Lakewood Ranch man's obsession shines bright

A sign hangs from the door of the Papiano home in Summerfield saying “OCD.”

The sign doesn’t stand for what most people would think though. Instead, “OCD” is his acronym for Obsessive Christmas Disorder.

Patti Papiano said the sign couldn’t be more true as the couple stood in their front yard at 6326 Yellowtop Drive, which was filled with more than 40 light-up animals, Santas, inflatables and other Christmas decorations. 

“He thinks about this all year round,” Patti Papiano said of her husband, Ray. “He starts planning it in September. He takes the week of Thanksgiving off to put the stuff outside. He’ll do all the prep work in the garage weeks ahead of time.”

Ray Papiano spends 45-50 hours setting up the display and fixing any decorations that aren’t working.

His obsession began when he and his wife moved to Lakewood Ranch in 2004.

Before living in Lakewood Ranch, the couple resided in Connecticut, where he felt it was too cold to spend time setting up intricate light displays, and any decorations that were set up had to be taken down after the ground thawed.

Now he likes having a fun display for his four grandchildren to enjoy when they came to visit.

Little did the Papianos know, their house would become a go-to holiday light display home for families throughout East County.

“When I was a kid, we went riding to find decorated houses, and I would be in awe of all of that,” Patti Papiano said. “It’s weird to know that my house is that to people now.”

Children in the neighborhood would write letters to Santa and drop them off in the metal mailbox in the front yard.

After the first year, family members, friends and neighbors started giving Christmas light fixtures they found to Ray Papiano as gifts.

“It just kind of snowballed,” Ray Papiano said. 

Patti Papiano said, “We can look at [each item] and tell who exactly it’s from.”

The Papiano family comes together every year the Friday after Thanksgiving to light the display for the first time.

Now, 16 years later, the Papianos’ front yard is filled with light-up dogs, a raccoon, flamingos, owls, trees, bears, reindeer, a panda, snowmen, a crocodile and a nutcracker. Lights hang from the gutters, the garage and the fence. An inflatable helicopter with Santa in the driver’s seat waits for lift off. There are two mailboxes for letters to Santa. A countdown to Christmas reminds kids how many days they have left until Santa comes to visit.

Ray Papiano’s favorite is the flamingos flying in the sleigh.

“I like doing some of the things that are normal stuff from stores, but I like different things,” he said. “[The flamingos] are something different with a Florida style.”

The Papianos’ house will be darker next year because Ray Papiano has decided this year would be his last for going all-out on Christmas decorations. At the age of 64, the number of hours and amount of work that goes into the display has become too much.

“I still love doing it, but it’s just a lot of work,” he said. “I’ll probably have withdrawals next year.”