Couple featured on ‘Today Show’ for a captivating Richland Christmas display
Tri-Cities has its very own Disneyland for Christmas.
Richland couple Cynthia Hamilton and Dante Holmes go all out for the holiday.
They’ve turned their three-acre property and 5,000-square-foot home into a holiday extravaganza.
Outside, visitors will find Santa’s House, Mrs. Claus’s bakery, the Grinch’s house, a ship carrying presents and Christmas trees and a giant igloo with falling snow and the Abominable Snowman and the Island of Misfit Toys greeting visitors.
Inside and outside, there are about 40 decorate Christmas trees in all.
Hamilton and Holmes’s dazzling decor got them featured on the ‘Today’ show on NBC on Monday as part of a segment about a shortage of giant Santas for sale.
Christmas meets Disneyland
Their outdoor display is open to the public daily depending on weather, with crowds of hundreds of people from 5-10 p.m. each night. It’s free to visit — Hamilton said they accept cash and Venmo donations to help cover costs.
Hamilton told the Tri-City Herald that her Christmas decorating amped up in 2021, but she’s being getting the house festive for the holidays for 20 years.
She described the scenes and decorations as “like Disneyland.” Her favorite part is Santa’s house, and said she enjoys sharing the holiday spirit with the community.
She and Holmes began shopping for and organizing this year’s Christmas decorations in October. Decor is kept in multiple storage units, then unboxed in time for the holiday season.
They also do major decorating for Halloween. This year, their Halloween decorations went viral when local influencer Tri-Cities Toddler visited their home and highlighted the spooky sights for her followers. She came again for the Christmas display and posted a video on social media.
After the Halloween display went viral, ‘Today’ show producers contacted Hamilton and Holmes to learn more about their Christmas decorations. They appeared on a segment talking about difficulty finding decorations in stock in stores due to shortages.
She and Holmes shop a “circuit” of stores for holiday decorations — from At Home and Hobby Lobby to Home Depot and Lowe’s. But giant Santas and other characters were missing from store aisles this year. They even contacted Home Depot for help searching for items nationwide.
On the segment, they discussed their Christmas display and their hunt for “giants,” or large Christmas statues and animatronic characters.
Hamilton works as a local property manager and Holmes is a woodworker who builds custom cabinetry. His building skills have come in handy to craft the small houses on the property, filled with characters and holiday trimmings.
Hamilton said the public display has mostly gone on without many issues. Recently, a teen decapitated a Grinch on display, which scared some small children. Thankfully, Holmes was able to find a new Grinch inside the house to replace it and set up outside.
Find the displays at 131 Columbia Park Trail, near J. Bookwalter and Barnard Griffin wineries by the Queensgate Drive roundabouts.
It’s open from 5-10 p.m. through New Year’s Day, depending on weather. For the latest information, check for posts from Holmes and Hamilton on the Facebook group Christmas Light Displays Tri-Cities WA.
Parking is available on Columbia Park Trail and at the Queensgate Transit Center/Tulip Lane Park and Ride on Windmill Road.
