Owner of viral Preston Hollow mansion says he’s being treated unfairly for holiday display

A Preston Hollow mansion known for grandiose holiday decorations that attract droves of visitors has once more become the subject of awe and ire.

On Tuesday evening, wailing ghouls and sneering clowns loomed over the lawn of the house on Deloache Avenue. At first, cars inched by, with passengers peering at the Halloween inflatables. But as the sun set and the decorations lit up, a small crowd gathered outside. Visitors stopped their cars beside no-parking signs.

Photographs and videos of the house have circulated recently on social media. The property is no stranger to online virality. Last December, its twinkling Christmas light show reached Snoop Dogg, who shared a video of the spectacle on Instagram.

But some residents in this typically quiet area were not so dazzled by the influx of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. After neighbors complained, the city’s code compliance department issued the home notices for light glare and noise violations, which were found to be resolved in later inspections. Off-duty police officers brought in to manage the flow of traffic ultimately cost Dallas taxpayers $25,000, The Dallas Morning News reported.

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Lots of lights illuminated holiday displays on Monday night in the front of 6215 Deloache...

Recently, the home received another notice of violation, this time for obstructing visibility at the intersection of a street and driveway, according to Nick Starling, a public information manager for the city of Dallas. A follow-up inspection will take place on or after Oct. 25.

The home’s owner, Ryan De Vitis, believes he is being treated unfairly. On Tuesday evening, De Vitis stepped out of his house to greet the 20 or so visitors assembled out front and hand out candy. “Be nice to my neighbors, even though they’re not nice to me,” he said from behind a gate.

He told The News he has been decorating his home “forever” because of his two young daughters. He moved some decorations, he said, to comply with the city’s instructions in the recent notice.

“I don’t want to fight,” he said, but he also suggested a double standard is at work, citing homes on the block with greenery that he believes goes against city code. “If you’re going to treat me this way, you need to treat everybody else the same way.”

De Vitis’ home has, in part, stirred debate in City Hall around whether to update Dallas’ nuisance code to curb “extraordinary neighborhood events,” defined as events that exceed typical residential gatherings. Staffers have proposed adding language around excessive lighting to the code.

“I’ve got folks who live almost a mile away who normally don’t pull down a shade at night but have to when this home is lit up to the extent that it is,” said City Council member Gay Donnell Willis at a meeting of the Quality of Life, Arts and Culture committee on Monday. It was unclear which house Willis was referring to, but she represents the Preston Hollow area and told The News over email that De Vitis’ home, among others, “gave rise to the need for the city to revisit lighting code in neighborhoods.”

De Vitis said his lights cannot be seen a mile away. “I got friends that live on the street, next-door neighbors. They’re not putting down their shades,” he said, looking at the adjacent homes.

Referring to neighbors who complain about the visitors, he said they “don’t want certain people in the neighborhood,” adding when asked to clarify, “they only want their type of people.”

“And again, I didn’t ask for any of this, when it went viral with Snoop Dogg and all that stuff. I can’t control that,” De Vitis said. “But I’m not going to change my life. I’m just not.”

Pedestrians and vehicular traffic stop by the Halloween display set up along Deloache Avenue...