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Dana Alyss is raising funds to revive a historic year-round Christmas store in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
The Christmas Barn, a beloved local landmark, closed in 2007 and is now listed for sale for $1.9 million
Alyss has raised nearly $50,000 through GoFundMe to preserve the barn’s charm and add a modern café to draw new visitors
What sounds like the plot of a holiday rom-com is the real-life fight of one woman hoping to keep the Christmas spirit alive in Bethlehem, Pa.
Dana Alyss grew up in the Lehigh Valley of Eastern Pennsylvania. The region houses both Bethlehem and Bethlehem Township, which have collectively become known as Christmas City, U.S.A. Growing up, the 38-year-old content creator remembers an immense amount of pride the towns took in their connection to the holidays — including many local businesses catering to the season.
One of those businesses was a year-round Christmas store, known among locals as the “Christmas Barn.” Each year, Alyss’ family would visit the store to pick from their “very unique” selection of ornaments.
The exterior of the now-shuttered ‘Christmas Barn’ in Bethlehem Township, Pa.Credit: Dana Alyss
“Everything in the store, every inch of the store was Christmas,” Alyss tells PEOPLE. “It had just so many carefully crafted things that you don’t really see anymore. It was a really unique experience. I know a lot of people just went in to look around, just to feel the joy of Christmas all year round.”
As an adult, Alyss moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in television production. During that time, she says the Christmas Barn sadly closed its doors in 2007. When she returned home around 2022, she noticed the property had been put up for sale. While much of the surrounding land has been scooped up by outside developers, the barn remains untouched.
The interior of the now-shuttered ‘Christmas Barn’ in Bethlehem Township, Pa.Credit: Dana Alyss
In 2025, Alyss says she was inspired by a trip to Disneyland during the holiday season to reinvent the Christmas Barn with an added café component in the hopes of bringing year-round business back to the space.
“I came up with this whole business plan and figured out how to turn it back into a retail store and to update it for 2026,” Alyss says. Having gone viral in the past for her social media series “The Dating Hunger Games,” the creator figured she would take to the internet to gather support for her project.
The interior of the now-shuttered ‘Christmas Barn’ in Bethlehem Township, Pa.Credit: Dana Alyss
Alyss has amassed nearly $50,000 of her $200,000 goal since she kicked off a GoFundMe for the project back in June. She says her followers from all over the world — including Texas, California, Alaska, even Spain and Portugal — are contributing to her mission.
“I think they really love supporting an underdog story,” Alyss says. “We have had a lot of people, developers specifically, coming into the area and buying up all of our local treasures and tearing them down — putting up apartments, putting up warehouses, hotels and stuff like that. And so our little Christmas City is losing some of its Christmas charm the bigger the developments get.”
The property is currently listed for $1.9 million by The James Balliet Property Group. While $200,000 might sound small in comparison, Alyss says reaching the goal will be a huge step forward. It’ll allow her to move into an agreement with the seller, where inspections and initial improvements can begin.
“It definitely needs some work,” Alyss says. “It definitely needs a little bit of a facelift and just kind of modernize it to current day. But we also want to make sure that the original character of the barn stays intact.”
For now, Alyss is compiling a list of future vendors and fielding potential investors who can help make this dream a reality. “It’s a real life Hallmark Christmas movie,” Alyss says. “Small town girl, moves to the big city, comes back and tries to save the barn from getting torn down. So it’s very Hallmark-esque.”
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She adds: “We’re just doing this one $5 donation at a time and it’s just regular, everyday people trying to save a little piece of history and a little piece of magic.”
Read the original article on People