By SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — What began as a quiet promise made during a snowstorm far from Hutchinson has grown into one of the most elaborate Christmas displays in the Salt City, and this year, for the first time, the public is invited inside to experience it.
Nick Fisher, who moved to Hutchinson with his family from New Jersey during the pandemic, is opening his Victorian home at 201 W. 12th Ave. for a one-night holiday open house on Friday, Nov. 21, from 7 to 9 p.m.
“This is something I’ve been doing for eight years now, but we’re going to do it really big and really bright,” Fisher said. “Last year people saw the house and were interested in it. This year, we’re going bigger than ever.”
The tradition traces back to a winter when Fisher was serving in the military and stationed in Alaska. He and his wife couldn’t afford to fly home for Christmas. “It snowed really, really bad, and we were snowed into our apartment for two weeks,” he said. “We watched Hallmark Christmas movies for the first time together, and we made a promise that we would go bigger and better every year.”
That promise now fills every floor of their Hutchinson home with holiday scenes. Inside, 30 Christmas trees will be decorated with nearly 10,000 ornaments. Fisher estimates between 40,000 and 50,000 lights will illuminate the inside and outside of the house. He installed eight outdoor 20-amp electrical outlets to power it all.
“Originally there was just one in the front and one in the back,” he said. “I knew if this continued to grow, we’d need more.”
Every design is personal. This holiday marks 10 years since Fisher’s mother passed away, and he said she is the inspiration behind everything he does.
“My mother really, really loved Christmas,” he said. “She always wanted to go all out, but we grew up in a two-bedroom apartment, and she never could. Every year my designs are dedicated to her, but this year, because it’s the 10-year anniversary, I decided to go bigger than I ever have before.”
The third floor will be his favorite place in the house this season. “That room is dedicated to my mom in its entirety,” he said. “It’s going to be like a holiday memorial room to honor our past loved ones.”
Fisher doesn’t just hang lights, he designs themes.
“I don’t like just throwing everything out there,” he said. “If I go candy cane style, it’s going to be red and white. If it’s multicolor, everything matches. I like it to have a look, a design, a theme.”
This year’s interior theme is titled “Once Upon a Christmas.” Each room is designed to look like a page in a storybook.
“My house is a canvas,” he said. “When we moved in, we didn’t have much furniture, and it was so open. One tree lit up one room, and the rest of the house was dark. So I just started filling it in, room by room.”
The event will offer free cookies, coffee and hot chocolate to the first 100 visitors. A Santa Claus will be on the front porch for pictures with kids, framed by Christmas trees and lights.
“If you want the photographer to take it, she’ll take the picture and send it to you,” Fisher said. “If you’d rather take it yourself, totally up to you.”
Admission is free, though Fisher said donations are welcome. “I could never ask,” he said. “If people give, I’m more than grateful.”
Fisher said opening the house to the public this year was inspired by a letter he received last Christmas from a woman who had recently lost her husband.
“She wrote that seeing my house all lit up brought her warmth and closure,” he said. “That hit me. I’m doing this for my mom, and I figured if it brings that kind of feeling to someone else, let’s share it.”
For Fisher, the meaning behind the display is simple. “We’re very old-fashioned when it comes to Christmas,” he said. “It’s a magical time of year. It’s love, family, warmth. And we just want to share that with the community.”
The open house will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, at 201 W. 12th Ave., at the corner of 12th and Adams in Hutchinson.