MASTER of LIGHT
Casey Brown basks in the glow of the glorious light display he creates annually at his family's Coeur d'Alene home.
ELLI GOLDMAN HILBERT/Press
The expansive light display at the corner of Nineteenth Street and Montana Avenue created by resident Casey Brown brings joy to the neighborhood annually. Brown welcomes visitors to stop and enjoy the glow.
Light master Casey Brown stands amidst the glorious light display he creates in his front yard annually.
The warm glow of Casey Brown's magical Christmas light display attracts neighborhood visitors daily, Brown said.
COEUR d’ALENE–While the rest of the city was navigating slick streets after the first major snow of the season Thursday, Casey Brown basked in the glow of the tremendous Christmas light display he creates every year.
Brown, 28, has a mild cognitive disability and grew up in the home he shares with his parents. Each year he adds a little more and often picks things up second-hand that he can upgrade or customize.
“Ever since I was little I’ve enjoyed Christmas lights. I used to just play with them while my mother did the decorating,” Brown said. “The very first year I wanted to do lights, me and my dad got out here and did just the roofline.”
Many years later, Brown’s light display stretches the entire expanse of his yard and reaches many stories up into enormous evergreens. The fantastic show includes about 40 giant snowmen, soldiers, reindeer, puppies, Santa Clauses, globes, crosses, candy canes and candles each decked out with LED lights.
Brown’s collection also includes a touch of the whimsical: a Christmas hippopotamus, a pink poodle, a unicorn, Spider-Man, a lion and characters from popular children’s films.
Brown, who runs his own lawn mowing business during the summers, even created a display with a massive inflatable dog pushing a mower. Its engine had seized up so he drilled holes in it, plugged them with strings of lights and made it a feature.
Brown climbs the trees as he is able, but hired a tree service to adorn the very tallest one, he said. It's rather exciting to climb the trees, Brown said.
“If you don’t do something dangerous once in a while it gets kind of boring,” Brown said.
Recalling his eighth grade year when Brown had a smaller display that was smashed by a neighborhood mischief maker, he now gets regular accolades for his impressive light show, especially from the neighborhood children.
“Almost every night (the kids) come by and say ‘Hey Casey, I love your lights,'” he said. “Even the teenagers enjoy it.”
Prior to COVID, Brown would sit outside and pass out candy canes to visitors.
“I love people enjoying what I’ve put together,” Brown said. “I used to do it just because I liked lights and it was about me, but nowadays it’s really for the people who come.”
The massive display takes Brown about three weeks to complete. He leaves it up through the beginning of January.
“It kind of annoys my mom, but I take my sweet time putting everything away,” Brown said.
The public is welcome to visit the home at the corner of Montana Avenue and 19th Street and enjoy the show.