Naperville family says ‘Merry Swiftmas’ with Taylor Swift decorations

One lawn. 10 eras.

Maybe not your usual pick for holiday decorations but seeing the world’s biggest pop star light up a house in Naperville of all places is like snow at the beach, as Taylor Swift would say.

Weird but it it was beautiful.

Roof to sidewalk, Amy and Brian Scott’s house display near Atlas Lane and Tupelo Avenue is decked out in LED lights, the usual lineup of candy canes, snowflakes and trees adorning the facade and landscaping. But almost everything is done with a Swiftie flare.

Album covers line the home’s overhang. Song lyrics sprinkle the lawn. Even Swift herself makes a cameo, albeit in wooden form — after all, slipping away from her worldwide Eras Tour isn’t easy — as does her boyfriend Travis Kelce, tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Over the excited whispers of onlookers and the regular motorcade of cars passing by, a mix of Swift’s music plays.

It’s enchanting, really.

“A whole house of Taylor Swift?” one spectator wondered out loud as she approached the display Monday night for a closer look. “Whoa.”

Naperville’s own pseudo-Swift show is all due to the Scott family, longtime locals who are well-known in their neighborhood for going all out around the holidays.

“We’re big Christmas people,” Amy Scott said. “We always go big.”

Even back when she and her husband were newlyweds, they “really did up the balcony” of their small Naperville condo, she said. Over the years, the festive projects have only grown and naturally the couple’s daughters have embraced their parents’ passion.

The family started doing themes a few years ago. When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, they placed a big “W” on top of their house, Scott said. During COVID, they found a twist for their more traditional lineup of gingerbread men by fitting them all with masks. Last year, the family embraced “Toy Story.”

“That was probably one of my favorites,” she said.

Nothing tops Taylor, though.

Scott said the idea came to her about a month ago, after seeing Swift’s “Eras Tour” concert movie.

“I went to the movies with my girlfriends and when I walked out, I was like, we could definitely pull this off,” Scott said. “(Taylor Swift) puts so much material out there with symbolism that I knew, if we just thought it through, we could create something really cool.”

To solidify the 2023 theme, she went to see the movie again and brought her husband with her. Through the nearly-three hour flick, the pair brainstormed, she said.

“We were talking and taking notes about everything,” she said. Together, they decided Swiftmas was the way to go. They started designing right away but it wasn’t until last week that the display, mostly handmade, really started coming together.

“As soon as my daughters came home from college for Thanksgiving break, we were out there on ladders,” Scott said.

“(The response has) been really overwhelming,” since, she said. “Like, really overwhelming.”

Still, amid the buzz, the family is glad to bring a piece of Swiftie fever to Naperville.

“The whole reason we do this is just to spread happiness and joy and just good energy to the neighborhood,” Scott said. “That’s why we’ve always done it.

“It’s been cool because I’ve been outside the last two nights and everybody that gets out of their car is just smiling and laughing. It’s kind of like one big party in our front yard. It’s been nothing but positivity.”

tkenny@chicagotribune.com