Season of Lights rings true at east Highland home

Brian Foster is lamenting the fact that his East Highlands Ranch home has run out of space to hang more Christmas lights.

Over the last three years, he has built upon his holiday light display on Crest View Lane, which has now grown to a whopping 30,000 lights, all synchronized to music.

He got just as zealous at his old house.

"I had a really small house and made it look like Chevy Chase's 'Christmas Vacation.' I put 20,000 lights all over the house so it just glowed," said Foster, 34, a director of information technology at a company that manufactures kitchen housewares in Rancho Cucamonga.

An ersatz Christmas tree outside his home has also grown, from about 20 feet last year to 30 feet this year.

His big money-saving secret isn't really a secret. He buys his lights the day after Christmas when everything is on sale, dropping about $500 for lights that would otherwise cost him four times that during the busy season, he said.

His elaborate display has taken home the East Highlands Ranch Master Homeowners Association's "Over the Top" award for the last three years. It is one of several categories of the association's annual holiday lighting contest.

"It's breathtaking. When you drive by there's always a crowd," said Melanie Johnson, recreation director for the association. "What I love about what they do is the entire family comes outside and greets everyone. Their house is the magnet of the neighborhood during the holiday season."

Address: 29558 Crest View Lane.

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