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These North Fork homes have the best holiday decorations

The runners up

The Hartmann family
60 Further Lane, Riverhead
One first-place vote, six honorable mentions

Times Review Deck the Halls
The Hartmann home in Riverhead. (Credit: Krysten Massa)

For the second consecutive year, the Hartmann family has earned the top score of any Riverhead Town property entered in our contest. It was also one of just two houses to earn a first-place vote.

“It’s incredible,” said reporter Krysten Massa, a first-time judge. “It’s just so bright and festive.”

John Hartmann said he has no idea exactly how many pieces he has, but it’s clear the family had more decorations than anyone else who entered our contest this year. Mr. Hartmann has been decorating the outside of his house with the help of his son for more than 15 years.

Among the unique touches is a Christmas countdown clock in front of the house showing how close we are to Christmas Day, right down to the second. Other touches include a snowman with a thermometer, which displayed at temperature of 30 degrees at the time of our visit, and 34 inflatable decorations.

Hartmann said the biggest obstacle for him is fitting all the trimmings on the property.

“It’s a blast of Christmas,” said sales executive Tina Volinski.

Although his house isn’t located along a main road like some of our other entries, Mr. Hartmann said he still gets many people dropping by to say hello or pose for selfies in front of his house each Christmas season. It’s a big reason he continues to decorate.

“The house has a real wow factor when driving by,” said reporter Nicole Smith.

The Padden family
442 Deep Hole Road, Calverton
Eight honorable-mention votes

Times Review Deck the Halls
The Padden home in Calverton. (Credit: Krysten Massa)

In the three years we’ve been judging the Deck the Halls competition, the Padden family home is the only one where lights are synchronized to music you can play through your car stereo during your visit.

Programing all the songs through computer software is a monumental task, but one homeowner Chris Padden has been happy to take on the past two years. It’s also a real crowd-pleaser.

“It’s really fun and upbeat,” sales and marketing director Sonja Reinholt Derr said of the Paddens’ display.

“I’m so impressed with the amount of work they put in,” added Volinski.

In total, the property has 40 inflatable decorations, including a Jurassic Christmas section with holiday-themed dinosaurs. On another part of the property, Santa can be seen popping out from behind an opening outhouse door.

The big draw, however, is the synced music, which allows passersby to park the car and soak up the holiday spirit.

“I love the dedication,” said Massa. “I love the music.”

The Pasca family
18900 Main Road, Mattituck
Six honorable-mention votes

Times Review Deck the Halls
The Pasca family in Mattituck. (Credit: Krysten Massa)

A newcomer to our contest, this highly visible Mattituck display earned the highest marks of any first-time entry.

Tony and Kathy Pasca said they’ve been decorating the house for more than a decade but have begun taking things to the next level over the past couple of years.

“I love that they feel a sense of duty to decorate, being on Main Road,” remarked northforker editor Vera Chinese.

What you might not realize as you pass by is that many of the Pascas’ decorations were designed by hand, including most of the dozen Christmas trees in the front yard and the star-shaped lights on the front of the colonial house. A penguin pond, classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer characters and, of course, Christmas Yoda also caught our judges’ attention.

“It’s a beautiful display with a cohesive design,” said display sales coordinator Cerria Torres. “An incredible eye-catcher on your evening commute.”