Family Nabs Cheery Record: Most Christmas Lights

An Australian family has reclaimed their Guinness World Record by stringing up more than half a million Christmas lights around their suburban home. A Guinness World Records rep confirmed today that the Richards family of Canberra set the record for Christmas lights on a residential property with 502,165 twinkling bulbs. The family first entered the record book in 2011 with 331,038 multi-colored lights. But they were trumped last year by a family in LaGrangeville, NY, who illuminated their home with 346,283 lights.

David Richards—whose family includes wife Janean, and kids Aidan, 13, Caitlin, 10, and Madelyn, 6—said most of his neighbors supported the display, which features 31 miles of wire. But some hadn't spoken to him since the last record was set. He said while he bought the lights, a local power company would donate the estimated $2,300 in electricity that would illuminate them for the next month. And though Richards vowed to retire after his 2011 feat, he won't rule out a defense of his latest record—though he would need a generator to get any more electricity for his home. (More Christmas lights stories.)