The corner of Westervelt Avenue and Pelham Parkway North in Pelham Gardens was a reliable bastion of Christmas cheer in the Bronx for decades. But it's been dark around the holidays since 2019 — and will be once again this season.
But siblings Linda and Gary Garabedian say their fantastical light display isn’t gone forever. The Garabedians say their famous Bronx Christmas House will return — just not in 2025.
"We don't want to give a story yet. We're not ready to," Linda said in a phone interview with Gothamist, noting they're currently doing repairs on the home.
Multiple generations of the Garabedian family have decorated the pink-painted home's front yard with a unique flavor of holiday display since 1974. Classic seasonal statuettes — ornamented fir trees, religious icons — appear alongside giant Alvin & The Chipmunks figures and mannequins fabulously dressed in the likenesses of pop stars. Hundreds of people would visit every season. The tradition, family members told the New York Times in 2008, was their way of giving back for a miracle the Garabedians experienced, but they declined to say more about it.
The siblings were involved in a serious motor vehicle accident in 2016 that required multiple operations and a long recovery, the Norwood News previously reported. Although the lights went on that year and in 2017 and 2018, they didn’t flicker on until close to Christmas. In the years since, they haven’t come on at all.
The home for now remains a source of curiosity and quiet whimsy year-round, with its bright facade, sprawling (though visibly damaged) wrap-around deck and a slate of off-season reindeer and cherubs perennially standing guard. A smattering of angels, horses and white-and-gold pedestals adorned the property on a recent visit, while a few wrapped gifts sat on the uneven deck boards.
Internet denizens continue to celebrate — and mourn — the home's holiday display, which used to attract hundreds to the typically sleepy corner and even had a cameo in Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” music video.
“I swear I feel like everything from my childhood is vanishing,” read the caption on a recent viral TikTok by user ReallTiff, showing the house in its current state. The post has garnered about 500,000 views.
Many commenters expressed a desire to help the homeowners turn the lights back on.
“We need to come together [and] help them in any way possible,” user tina.marie.velill wrote.
“[It] would be so nice if the community came together to try and rebuild it,” another user commented.
“I’ve had a dysfunctional family,” yet another wrote. “One of my fond childhood memories is visiting this house during holidays while we sat and ate food in the car. Simple, but meant a lot to me.”
