Town: Holiday Edition!
The Hansen home at 1523 E. 12th Street is a sight to behold paying homage to the birth of Jesus as well as Santa.
Column & Photos by Sarah Cook
I present to you below the second installment of the Annual Best in Snow Awards.
Awarded Biggest Spectacle: Dorothy and Nathan Hansen, 1523 E. 12th St., The Dalles
The truth, dear readers, is that it’s this house that inspired me to write these holiday editions of my column. My partner and I await the decorating of this house every year, equal parts stunned and captivated by its confident excess.
When placing store-bought decorations in your yard for any major holiday, I suspect it’s quite easy to tip over into too-much territory, to shift from ecstatic to cluttered with a single inflatable or misplaced strand of lights. That Dorothy and her husband, Nathan, have managed to create something so thrilling yet so pleasant is what keeps me walking by no faster than a snail’s pace each year.
I wasn’t surprised, in fact, to learn that quite a bit of organizational thought goes into the arrangement of every single piece, and the stories their placement tells.
What I’m loving most so far about these interviews are some of the more surprising parallels.
First of all, I can’t get enough of hearing about each household’s unique and fairly precise schedule for when things go up and when things get taken down. (Perhaps my own struggle with routines creates in me an extra burst of admiration when I hear about those skills in others.)
But one of my favorite discoveries so far, at least in these first two households, is the presence of neighborly collaboration. Both the 11th Street and the 12th Street house have decorations that cross over into the neighbor’s yard, and it seems that in both cases, the folks next door are grateful for this holiday alliance.
I love hearing about how one person’s abundance gets to become another person’s benefit. Or, as in the first installment of this series, the importance of decorating a tree in its entirety, even if that means shifting our understanding of borders and boundaries. To risk being too serious about it, I can't help but think that there are bigger lessons to be learned from these bright examples.
During my interview with Dorothy, found below, I learned some behind-the-scenes details of her and Nathan’s annual landmark. I couldn’t help but wonder if the time and effort that goes into this tradition comprise their main focus during the holiday season, but when I asked Dorothy, near the end of our conversation, what her favorite thing about this time of year was, her answer was short and sweet and completely analogue: “Family.”
Sarah Cook (SC) When did you begin going all out with your holiday yard decorations?
Dorothy Hansen (DH) “My husband Nathan and I started decorating the year we purchased our home (2003). We started out with a lot of inflatables and then slowly moved to what you see today in our yard and part of our neighbor’s yard. (Yes, part of what’s in her yard we do for her since we had extras, and she loves it. She added the snowman this year.)”
SC: I love this! Do you have a favorite type of decoration, and/or a particular aspect of your set-up that you're especially proud of?
DH: “We separate our decorations into 2 sides. The real Christmas story and the Santa story. We really feel it's important for them to be separate. I don't think we have a specific thing we are most proud of. We do enjoy moving the wise men slowly to the manger and on Christmas morning you will find the manger full to celebrate.”
SC: Incredible--so you're really making frequent adjustments to bring something to life. Do you have a strict schedule for when things go up and when things get taken down?
DH: “Normally we start 2 weeks before Thanksgiving (but never turn lights on till after Thanksgiving) and try to take them down right after New Year’s (weather permitting).”
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SC: And I'm curious, if money or time & space weren't a limitation, is there anything you would add to or change about your current set-up? Is there a "wildest dream" version?
DH: “In-ground power sockets and a bigger tree next to Santa. (And I wouldn't mind a more realistic stable area for the culture.)”
SC: Nice! What is it that motivates you to do all this work every year? Why is it important to you?
DH: “My husband always enjoyed the decorations when he was young, so he always wanted to do it. We enjoy going around looking at lights still, and we love hearing about people who the lights bring joy to. Plus we are kids at heart.”
SC: I love these answers. So does that mean you have any favorite houses of your own around town to look at?
“We enjoy the light shows at Corner Stone Church and the house down from Home Depot, but enjoy all lights. Simple house lights look beautiful at night.”
