Fish Creek Couple Goes All Out for Christmas

The Fairchilds’ holiday light display. Photo by Rachel Lukas.

For many people, Christmas decorating is mainly a matter of hanging up some lights or putting up a tree. For John and Becki Fairchild, it’s a weeklong affair.

“We go all out,” Becki said.

Just looking at the outside of the house, it’s obvious how much effort goes into decorating it. The yard is packed with blow molds and Christmas trees, and lined with rainbow lights that shine onto the snow below. All of it is fastened to the ground to prevent “escapes” because the house is in the middle of a large field, where gusts of wind often threaten to steal the Fairchilds’ decorations.

That’s why they don’t have any blow-up decorations.

“We tried that one year,” John said, laughing. “We had a blow-up, and it didn’t hold up.”

Inside, the house is decked out, too. Walking through the door feels like walking onto the set of a Hallmark movie, with stockings and wreaths glowing in the windows, Christmas trees twinkling and a line of Santa plushies sitting in the kitchen.

The Fairchilds got married in 2011, and Becki moved to John’s homeland in Door County. She found that they had a lot of open space on their Fish Creek property, so they decided to fill it up with decorations around the holidays.

Each year, they take pictures to jog their memories for placement the following year. And through those pictures, they can watch their collection slowly expand.

“We feed off of each other,” Becki said.

Though their collection is expansive, it’s largely made up of items from thrift stores and garage sales, so it wasn’t as expensive to accumulate as it could have been. John does most of the setup, but Becki is the one who does most of the shopping because she said thriftiness runs in her family – she’s a “third-generation garage saler” who knows how to get a good deal.

When it’s not Christmastime, the decorations fill the couple’s attic, right alongside their Halloween décor. They go all out with decorating in October as well.

The Fairchilds’ property is located on a back road, so not many cars drive past their home to admire it. But the Fairchilds decorate more for their own enjoyment than for anyone else’s. 

“I like what it looks like when I’m done,” John said. “I get that satisfaction.”