For nearly two decades, the former Christmas Barn sat untouched along Easton Avenue in Bethlehem Township, its doors closed, but its memory alive in local families’ nostalgia.
For Bethlehem native Dana Alyss, the building has never been just another vacant property, but a dream inspired by the Christmas magic it brought to the Lehigh Valley year-round, until it closed in 2007.
Alyss was still a college student at the time and had hope for it, she said.
“I always thought somebody else would buy it,” Alyss said. “When nobody did, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
Now, after building an online audience of more than 300,000 followers through comedy and storytelling videos, Alyss is turning to the internet to help make that years-old dream a reality.
Her GoFundMe campaign, launched after posting a video asking her followers to donate $5 to the cause, as of Wednesday had raised more than $33,000 toward a $35,000 goal, which would go toward the $200,000 down payment needed to buy the property.
The campaign has drawn thousands of supporters eager to see the beloved Christmas destination return to the area. Just as meaningful to Alyss have been the hundreds of comments from people sharing their own childhood memories of the store, including messages from the grandchildren of its original owners.
“I woke up the next morning after posting about it and my phone was going crazy,” she said. “It wasn’t just people donating. They were telling stories about what the Christmas Barn meant to their families.”
Those stories have helped shape Alyss’s vision for the property’s future.
Rather than recreating the former store exactly as it once was, she hopes to preserve its nostalgic charm while transforming it into a year-round destination complete with a Christmas retail shop, cafe, outdoor gathering space and events showcasing local businesses, musicians and artisans.
“I want it to feel like the Christmas Barn people remember,” she said. “But I also want someone who’s never been there before to walk in and feel like they’re experiencing something special.”
That balance between nostalgia and reinvention reflects Alyss’s personal journey.
After graduating from Temple University with a degree in television production, she moved to Los Angeles through the university’s internship program, intending to never leave. She spent the next 12 years working behind the scenes on productions including “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “The Talk” and NBC’s coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games before transitioning into digital media and content creation.
During the pandemic, Alyss began sharing funny stories from her own life experiences online. Videos documenting everything from awkward dating experiences to trimming the bushes in her mother’s backyard unexpectedly found large audiences, helping her build a social media community that now spans TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
Instead of using her platform solely for entertainment, Alyss said she wanted to channel it toward something that could benefit her hometown.
“I’ve spent years building an online community,” she said. “I wanted to use that platform to do some good.”
The campaign has become something of a real-life Hallmark movie plot, Alyss joked.
“You always see those movies where a town comes together to save a place everyone loves,” she said. “I thought, how do you do that in 2026? You ask the internet.”
Returning to Bethlehem in 2022 after more than a decade in California also changed the way she viewed the region.
She watched warehouses, apartment complexes and commercial developments reshape parts of the Lehigh Valley she remembered from her childhood.
“I started feeling like we were losing some of the things that made this area feel special,” Alyss said. “I want to save a little bit of that magic.”
Her inspiration also comes from another place she associates with magic: Disney.
Alyss credits Disney with influencing the type of experience she hopes visitors would have at the Christmas Barn. She’s inspired by its emphasis on hospitality and guest experience, saying she wants every customer to feel welcomed from the moment they arrive.
“It’s not just about buying Christmas decorations,” she said. “It’s about how people feel when they’re there.”
The project remains in its early stages. Alyss said she has assembled a group of advisers with experience in real estate, construction, architecture and business development to help guide the process of purchasing and restoring the property.
She said renovations are expected to take at least 12 to 18 months once construction begins.
She also hopes the project will eventually create jobs while providing opportunities for local vendors and community organizations to participate through markets, concerts and seasonal events.
For now, Alyss continues to focus on documenting every step online, posting updates and encouraging supporters to donate $5 or share the campaign.
She knows restoring the Christmas Barn will take patience, a lesson she admits has been an adjustment after years of working in the fast-paced TV industry.
“In Hollywood, everything moves fast,” she said. “This has taught me that some things take time.”
Still, she believes the community’s response to her idea proves the Christmas Barn is more than a vacant building.
“It’s living through people’s memories,” Alyss said. “If we can bring it back, it can become part of a whole new generation’s memories too.”