Viewing holiday village in Louisville collector's basement becomes tradition for Christmas lovers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- When winter weather blankets the rooftops, every Louisville neighborhood becomes very similar, no matter how long it's been around. It snows a little, cars are stuck, tow trucks do their thing, and those news people have their cameras and microphones out.

We're talking about neighborhood in Chip Polston's basement.

"Probably 15 years," said Chip Polston, when asked how long he has been assembling his Christmas village. "I love Christmas."

When it comes to Christmas villages, he's "sleighing it."

"Some people are comfortable with having four or five little houses on their mantle," Polston said. "I decided to do this. In about 12 hours, I can get this set up and ready to go."

The amazingly detailed village has three levels, 85 buildings, a 20-car train, skaters, haters and a robed man outside an RV dealing with a plumbing problem.

"Cousin Eddie is doing what Cousin Eddie does," Polston said with a smile.

Take one look around Polston's basement, and it's pretty clear the KET host is a bit of a collector. There are Legos, statues and framed stills from popular cartoons.

"I'm kind of cursed by the inability to halfway do anything," he said. "When I'm in on something, I'm all in."

Polston started doing the village every year for his kids.

"It was important to me to try to create things for them that they would remember," Polston said. "They grew up and moved on from it, and I really didn't."

His neighbors are all right with that. Every year, they bring their kids over to see what it looks like.

"Look!" one kid said.

"That's real snow right?” asked another.

The holiday magic we read about in all those Christmas books is captured in Polston's little Louisville neighborhood.