With the pandemic, the holiday season is more important than ever to spread cheer and happiness during a turbulent time. That’s why Louie Murillo decked out his house in hundreds of vintage Santas — to spread cheer and raise money for the local nonprofit GRACE Grapevine.
“We really had no intent to do it, it kind of happened post-COVID,” Louie Murillo says. “It was a project that we just dove into and it kind of exploded.”
This is the first year for the Grapevine Santa House, a venture born out of Louie’s annual Christmas cards.
“Every year I do a crazy family Christmas card, and I found these Santas and I thought we would like a vintage Santa, maybe elves workshop, Christmas card,” Louie says. “I start buying [vintage Santas] and I was buying them as props at first. And I thought, ‘Man, it would be really cool to do this all in our yard.’ Once I decided to do that, we were all in.”
Starting in April, Louie scoured Facebook Marketplace and Ebay for vintage Santas, even flying to Chicago to get a set of reindeer and a sleigh. Some Santas he picked up in St. Louis and he had a friend in Kansas City picking up Santas for him.
“Wherever we could get them,” Louie says. “I was all over the place just trying to get them.”
All the Santas that decorate the outside of Louie’s home are vintage and antique, which explains how hard it was to find all of them.
“It was kind of acquiring them one by one and that’s how we went,” Louie says.
All that work has paid off. Not only has Louie been featured on NBC5, WFAA, CBS11 and NBC’s “Nightly News,” the Murillos have raised over $19,000 for GRACE Grapevine.
“It’s a great time for people to have a Christmas experience because a lot of things are canceled...so it’s great for the family to come and experience [this],” Louie says. “And at the same time, it’s come at a time where GRACE has high needs and we can bring awareness to that and hopefully help them out financially.”
With the house now a beacon in Grapevine for holiday spirit and cheer, it’s no wonder that hundreds of people come out to see it both during the day and night.
“You can physically see them where with Christmas lights you have to see at night, you can see these during the day,” Louie says. “So although they’re prettier lit up, people still come throughout the day.”
Tthanks to Louie’s gracious neighbors, no one is upset about the sea of cars and people that come by almost all day, everyday to see the Grapevine Santa House.
“Our neighbors have been super supportive,” Louie says. “They love GRACE, too, so they’re excited about helping out GRACE and just seeing the needs met.”
Now through the end of the holiday season, you can head over to 3373 Spruce Lane in Grapevine to see the hundreds of vintage Santas lighting up the Murillo’s lawn.
“You just see the joy in people’s faces,” Louie says. “They’re getting together, they’re getting some great photo ops, but hopefully making memories out of all this.”