Christmas village continues to grow

What began as three small houses has now expanded into a massive village where it's always Christmas.

Binnie Murphree explained the start of the town within her home began with her mother, Bonnie Bleak, who would put up three log houses with her elves every Christmas. In about 1987 or '88, Murphree made a gingerbread village and set it up. Of course, she said, when dealing with gingerbread the critters are eventually going to find and make short work of it.

Murphree decided to start collecting the holiday-themed houses at that point, and had made seven or eight of them in ceramics classes. Since then, she said, the collection has "snowballed." One year, her mother gave her seven houses, and Murphree said she has only bought about five of them brand new. The rest have come from secondhand stores and garage sales.

To get a perspective on just how large the village has become, it used to take Murphree only a day to set it up; it now takes her, her sister Lavita Kraushaar and her nephew Dan Bleak a week. Bleak also added an electric train setup this year.

The collection of houses and accessories spans nearly 30 years, and while the village certainly is the focal point, the display also has plenty of additional magic happening. Above, a colored light reflects to give the feeling of the aurora borealis and if you look closely you might even spot Santa and his reindeer overhead of the Grinch plotting in his cave.

That background is just as amazing, featuring waterfalls and other paintings by Bonnie, and on two sides are the rock walls of the house's foundations. Murphree said when her grandfather, J. Bob White, originally homesteaded here the house was his taxidermy shop. The building was dug into the side of the canyon wall, and the rocks were used to build the foundation. When her parents moved there, they added onto and converted parts of the building.

Murphree doesn't have plans to stop adding to the collection and setting it up every year, but said if she ever gets too old to help move in the real rocks which are part of it she'll pass it on to the next generation. One of the interesting things to do as it grows, she said, is to find out how to arrange the "mountains" so there is space for everything. Though she has no real favorites, there are some items she likes better than others, particularly those with small figures inside.

Part of the fun of putting up the display, Murphree said, is having people come out to enjoy it. She said people are welcome to stop and see the village if they happen to be coming through the canyon, and she really enjoys the looks little children get on their faces when they see it. Those who want to set up an appointment to see the village can call 921-8833.