Lint family wins Fairfield’s Christmas Light Showdown

FAIRFIELD – The home of Richard and Kendra Lint received first place in the inaugural Fairfield Christmas Light Showdown on Saturday, Dec. 2. The Lints’ home is the famous James A. Beck House that stands at 401 E. Burlington Ave. on the corner with D Street.

Visit Fairfield Executive Director Terry Baker said that 16 homes participated in the holiday decorating contest, and that nearly 200 ballots were turned in from community members who voted on their favorite home.

“People really loved the event, so we’re looking at plans to make this an annual event,” Baker said.

Mack’s Automotive sponsored the event and supplied the prize money, which was $500 for first place, $250 to second place and $100 to third place.

Second place went to 800 Sunset Drive; Third place to 700 West Stone; and Honorable Mentions went to 508 East Buchanan Avenue, 208 Iowa Avenue, 913 South Sixth Street, and 1205 South Fifth Street.

Baker said it was fun to see people cruise through town looking at all the decorated homes.

“One of the big reasons we did this was to build community,” she said. “And it was a comment we heard over and over from people who were voting as to how much fun it was to pull up to a house and see everyone talking to each other through their car windows. So many people commented that that was their favorite part of the whole thing.”

Baker said she learned that a group from Illinois came to Fairfield specifically for the Christmas Light Showdown.

The winning home of Richard and Kendra Lint has become widely known for its fantastic decorations for Halloween and Christmas. The Lints have lived in the James A. Beck House since 2020, and this is their fourth time decorating the house for Christmas.

“After decorating it that first year for Halloween and Christmas, we got a lot of positive feedback, and that’s helped drive us to do it year after year,” Richard said. “We are adding things each year, and tweaking as we go.”

Before moving to Fairfield, the Lints lived in Portland, Oregon. They decorated that home, too, but it was smaller so they didn’t put out so many decorations.

“I’d spend a day on it and it was done,” Richard said. “Now in this house it takes about two weeks.”

Some of the noteworthy decorations on the Lints’ home are the nutcrackers on the front porch, and the garland that hangs from a second story tower. Richard said people ask how they got it up there, and the answer is simple: he threw the garland from one window to the next and had his daughter catch it on the other side.

Richard said he typically decorates the outside while Kendra decorates the inside. On the same day of the Christmas Lighting Contest, the Lint family also participated in a tour of homes organized by a local PEO chapter. One of the most eye-catching decorations inside the home, also visible through the window, is a replica of the iconic leg lamp from the movie “A Christmas Story.”

“For our first year here, Kendra said, ‘We’ve got to put this in the front window,’ but I had no idea how people would take it,” Richard said. “Some of the people who came on the house tour asked, ‘What’s that leg in the window? They had never even heard of the movie. To those people, it was really bizarre.”

Richard said he and Kendra feel a sense of responsibility to decorate the James A. Beck House nicely because it is one of the most famous homes in Fairfield.

“We found this house by going on house groups on Facebook,” Richard said. “Everyone we follow who has a Victorian house does the same thing with decorations, so it would feel weird not to do it. It’s often pointed out that this is really the town’s house. That’s how we look at it.”

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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