Northwood Hills Picks Its Best-Decorated Houses by Driving Around After Dark
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
Who decides which house in Northwood Hills has the best holiday display? The Northwood Hills Homeowners Association board doesn't. On its 2025 holiday contest page, the association put it in capital letters: "THE NHHA BOARD DOES NOT CHOOSE THE WINNERS." Neighbors nominate the houses and neighbors vote on them. The association asks voters to look at the displays in person, after dark, before they pick.
Because the voters are the judges, the contest sends people down streets they might never otherwise turn onto. Last December's nominations came from all five of the association's areas, north and south of Spring Valley, so a full round of voting meant touring most of the neighborhood. With Halloween over and the holiday round coming, here is how the vote has worked, where last year's houses were, and what else is on the local calendar between now and the end of the year.
On October 25, the association posted the winners of its 2026 Halloween Decorating Contest. Twelve houses were nominated. The top two vote-getters were on Meandering Way and Glenhurst Drive, and each earned a yard sign and a gift card to Roman Cucina.
Twelve is a useful number to keep in mind, because the holiday round has drawn more. Last December, residents nominated 20 homes for the holiday contest. The association called the competition "stiff." The holiday round is the bigger of the two, and the after-dark drive is what makes it work.
The association hasn't announced its 2026 holiday contest yet. The 2025 round is the best guide to how it works, and its rules were simple:
The timeline was short. The voting post went up on December 1, 2025. Voting closed at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, December 17. The winners were posted on December 29. If this year follows last year, you'd have about two weeks of evenings in early December to do the drive. That's last year's pattern, though, and the association's own announcement will set this year's dates.
The Breeze is the association's quarterly mailed newsletter, and it carries the community calendar and seasonal news. Winning a photo in it is part of the prize. It also puts the holiday winners in mailboxes across the neighborhood.
The association covers about two square miles, reached by Hillcrest, Spring Valley, Belt Line, Alpha, Coit and Meandering Way. It divides that territory into five areas. Areas 1 and 2 sit north of Spring Valley and Area 5 sits south of it. The 2025 nomination list was sorted by those areas, which turns it into a ready-made driving route.
| Area | 2025 nominations | Streets on the list |
|---|---|---|
| Area 1 | 4 | Cliffbrook, Larchview, Oakbluff |
| Area 2 | 4 | Cliffbrook, Mossvine, Oakbluff |
| Area 3 | 5 | Briar Cove, Crestpoint, Gateridge, Meadowcreek, Mossvine Circle |
| Area 4 | 1 | Stonehill |
| Area 5 | 6 | Elmridge, Paldao |
A few things stand out on the list. Area 5 had the most nominations, with three houses on Elmridge and three on Paldao, so a short loop there covered almost a third of the field. Area 3 had the widest spread, with five nominees on five different streets. Cliffbrook and Oakbluff each run through both Area 1 and Area 2 and had nominees in both, so those two streets carry you across the northern part of the neighborhood.
Area 4 had a single nominee on Stonehill Drive, and that house finished second. The winner was on Briar Cove in Area 3. Between them, the top two took 20 percent and 12 percent of the votes. With 20 houses splitting the votes, a fifth of the total was enough to win. Neither top house came from Area 5, the area with the most nominees, which suggests voters really did drive the whole route instead of stopping at the biggest cluster.
The association closed last year's winner announcement with an invitation to keep driving. It encouraged everyone to "Take a scenic drive around the neighborhood after dark over the holidays and enjoy the festive atmosphere!" The voting ends in mid-December. The drive can last the rest of the season.
Both of the last two contests ended with a Roman Cucina gift card for each winner. The restaurant's Dallas location is at 7989 Belt Line Rd #315, and Roman Cucina says it has been serving Italian food since 2001. The Dallas menu covers Italian-American basics: appetizers, salads, pasta, lasagna and stuffed pastas, subs, desserts, wine and cocktails, with vegetarian and gluten-free options. D Magazine's 2016 neighborhood-find review singled out its classic pasta dishes and housemade sauces, including marinara and diablo.
The pairing is fitting. A contest decided by neighbors pays out at a restaurant on one of the roads that leads into the neighborhood. For anyone planning an evening of house-viewing, dinner on Belt Line before the drive makes an easy order of events.
The decorating contest happens in front yards and on the streets. Most of the neighborhood's indoor gatherings happen a few blocks away at Fretz Park on Belt Line Road. The association held its 2026 annual meeting on February 3 at the Fretz Park Recreation Center, 6950 Belt Line Rd, behind the library. Members elected new board members and approved the 2026 budget there, and Council Member Bill Roth gave district updates. The park itself covers 31.1 acres, with the recreation center, a pool, a tennis center, trails, sports fields and a playground.
Next door, the Fretz Park Branch Library at 6990 Belt Line Rd has two dated events on the way:
Roots & Recipes moves from branch to branch. If November 14 doesn't work, the library's event page links to the other stops in the series. The Fretz branch also runs recurring programs through the month, including a chess club for beginners and The English Corner, a conversation group that welcomes everyone.
The two events book-end the stretch when the holiday contest has run. Roots & Recipes comes a couple of weeks before last year's voting post went up. The Hanukkah party falls in the first week of December, the same week last year's ballot opened. An evening at the library and an evening of driving past lit-up houses fit easily into the same week.
The decorating contests are part of a yearly calendar the association keeps. It also runs an alley cleanup in April, a free paper-shredding and electronics-recycling event in early June, the 33rd annual Independence Day Parade and Festival on July 4, and a Good Neighbor Day project in September. This year's Good Neighbor Day was a partnership with the Valley View Neighborhood Association to serve meals to the staff at the North Central police station. Halloween and the holidays close out that cycle. They are also the events where any neighbor can nominate a house and every vote counts the same.
Traditions like this contest are part of what Jenelle asks about when she helps families compare neighborhoods. If you'd like to talk about the everyday rhythms of Northwood Hills or any other part of North Dallas, Jenelle Berry-Cook would be glad to hear what you're building. Let's Connect.
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