A Michigan log cabin may just take the title of America’s most festive home.
Incredible photos from inside the three-story, 9,500 foot property, located in the town of Algonac, show the property decked out with 220 Christmas trees and over 60,000 ornaments.
The festive owner of the home, Diane Kodet, says she and her late husband spent decades amassing their collection of Christmas trinkets – and she begins setting up her home for December 25 as early as the summer.
‘Setting up takes a lot of teamwork and a lot of man hours,’ Kodet told Michigan Live, claiming that she and her helpers spend ‘at least 40 hours a week from August until December putting up the trees’.
Almost every inch of the five bedroom, seven bathroom home is stuffed full of Christmas collectibles, with trees even lining he sides of her indoor pool.
Kodet tries to spread holiday cheer, and has opened up her home every December since 2003 for the ‘Christmas Walk’.
With the ‘Christmas Walk’, the log cabin turns into a living museum, with tourists able to purchase tickets to take a tour around the premises.
‘We get people that are all the way from two years old up to 90 years old and they always find a tree that reminds them of something they saw when they were a child,’ Kodet explained, adding that she expects around 3000 people to visit her home throughout the month.
Diane Kodet’s home is located in the town of Algonac, northeast of Detroit, and is known for being the most festive home in the area. After spending four months putting up her 220 trees and laying out her collection of Christmas ornaments, Kodet opens her home to the public to tour through. The log cabin is open four evenings per week throughout December, before it closes for the year on December 30
The three-story wood-paneled log cabin is full of festive ephemera, including hand-stitched Christmas quilts and figurines which are seen lining the mantel in this image. Kodet told Michigan Live that every room of the 9,500 home – except the laundry and the home office – is decorated for the holidays.
Kodet and her late husband, Allen, had been collecting Christmas toys and trinkets since they married 45 years ago. The couple have opened their home every December since 2003 for the ‘Christmas Walk’, but this year will be particularly emotional as Allen passed away in September. I love Christmas and collecting Christmas, but this was his passion and unfortunately he passed away in September,’ she told Michigan Live. ‘We were pretty much halfway through of getting everything ready for this year and we decided we were going to continue it and honor his memory.’
‘My favorite tree has always been the largest tree in the living room, which is our Victorian tree,’ Kodet told Michigan Live about the grand pine in the center of the room. ‘The ornaments are the oldest that you’ll find in the house dating anywhere from the 1850s to the 1920s’
More than a dozen trees line the side of Kodet’s indoor swimming pool, with their twinkle lights creating a cozy glow that’s perfect for an evening dip. While visitors aren’t able to cool off in the swimming pool, they are able to inspect the room’s trees and it’s lavish white nativity set (seen at left), which is topped by a giant glowing star
Kodet has around 60,000 ornaments on display in her home, but she estimates she has at least another 60,000 stored away. She first began collecting festive trinkets back in the mid-1970s with her husband, and the pair proved excellent at sourcing rare and historic yuletide objects. Some of the objects in Kodet’s home date back to 1850 – and she says the ‘Christmas Walk’ tells the story of the history of Christmas in America
Kodet told Michigan Live: ‘Every tree in the house has some sort of a theme. Originally, it started out with being themed towards a decade. Now, with over 200 trees, I’ve run out of decades.’ Here, an American themed Christmas tree is pictured. Crafty Kodet has taken the white tree and added American flags, as well as blue and red baubles to create a patriotic homage to her home country
One of Kodet’s ‘all-doll’ trees is pictured. She also has an ‘all-bear’ tree, which is decorated with nothing but plush teddies, as well as an ‘all-angel’ tree, part of which is seen on the left. The old-fashioned items make some visitors nostalgic for Christmases gone by. ‘We get people that are all the way from 2 years old up to 90 years old and they always find a tree that reminds them of something they saw when they were a child,’ told Michigan Live
Last year, more than 2,300 people came to visit the ‘Christmas Walk’, and Kodet is expecting that number to increase to 3000 this year. Her home is open four evenings a week, with tickets selling for $17 for adults and $10 for children. The home holds special memories for a number of Christmas Walk visitors
Kodet says she notices many visitors returning year after year to visit her home when it opens up for the ‘Christmas Walk’. Given the sheer number of items on display, there’s always a guarantee that you’ll notice something new. ‘We have people who come through the house and make it a yearly tradition. They come and they bring their kids, they bring their families,’ Kodet stated