Usually at this time of year there are about 100,000 colorful Christmas lights twinkling out on the front lawn of Bill Gilfillen’s house on Knob Hill Road in San Marcos. But this year, there are none.
For 35 years, thousands of people from across San Diego County and around the world have stopped by to see the spectacle, which has become known as “Christmas on Knob Hill.”
This year, there is only one Santa decoration and three snowmen along with a small sign written with green and red markers.
It begins with, “I hope you are all well. Unfortunately I’m recovering from unexpected surgery and I won’t be able to put up the display this year. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered and offered to help. It means a lot.”
At the bottom, it says, “Please be kind to one another.”
Gilfillen, 85, known as “Mr. Christmas,” is recovering from two spine operations and knee surgery. Doctor’s orders are for him to rest.
It sounds harsh for a man who, for decades, has put his heart into bringing Christmas cheer to everyone around.
Bill Gilfillen stands amid his “Christmas at Knob Hill” display during the holidays in 2021.
(Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Gilfillen spends nearly a whole year planning and working on the Christmas display, which includes hundreds of decorations and thousands of lights that he puts up on the roof and in the front of the house. It takes three months alone just to pull it all out of storage and organize it and two months to take it down and put it back. It’s worth it to him and so is the electric bill, which was nearing $2,000 before he went solar.
“My favorite part is watching people as they come up and there’s a smile on their faces and there’s laughter and ‘oohs and ahs’ from the children who look on in amazement with their mouths open,” Gilfillen said. “It’s so much fun — I can’t explain the joy of it all.”
Children looking at the “Christmas at Knob Hill” display in 2021.
(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Each year he adds a few more decorations. And each year he designs it differently with various scenes featuring illuminated, moving figures, ranging from Mickey Mouse, Snoopy and “Star Wars” characters to puppies, penguins and peacocks along with Christmas-themed decorations such as the reindeer Rudolph with a light-up red nose, Santa Claus, lighted candy canes, a nutcracker and tin soldiers.
The display is one of the biggest residential holiday attractions in San Diego County, drawing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Some nights folks line up all the way down the street for the event, which has become for many families a holiday tradition over three decades and several generations.
“Four generations of my family have enjoyed Christmas on Knob Hill,” said Jennifer Overman, a longtime San Marcos resident, who now works as a recreation supervisor for the city of San Marcos Parks & Recreation Department. Overman grew up one street over from Knob Hill and enjoyed the Christmas lights display since she was a child. “Each year, for over 30 years, our family has walked through the neighborhood to see his display. I took my nieces. Now that my nieces are grown and have children, they’ve been able to share the experience with their children,” Overman said.
“Everyone around here knows him as the guy with the Christmas house,” said his wife of nearly 40 years, Elaine Gilfillen. Even when Gilfillen went to a local restaurant, Pegah’s Kitchen, recently after his surgery, a waitress recognized him as “Mr. Christmas” and said she enjoyed his Christmas display over the years.
Bill Gilfillen putting up the Christmas lights on his roof in 2014
(Courtesy of the Gilfillen family)
The only other year he didn’t have the display up was in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. But he put up a Santa wearing a mask on the roof and wrote about it on his website, christmasonknobhill.com.
Gilfillen starts working on the layout for the next year’s display months in advance and likes to put it up himself to make sure it turns out as he originally envisioned, although he does appreciate the help he’s gotten from friends and family. Last year, a neighbor carried his 85-pound Santa up the ladder and onto the platform Gilfillen built on the roof.
“He’s the chief and we just try to help out. Our neighbors are great,” Elaine Gilfillen said, referring to her husband’s rank in the Navy — chief petty officer. Gilfillen, a Vietnam veteran, served 23 years in the Navy as a flight engineer.
As much as he loves putting together the scenes, his favorite part is seeing people’s reactions — that’s why he puts so much into it. He likes to find out from the kids which are their favorite decorations and he sets up a scavenger hunt in the display for the kids.
“It’s his thing and he loves it. He loves to talk to everybody and he remembers people who come,” his wife said.
Visitors from as far away as Germany, Japan and Korea have come up to Gilfillen and told him how cool his display was.
“He would talk with visitors from parts of the world where he was deployed,” Elaine Gilfillen said.
Bill Gilfillen stands in the middle of his “Christmas at Knob Hill” display in 2021.
(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
His favorite memories include watching a couple get engaged in the middle of the light display. It all started when Gilfillen had been shopping at a used car lot and a woman recognized him as “Mr. Christmas,” which is not unusual— even at grocery stores and restaurants. She asked Gilfillen if it was OK if her boyfriend proposed to her at “Christmas at Knob Hill,” because it was such a special place. “He got down on one knee and proposed and the whole crowd clapped,” Gilfillen said.
Another time, a pregnant mom and her two kids were walking through the light display and Gilfillen noticed she looked like she might need some help. “I asked if she was OK and she told me she just went into labor. Her husband brought her right over to the hospital and she had a baby girl that night,” Gilfillen said.
He remembered the visits of an elderly woman who held onto her two daughters as she walked through the display. One Christmas, she baked him some Italian cookies from a recipe she brought from her homeland.
“Our family has enjoyed seeing the beautiful holiday display that ‘Mr. Christmas’ puts on every year. We are lucky to live in the area and don’t have to drive far like other families do to enjoy the display. We are going to miss the holiday display this year and hope ‘Mr. Christmas’ makes a swift recovery. He spreads so much joy to children and families alike,” said San Marcos resident Kimberly Valdovinos.
Gilfillen’s family put a heater out in the front for him because he would stand out in the cold greeting visitors from 5 to 9 p.m. each night, chatting with everyone on the driveway. During the 10 days before Christmas, he would put on a Santa suit his wife’s mother made him and hand out several thousand candy canes he bought for the kids.
Not just the young are enchanted by “Mr. Christmas” and his light display. Busloads of seniors come from assisted living communities. Gilfillen usually climbs inside the bus and greets everyone. “Sometimes they’re so happy seeing the Christmas lights, they’re crying,” Gilfillen said.
For Gilfillen it is poignant, too. He grew up in a poor family in Grove City, Ohio, and for a few years lived in a Methodist-run orphanage because his mom was working and couldn’t afford to take care of him and all his four siblings. His big treat at Christmas was to see the Christmas lights and holiday window displays around town.
“I told my mom, ‘One day I’m going to decorate.’ ” He made good on his promise. The year before his mom died, she came out from Ohio and saw his enormous light display and all the crowds. “She was impressed,” Gilfillen said.
When Gilfillen felt down about not having the display and being Santa this year, he bought a few decorations for the front yard. “I didn’t want people to think I was turning into Scrooge,” he said.
That’s the last thing folks would think. Gilfillen has received hundreds of thank-you notes and Christmas cards from visitors around the world, saying he has given so much.
His wife said, “People have told me the display is more than a pretty sight. They feel the warmth and they feel accepted here — that’s the Christmas spirit. There’s a lot of love out there.”
Friends and neighbors have been asking what they can do to help him.
“We have very supportive neighbors,” Elaine Gilfillen said. “He’ll come back next year. I know he will. He’s not one to sit still long.”
One thing Gilfillen regrets is that he never put out a visitors book for folks to add their names. But maybe next year.
“I’m looking forward to next year,” Gilfillen said.