Lemont Family's Christmas Village Features Hundreds Of Pieces

LEMONT, IL — One Lemont family goes all out when decorating their home for the holidays. While most families may focus on the outside of their homes, the Leatherman family has focused on building up a Christmas village for the inside of their home.

The village is 90 percent St. Nicholas Square, with a few Lemax pieces, Bruce Leatherman said. He started the Christmas village 20 years ago, and he adds two to three pieces each year.

Preparations for the Christmas village begin well before the holiday season. Leatherman said he starts cleaning the train tracks of the village in September, and starts building a platform around Halloween.

"It takes about two to three weeks to complete the set-up," he said.

The village features a Metra train, Royal Gorge train and a trolley car, as well as over 100 lighted houses, and Leatherman's favorite piece, a ski slope.

Every year the village has a different layout, and Leatherman said he is already thinking of the layout for Christmas 2020.