Brookeville Home’s ‘Winter Wonderland’ Closes to Public
by Amanda Allen ‘17
During the holidays many people look to visit places that offer extravagant displays to help get into the Christmas spirit. In recent years, one of these popular local displays has been a house in Brookeville.
Beginning each October, Chrysa Thear and her team of landscapers and friends would decorate her “Winter Wonder- land.” The display includes over 250,000 LED lights that illumi- nate more than 75 snowmen, pen- guins, polar bears, in addition to candyland and breast cancer dis- plays. Last year, Thear included visits from Santa.
The elaborate display, how- ever, has become a source of friction in the neighborhood, and some neighbors demanded that the Home Owner’s Association take action against Thear. As a result, Thear announced on the Olney Brookeville Exchange, “It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that I am announcing that the walking display and home tour of the Winter Wonderland display at my home on Lubar Way in Brookeville, MD will no longer be open to the general pub- lic.”
After this past year, “several of the neighbors hired a lawyer and threatened to sue the board of directors [of the Home Owner’s Association] and myself if the display was not shut down,” said Thear. “The board was wonderful and tried to negotiate a compro- mise, but these neighbors were unwilling to listen to any form of compromise.” Thear announced on the Olney Brookeville Ex- change over Thanksgiving break that although she plans to decorate some of her home for her own happiness, she is shutting it down to the public.
Some neighbors support this display, but others believe its negatives outweigh the posi- tives. While there is disagreement about how many oppose Thear’s Winter Wonderland, a group of community members provided The Warrior a consensus view of their reasons for why they want the closure of the display. “Our number one concern is neigh- borhood security. Our streets on Lubar Way and Luber Court, poorly lit and with no sidewalks, simply cannot accommodate the volume of cars, parking require- ments and foot traf c the display attracts over the holiday period.”
Thear said she tried to ad- dress the neighbors’ concerns by making sure the lights shut off at a reasonable time, and only opened the display Thursday-Friday be- fore the holiday school break
started. “I blocked off parking on the portion of the street in front of the neighbors’ homes with signs and stakes. The only park- ing down by the display allowed was for handicapped. Parking was kept to the top of the hill by common area, and I hired parking attendants from Our House [skills training program] to keep traf c at the top of the hill,” said Thear.
With the display closed, Thear will no longer be able to contribute to the charities that she has in the past. According to Thear, she collected nearly 2,000 pounds of food the past two years for the Manna Food Center as well as close to $5,000 in dona- tions. An additional $2,800 was raised for Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research. Even with her display coming to an end, Thear remains spirited and hopes the community will nd their own ways to spread holiday spirit this year.