Australian Family Retakes Crown for Guinness World Record for Most Christmas Lights at Home
For a family in Australia, nothing sets the mood for the season like the sight of sparkling Christmas lights.
This is the reason why this Christmas, David Richards - husband of Janean and father of Aidan, 13, Caitlin, 10, and Madelyn, 6 has strewn up more than half a million Christmas lights around their home – reclaiming their Guinness World Record for the most number of Christmas lights on a residential property with 502,165 twinkling bulbs.
This was confirmed by Guinness World Records official Chris Sheedy on Monday.
"I have always loved Christmas. Having the Christmas lights with the community coming in and sharing it is a time when you get to know people you probably should know better, I guess," David Richards said in article from stuff.co.nz.
The family started this tradition in 2001, lighting up their home with 331,038 multicolored sparkling lights when eldest child Aidan is about a year old.
This earned the family their spot in the famous Guinness World book. In 2012, a family in LaGrangeville, New York, who illuminated their home with 346,283 lights took the crown from them.
The Richards home, with its more than 50 kilometers of Christmas lights is open for public viewing beginning this weekend to raise money for charity. Richards said that a local power company would donate the estimated AUS $2500 in electricity to supply power to the household for the next month.
Will another family steal the crown from the next Christmas?