Return of the Marinwood Christmas House

Update: The Marinwood Christmas House is up and running and amazing! It's definitely a must-see in Marin this holiday season. I've updated this post with a few details and a slideshow of the house.

The most exciting news so far this holiday season is that the famous Marinwood Christmas House is coming back this year! Anyone who grew up in Marin—especially in San Rafael and Novato—in the past 40 years certainly has fond memories of this amazing decorated house. It was the Christmas House; the one all others aspired to be.

Lighted and decorated and full of colorful animated figures, dolls, and holiday scenes, the Marinwood Christmas House was a project undertaken for decades by Charles "Dooley" Stitham, the owner of the house on Adobestone Court. He stopped decorating the house several years ago, before my kids were born, so they've never had a chance to see it (until now, that is). Sadly, Mr. Stitham passed away this September. The revival of the holiday spectacle that he created was undertaken in his honor by his family. After weeks of work, the Marinwood Christmas House lit up the neighborhood again on December 18. It's open daily through New Year's Day 5–10 pm. (Note: if you go, make sure you park your car on Blackstone Drive and walk up Adobestone to the house.)

This year's iteration of the Marinwood Christmas House is definitely something you won't want to miss, especially since this may very well be a one-time event. Get the full story, see photos of the house, and discuss on the Friends of the Marinwood Christmas House group on Facebook.

Below the image gallery is a video of a news report from the '80s posted by MarinNostalgia.org showing some of the Christmas House magic and featuring a brief interview with Mr. Stitham.