Design Inspiration

Southern Living chooses Texas home for famed 2018 Idea House

For nearly three decades, Southern Living has traipsed across the Southern U.S. in search of special spots for its annual Idea House. This year, the project landed in Austin with four local creative firms leading the home's "Texas-sized makeover."

Meredith Ellis, owner of JAMES Showroom, was tapped first by the perennial publication to craft the interiors. "I’ve been a member of their Designer Network for a couple of years," Ellis says. "They were looking to Austin as a potential for their 2018 Idea House and wanted me to be the interior designer if it was selected."

Ellis in turn asked local architect Chris Sanders of Sanders Architecture, David Wilkes of David Wilkes Builders, and landscape designer Big Red Sun to join the team.

The Idea House, located at 6401 Rusty Ridge Dr., is actually a gut renovation of a 1980s structure, rather than a new build. As the architect, Sanders was tasked with turning what he calls a "strange arrangement of rooms" caused by a series of past additions to the property into a functional, livable space.

"Our primary goal for the renovation was to adapt the home to meet the needs of an active, Central Texas lifestyle," Sanders explains. The architect notes that key among the adaptations was a "connection to the exterior, comfortable common areas, [and] well-designed, functional spaces."

"Southerners love to entertain," Ellis echoes. "And this home had great potential for indoor/outdoor flow if we re-arranged the floor plan."

Once the architecture plans were complete (and now available to purchase of course), the team set about modernizing the abode. With Wilkes overseeing construction, the team performed massive changes to the interiors — moving walls, re-creating the staircase, enlarging the master bath and closet, and creating two bathrooms — under a very tight deadline.

"This was a really fun and intense project," says Wilkes. "Our staff worked tirelessly to complete a remodel that normally would have taken about 10 months into a four month timeline."

The addition of Ellis' signature work, a mix of approachable high-end luxury and laid-back Texas style, ultimately completed the space's transformation from a '90s wasteland into a bright, airy home with pops of color. "This year's house may be our most inspiring ever — a complete transformation on every level, from the architecture to the décor to the outdoor spaces," says Southern Living editor-in-chief Sid Evans in a release.

Beginning June 15 through November 15, design fans can see that complete transformation in-person. The Idea House is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday 10 am-4 pm and Sunday from noon-4 pm. (These hours may be subject to change, so check here before heading out.) Portions of the $20 entrance fee will be donated to the Dell Children's Medical Center.

"I hope that visitors will understand that there is a lot of potential in the renovation process, even if it is not readily apparent," says Sanders. "The house will draw visitors from around the country who will not only visit the Idea House but will be exposed to other great design in this town."

A space for relaxation.

Southern Living/ Hector Manuel Sanchez

A space for relaxation.

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In the spotlight

Dallas' most famous Christmas-light home to shine on new Hallmark show

Facebook/BurkmanHolidayHome

The famous Burkman Holiday Home of Frisco is making its Hallmark TV debut.

A family Christmas light display that's so over the top, it looks like a Hallmark movie set is about to get its close-up on the famous holiday-entertainment network: The Burkman Holiday Home of Friscowill appear on the first episode of a new series called Ready, Set, Glow!, premiering on the Hallmark+ streaming service Thursday, December 12.

On the show, host Wes Brown will meet four families "whose Christmas decorations have been making spirits bright for generations," says the series' website. "The only thing better than these displays are the heartwarming stories behind them."

The Burkman family - husband-and-wife Corey and Jen, adult sons Alex and Jack, and Jen's dad, Eugene Skalskyj (known as "Sanpa") - have been lighting up their Frisco home at 3809 Hazelhurst Dr. for nearly a decade. Their "extreme" display - 115,000 lights and counting - attracts thousands of visitors from North Texas and beyond each year. It also raises money for a scholarship fund, supports families in need, and donates to the nonprofit The LiyanaStrong Foundation.

The Burkmans are no strangers to the TV spotlight. In 2021, they competed on ABC's holiday decorating show The Great Christmas Light Fight and appeared on Live with Kelly and Ryan.

Ready, Set, Glow! isn't a competition, but an unscripted series that goes "behind the lights," Brown says. The show will stream on Hallmark's new membership-based streaming platform, Hallmark+ (access a free trial here).

Wes Brown, Ready Set Glow, Hallmark+ Wes Brown, host of the new Hallmark+ show Ready, Set, Glow!Photo courtesy of Hallmark+

We chatted with Jen Burkman recently about the family's experience on Ready, Set, Glow!, how filming compared to The Great Christmas Light Fight, and what's new with their lights display this year.

CultureMap: How did you get picked to be on this new Hallmark show?
Jen Burkman: I received an email from the production company at Hallmark. They found us through our Facebook page, and by Googling large light displays. We come up as one of the top displays in the country. It’s exciting because it’s a brand new show and we are on the very first episode. We’re very honored to be selected for that.

CM: What is the story will they tell on the show?
JB: They will have three different things that they do in each episode. They will showcase homes with large displays that have a cause behind it, neighborhoods that go extremely far out for decorating, in towns that resemble a Hallmark Christmas town. So it is not a competition. This was something that really drew us towards it. They wanted to know more about our backstory, why we do what we do, and what it means to the community. That encompassed everything that we are about. (The Burkmans started their holiday displays when son Alex, who was autistic, developed a love of lights.)

CM: When was filming ... did you have to keep it a secret?
JB: The filming was in the middle of December 2023. We did have to keep it secret on social media. However, they did allow us to reach out to our neighborhood. So it’s even more special to us that we got to personally invite our neighbors to be a part of the TV show with us. The majority of the filming was just our family, but there are going to be elements of our neighborhood and our neighbors cheering us on.

Burkman Holiday Home Frisco Jen Burkman's father is known as "San-pa." Photo courtesy of Burkman family

CM: What was the actual filming like?
JB: We had a great time! We had the production company from Glass Entertainment with producer Matt Carter, who was amazing. He brought along about 10 people from his production company - light and sound guys, drone operators, boom operators, sound eliminators. There was so much equipment.

We did some interviews inside our home, so you’ll get to see some of our overly decorated inside of our house, and obviously a ton of footage outside, as well. It took us about 15 hours to film, for probably 15 to 20 minutes of airtime. We had our immediate family and probably 50 people from our neighborhood. We have the most incredible neighbors who are so supportive of our display so it honestly meant the world to us that they were involved.

CM: How did filming this show compare to your experience on The Great Christmas Light Fight?
JB: It was totally a different experience. The Great Christmas Light Fight was an honor to be selected; over 200 people auditioned and only 24 of us were selected. So even though we didn’t win our episode, it was a dream come true to even compete on that scale. But it was a competition, so I think we felt more stressed out because we really wanted to win. We also filmed Light Fight in 2020. So all the Covid protocols were in place, we had to get tested every single day, and we couldn’t have a crowd.

Hallmark was an absolutely different experience. We felt relaxed, and we had so much fun knowing that we weren’t competing against other families. We just got to share our story and our love for the holidays. And to be able to celebrate our neighbors and our nonprofit foundation was pretty outstanding.

CM: Any fun behind-the-scenes stories to tell?
JB: Within a half a day, we felt like we had known the crew our entire lives. By 11 o’clock at night, we were still doing interviews in our living room, and our family and the film crew were just slap happy. We were snort-laughing at ourselves for saying things incorrectly and practically falling asleep in our chairs. One thing that totally made us laugh, because it never happens, in the middle of filming with a huge crowd in our front yard, this rabbit came across the driveway and just sat in the display, looking at everybody, as if it was a lawn figurine. That rabbit may have its own spotlight on the show. We will see.

Burkman Holiday Home, Christmas lights The display features some new arches for picture-taking this year.Facebook/Burkman Holiday Home

CM: What's new with your holiday display this year?
JB: We have 115,000 lights, 90% LED. So the light bill is cheaper than the August AC bill. We have a new area in the display called "Santa Land." It is all things Santa, including a Santa toy box that you can stand in for a selfie. We introduced Bluey at the display this year, and it was a total hit. We have some new arches to take pictures in and walk-through and you’ll see some old familiar friends doing some guest appearances. 2025 will be our 10th anniversary of doing displays in this house so we’re expecting great things for next year.

CM: What's it like to be Christmas-light famous?
JB: We are so honored to be a part of this community and to continue to have so many people come year after year. On Sunday, I had a beautiful lady show me a picture of her daughter as an infant in front of the display, and her daughter is now 5 years old. To see them take the same picture, year after year, of their little girl just truly touches my heart. We love being part of families' Christmas traditions. We love being able to support our sponsored families every year. And being able to hand scholarships out to these amazing individuals in our community is pretty heartwarming. We couldn’t do it without our neighbors, the communities of Frisco and Little Elm, and everybody who drives from all over Texas, just to come see our lights.

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The Burkmans' episode of Ready, Set, Glow! will stream on Thursday, December 12 on Hallmark+. The Burkman Holiday Home is at 3809 Hazelhurst Dr., Frisco, 75036. Open from 5:30-10 Sunday-Thursday and 5:30-11 Friday-Saturday through December 28. Follow them on their Facebook page for updates, such as special themes for photo sessions. For a list of other spectacular Dallas-area Christmas lights, go here, and for best neighborhoods, visit this list.

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