Close to a million lights @ Casa del Pomba

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When I was in grade school, Mommy saw a feature on TV Patrol about how beautiful the Christmas lights were in Imus, Cavite. The whole family got into the car right after the news, and we went to Imus (totally unplanned).

I remembered the spontaneity of that family trip when I saw a social media feature about Deacon Dave's light display in Livermore, CA. I thought that Donan would love to see the Christmas lights. Val hadn't been to Livermore (outside of the outlets), so it would be nice for him to experience it, too. 

We went to Deacon Dave's Casa del Pomba after shopping at Costco. I was surprised by how popular his house is. The 500-foot queue of visitors went around the corner and into a cul-de-sac! I was worried that it would be too cold for Mommy (she wasn't dressed warm enough for the plunging temperature), boring for Donan (he fell asleep; thank goodness we brought the stroller!), and too slow for Val (he had complained about the long waiting time at Singapore Zoo's night safari years ago). Daddy was calm and collected, per usual.


The wait was quite long—it took us two hours to enter Casa del Pomba! However, it was all worth it. Casa del Pomba was adorned with close to a million lights, and it shows! The plants (including the trees) were covered with fairy lights. The entrance had what looked like a windmill that was also covered in lights. The buildings were also lined with lights. 

Deacon Dave's house is a prominent local attraction because of its out-of-this-world light display and free admission. But what makes it special is the strong community spirit: people have volunteered to set up the displays months in advance, year in and year out, since 1982. The only exception was when the COVID-19 lockdowns cancelled the display. 


The theme for the 2024 display was "The World Celebrates Christmas", and it started with a mailbox for Santa Claus. I'm unsure if kids are encouraged to drop their letters here or if this was just a display.


There's a bridge in the middle of the front yard, which led to a wooden deck. This part of the yard was popular for marriage proposals (Casa del Pomba estimates more than 85 proposals occurred there). 


The theme was exemplified by the numerous displayed scenes, including mannequins dressed in clothes worn in Central America underneath the fairy lights.


A replica of Saint Michael's Church (Mexico) was also included. I don't know if this was a coincidence or if Deacon Dave had some history with this Mexican parish because he is active in Saint Michael's in Livermore.


One of the water features was labelled "Wishing Pond," where visitors could toss coins and make wishes. But Casa del Pomba also accepted donations via Venmo from people who didn't bring cash. We made a small cash gift; instead of throwing it in the pond or using Venmo, we dropped our donation into a drop box beside the pond.


And look at that! The parol and the sari-sari store were featured! Some Filipino Americans must have designed and built these displays, or Deacon Dave went to the Philippines at some point in his ministry.


The wait was longer than the viewing (we were in and out of the gardens in 30 minutes). On our way back to the car, I found a vendor selling hot chocolate. I just had to stop; who wouldn't stop by to buy some piping hot drinks after a long wait in the winter cold of Livermore, right?



Deacon Dave's home is definitely an interesting place to visit. It was too bad that Donan fell asleep as we entered the gardens. He didn't see the highlights of our trip! On the flip side, this just means that we may consider visiting again just so he could experience it, too.

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