Ashburn Family Wins 'Great Christmas Light Fight' Episode With Synchronized Display

ASHBURN, VA — An Ashburn family won a $50,000 prize by beating out two other families in the latest episode of ABC's "The Great Christmas Light Fight" on Thursday.

The Horn family won for their Christmas display at 21260 Rosetta Place in Ashburn, which has been a tradition since 2016. The display features a pixel light show, where each bulb can change color and brightness to synchronize to the music.

"Your house is magnificent. The entire scene runs from the roof all the way down to the front door," said "Great Christmas Light Fight" host Carter Oosterhouse. "You put lights everywhere."

In the episode, the family — Joanna and Mike Horn and their daughters Emma and Natalie — said they recorded the music for this year's synchronized show.

"In our house, there's always gonna someone singing or playing some sort of instrument," Emma Horn said in the episode.

"There are no silents nights in the Horn house," added mom Johanna Horn.

The episode acknowledged the countless hours the family spent to get the display up and running. Mike Horn programs the show to get the lights synchronized and the displays to project on the roof, windows and garage doors. But the whole family pitches in with setting up the pieces.

"I think what I like most about it is that we're all together. So whether it's me in the yard putting things together or the girls carrying things, it's just a total team effort," said Mike Horn.

One striking part of the display is the sets of lights on the roof, windows and garage doors, which Mike Horn programs to project festive visuals through the show. In the episode, Mike Horn explained that each matrix of lights on the roof is 1,152 pixels and utilizes PVC frames that are tied together.

"They're all put up there basically to create coverage," Mike Horn said on the show. "The whole ideas is just to get as much coverage as possible so I can project those big images up there like the reindeer and the Santa moving around and the snowman moving." It just creates the effect of having one big television across the whole house."

The display continues into the backyard, offering a more traditional setup of lights and inflatables. It utilizes decorations from Mike Horn's parents, whose display inspired the family to continue the tradition with their own.

Northern Virginia Magazine reported that the Horns filmed for "The Great Christmas Light Fight" in 2024. The Ashburn family beat out the Martin family's igloo-centric display in Murietta, California and Vistalli family's Disney house in Antioch, California.

"The Great Christmas Light Fight" episode is available to stream through cable providers and Hulu.

Here's a look at the Horn Quartet Christmas display from when they recorded The Great Christmas Light Fight in 2024: