A Home Run at Christmas

Homes: By Phyllis Van Doren Photography by Martin Mann

A Home Run at Christmas

A pro ballplayer and his wife score with their holiday decorations

This is only the second year that celebrity couple David and Rebecca Justice have celebrated the holidays in their new Poway home, having lost the original house on the same site, including any remnants of Christmases past, in the 2007 wildfires.

“Last year, I knew I wanted the decorations for this home to be breathtaking and different, to incorporate the Old World vision of the interiors,” says Rebecca.

The results seen here underscore her dream come true.

The obvious route to success was to consult with her interior designer Marie Cunning on a plan to do justice with a capital J to the baronial scale and rich textures of the Villa De Justicia, which is a mix of Tuscan and Spanish Colonial styles.

Lucy Calderon of Lucy Décor came on board as the Justice Christmas designer and installer “who made my visions come to life, with her great eye for balance and scale,” says Rebecca. “This was my first time working with Lucy and won’t be my last.”

Planning everything out was essential. The three women went shopping for about a month before installation, as everything had to be purchased anew. “I chose the color scheme of white and platinum with some touches of gold. I always have loved white at Christmas. When I saw something I was attracted to, I found a way to make it work,” says Rebecca.

The estate of more than 18,000 square feet, also has a vast number of outdoor rooms and areas to embellish in preparation for all the Justice holiday parties.

“I love having family and friends over all during the holidays, including Christmas Day,” says Rebecca. “When you have children [they have three], you want to love every special moment with them.”

Rebecca’s memories of Christmas while growing up were less elaborate and include decorating the tree with her brother and parents and singing along to Elvis Presley Christmas songs. “I remember Christmas as being very spiritual and looked forward to the plays at my Catholic school. I try to bring some of that spirit into our home with the Christmas décor of crosses and saints, white owls and family pictures tucked into the trees.”

Her husband, a retired professional baseball player and World Series champion, who is depicted in the current film Moneyball, has fond memories, too, of a simpler time, putting the lights on a tree with his mother, who always made his Christmas special.

Now that it’s time to hoist the trees and swags again, Rebecca says, “I’ll definitely be using these same decorations again this year, but it’s always fun to add a few new things each time.”

When asked to share her decorating tips for the holidays, Rebecca listed these:
Love every piece you put in your home.
Only buy decorations that will mean something to you.
Put your family pictures on the Christmas tree.
Give thanks for another Christmas to spend with your loved ones.