The party isn't rockin' this year for the home that hosted one of the country's most beloved Halloween light shows.
Kevin Judd made his Riverside, Calif., home "sing" to the soundtrack of LMFAO's infectiously catchy "Party Rock Anthem," using specially programmed, synchronized LED-lit animations that would twinkle and flash to the beat. A YouTube video (which you can see at the bottom of this article) of the "rocking" light display went viral, driving thousands from across the country to flock to the home for the daily light show in the weeks preceding Halloween 2011.
But before the show could resurrect for a long-awaited 2012 run, the party was shut down by an angry neighborhood HOA.
"I was disappointed," Judd, the homeowner and creative lighting genius behind the now-infamous "Party Rock Anthem Halloween House," told AOL Real Estate. Judd, 40, lives at the home with his wife, Amber, and their two children (all pictured at left). "They didn't even give me a chance to work it out with them and with my neighbors. We just got a letter in the mail addressed to the whole community outlining a new set of holiday rules that basically shut us down."
The letter, sent by the Euclid Management Homeowners Association in Upland, Calif., was particularly disheartening to Judd because he had spent five years conceptualizing and perfecting the light display and its complex programming.
"It takes 10 to 12 hours just to program one minute of song," Judd said. Additionally, the display took eight months to actually create and build, he said.
On the fame that his home garnered, Judd revealed that he had never dreamed that this "hobby" would have given birth to a viral music video covered by "Good Morning America," NBC, the Los Angeles Times and blogs across the world. ("Like many of you out there, I hate that song," blogger Matt Hickman said in a post. "But this viral video in question is nothing short of mesmerizing.") Judd said that he never fathomed that his synchronized light display would draw an average of 2,000 people a day -- from across the country -- to camp out in front of his family's house to catch the show. By 6 p.m. each night, the streets were crowded, and latecomers would be forced to stand far back. (See the gallery below.)
Judd said that even his neighbors enjoyed the show, with some enterprising families making a quick buck from visitors.
"Many neighbors liked it, they would come out to watch every night," Judd said. "Some of my neighbors would even capitalize on the whole thing! They'd sell parking spaces, food and trinkets."
And the City of Riverside couldn't have been happier. Riverside Mayor Ronald O. Loveridge even invited Judd and his family to City Hall in 2011 to thank them for the positive national attention that their display had brought to the city. Loveridge offered to assist Judd in the streamlining of cleaning efforts, traffic control, porta-potties and police presence during the 2012 festivities.
But not if Judd's HOA has anything to do with it. In March 2012, the HOA cracked down on the neighborhood with a new set of "Holiday Display" rules, allegedly because of a number of neighbor complaints. According to the HOA's letter, the new rules outlaw "extreme" holiday light displays across the entire neighborhood -- although Judd is convinced that the rules were drawn up to specifically target his family's home.
When AOL Real Estate contacted the Euclid Management Homeowners Association, a representative of the organization said that no one was available to comment on the matter.
But have these new rules stopped Judd? Maybe -- but maybe not.
"I was thinking about just putting some pumpkins on my lawn this year, but people keep telling me to just forget the HOA and have another display this Halloween. What's the worst they could do?" said Judd, who has since started up his own business selling synchronized lighting display software and equipment. "So ... I'm thinking about it."
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Unfortunately, what they can do is fine your home, resulting in a levy on your property if you don't pay. In Florida, the limit is $1,000 per incident, and the state no longer allows HOAs to foreclose for these types of indcidents. Not sure of CA laws. It is a shame that they didn't even try to work it out. I can understand the inconvenience to some neighbors that 2,000 extra visitors could cause, but something could have been worked out.
what did you expect? You live in an HOA, I'm surprised you got to do it the first time. That's why I will NEVER live in an HOA community, they're nothing but a bunch of tight sphincter bullies
Linda, Linda, Linda, I live in a gated comunity and we have an HOA and it's not like you describe, Yes there are a lot of rules and regulations and no no's but we elected a board of intellignet people and we all work together to live in a safe and happy environment. You know going in it will be a little tough.
HOAs are created for tight-a&&ed whiny complainers. I would never live where one of those exist. I live in an area that has a neighborhood organization that includes 2000 households. There are no stupid "rules" created by people that have nothing better to do than to watch their neighbors for the smallest infraction.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. You pay your hard earned money to buy a home or condo and some group of self-aggrandizing Nazis can tell you what you can and cannot do regarding your own home. My husband and I moved out of one of those suffocating HOA communities and will never move into one again.
Just another example of HOA Scrooges controlling your life. They love nothing more than to sit around and conjure up new rules to add to their scrolls. The light show is unique and fun which is everything HOA's are against. Next they're be telling him what kind of toilet paper he can buy.
While I think the light show is spectacular, this is one of the reasons I live in an HOA-controlled neighborhood. What did he think would happen when all these people invaded the neighborhood daily to watch the show? Instead of being disrespectful to his neighbors, perhaps he can partner with someone who has a home that is in a location that can handle the traffic and where the neighbors don't mind the intrusion for the run of the show. I sympathized with him up until he decided to break the rules even though when he purchased the house he agreed to abide by any rules the HOA put forth. I don't think the rule would have been put into effect unless there were issues, which it sounds like there were.
I wouldn't want to live next door to him. I wouldn't want to live on his street. How you feel about the lights is your opinion. I don't like it. My kids on the other hand can't get enough. I can imagine the traffic, too many people, noise. I think most of the time HOA's go overboard but not in this case.
HOA's are nothing but a bunch of people who having nothing better to do than ride around on their golf carts and complain about one weed in your flower bed! The "complaining neighbors" are probably the ones that didn't make money off the shows. You guys couldn't work out a deal where he only does the show three nights a week or something a long those lines? Come on people, the mayor even offered to help with the situation.
Btw, I found the light show on YouTube last year and absolutely fell in love with it! I've showed it to everyone I know and wished I could do that to my house!
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"I was disappointed," Judd, the homeowner and creative lighting genius behind the now-infamous "Party Rock Anthem Halloween House," told AOL Real Estate. Judd, 40, lives at the home with his wife, Amber, and their two children (all pictured at left). "They didn't even give me a chance to work it out with them and with my neighbors. We just got a letter in the mail addressed to the whole community outlining a new set of holiday rules that basically shut us down."
