From the moment Jason sketched the A-Frame out on a napkin, the couple knew they wanted it paint the cedar exterior black. “It blends in with the bark on the pine trees that are on the property and keeps the house very hidden from the street,” says Laura.

The holiday tradition at The Del goes back much further than that; the oceanside resort debuted the first electrically lit outdoor Christmas tree in 1904 and to this day uses thousands of lights to decorate the iconic tower and the famous lobby tree.

But it’s not stuck in the past. The four-course Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus at 1500 Ocean include fresh takes on holiday favorites, like duck-liver mousse and cranberry gelée, braised beef short ribs, and chocolate crème brûlée. Diners can sit indoors or on a covered patio, where they can watch people starting new traditions at the hotel’s beachfront seasonal ice-skating rink. “At least once a week during the holiday season, someone proposes there,” Reid says. $$$$; 1500 Orange Ave.; hoteldel.com.