Eddie Matsu's one of a kind DIY Christmas display a Summerland treasure

Eddie and Anita Matsu are now in a position in life where they could quite easily grab all the latest store-bought inflatables and illuminated reindeer and commercially available doodads and literally buy their way to the most spectacular Christmas display in Summerland.

But that's not the way they roll.

Instead, Eddie, a committed Christmas enthusiast who gets ample support from wife Anita in his Yuletide endeavours, has gone a route few others do. He's assembled a throwback DIY masterpiece.

Almost every item in the Matsu's incredible front yard Christmas menagerie has either been hand-built, hand-assembled -- and in many cases hand-painted -- by Eddie himself. And the few that aren't are pseudo antiques Eddie's gathered through his travels and then craftily incorporated into his vision.

And what a vision it is.

There's a giant family Christmas card, bigger than most billboards, sitting adjacent to the driveway.

There's a makeshift "Santa Spa" where the fat man soaks himself hillbilly style in a wine barrel filled with Christmas ornaments.

There's a whimsical, and entirely homebuilt, replica of a World War I-era biplane with Snoopy and Santa at the controls.

There's a holiday-themed hockey penalty box built from an old shipping container with a battle-scarred Vancouver Canucks player sitting under a sprig of mistletoe. Seriously. We kid you not. And across the front is the slogan "Sit and feel shame," a line that only fans of the notorious hockey flick Slapshot will fully appreciate.

There are two horses pulling a trailer Matsu calls a "circus wagon." Both horses, confirms Matsu, are "very old," one coming from a carousel and the other from a former life as a rocking horse.

Stuffed with large plush animals, the circus wagon in the back was again built, and painted, entirely by Matsu.

The centerpiece, if indeed there is a centerpiece to this wild and wacky collection, is a 200-year-old buggy (from the era of the horse and buggy). It's almost the size of a small car and it houses a gaggle of gifts and another Santa.

"It was built in England 200 years ago," says Matsu. "I found it in Texas and asked if it was for sale and they said yes. We actually decorated it in Texas then brought it here and I built the canopy over it to protect it."

The only thing missing from one of the most compelling and unusual holiday spectacles in the region is a non-stop lineup of vehicles to see it. The Matsus, you see, live far from a main drag and aren’t on any Christmas maps. So not a lot of folks know about it.

But now you do.

To understand Eddie and Anita's gloriously unique take on Christmas, and the Texas reference, you need to know their story. And it's no ordinary story.

The property they call home today, a stunning plot of grape-growing land overlooking Okanagan Lake on the rural northern edge of Summerland, has for a century played a pivotal role in Eddie's family.

"My dad owned the orchard here," says Matsu, "and Sage Hill Winery (a stylish organic winery just down the road) was my grandparents'. So our family lived here 100 years ago."

How engrained are the Matsus in Summerland? So engrained that the street where Eddie and Anita live today and where you'll find Sage Hill Winery is named Matsu Drive.

But back in the day, multiple decades before regional real estate took off and when the Matsu property was really out in the boonies, there was precious little value to the land and not a ton of money in orchards.

Still, Christmas was a time for celebration and togetherness.

"Christmas was a fun time when I was young," said Matsu. "We had a house here that was a 'shingle shack.' My parents didn’t have any money and they worked the orchard. We didn’t have any running water and times were tough.

"So for Christmas we'd make things and dress up. My dad made a fake fireplace which had a light in it. And those are the things that really inspired me to enjoy the Christmas season with family and do stuff on your own instead of going to the store and buying fancy things. Just a little feeling of homemade makes it a little different."

Life would dramatically change for Matsu when, after years of schooling, he became an orthopedic surgeon and eventually signed on as medical director with the Houston Aeros World Hockey Association team -- the team that at the time featured players like Gordie Howe and sons Mark and Marty.

With wife Anita as his surgical assistant and constant companion, life for Eddie Matsu was grand.

"We went everywhere together. We loved working in Houston. It didn't seem like work. We just enjoyed being together."

And in time, star surgeon Matsu began connecting with athletes and personalities way beyond the Aeros. Star athletes like Muhammed Ali. Suffice to say that if you ever get a chance to chat with Matsu or browse through his photos and his memorabilia, just do it. It's quite astonishing.

"And in 1999," he continues, "my parents left this property to me. We thought about buying a place in Houston, but we figured there's no better place than right here. So we designed this house and had it built.

"And now that we're here, we high-five each other every morning. It doesn't get much better than this."

But Matsu's Christmas display does. Each year, he says, he adds something new. The most recent addition is a working water wheel topped by a hand-painted reindeer and sleigh.

You'll find the home and the amazing Christmas magic of Eddie and Anita Matsu in northern Summerland, at 17611 Matsu Drive.