Next in a series: Dallas-Fort Worth neighborhoods celebrate the holidays with light displays like no other. We’re presenting neighborhoods individually this year, so let us know if you know of a neighborhood that needs to be showcased. Nominate a neighborhood in an email. Here’s the series so far.
Neighborhood: Diamond Loch, North Richland Hills
Where: 6312 Glenview Drive, North Richland Hills. Enter eastbound off Glenview Drive, onto Diamond Loch Drive North, at the direction of police officers. | Map
When: 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. weekends.
What makes it special: Diamond Loch “is a sweet little neighborhood,” says one of its newer residents, who’s happy to be part of a long tradition. Generations of families have kept the over-the-top decorations going since the early 1970s. “The neat thing about it is it’s kind of hidden away,” said homeowners association president Kieran McMahon, himself a second-generation Diamond Loch resident. “You turn in, and it’s like its own theme park.” New neighbors moving in happily join the holiday customs, often helping older residents decorate for the holidays. “There’s a lot of tradition here, and one of the bigger ones is always Christmas and the Christmas lights.”
What: The Diamond Loch loop measures 1.2 miles of creative yard displays, but the star of the show is The Grinch on Windsor Court. Neighbors dress in costume, turning the cul-de-sac into a north Texas Whoville. Santa does get his turn to dazzle the crowds when he arrives at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 8, in a tradition begun in 1975. Santa arrives by a different mode of transportation each year, too. McMahon just happens to know Santa very well, and he knows that Santa Claus has a new way to make his entrance this year. Candy canes, as usual, will be available to both the naughty and the nice.
