The old Christmas Barn off Easton Avenue in Bethlehem Township has sat empty since 2007, but Dana Alyss is trying to change that one $5 donation at a time. The Temple University graduate launched a GoFundMe campaign in June aiming to raise a $200,000 down payment toward the property's $1.895 million asking price, hoping to beat any other buyer to the deal before Christmas.
Alyss has spent her career working on productions including Ellen, Dr. Phil and the Olympics before returning to the area near the barn, according to NBC10 Philadelphia. She's now leaning on a social media following of more than six figures to help fund the purchase, telling the station that “people are attached to the Christmas Barn and everyone loves a good Christmas vibe.” As of late July, her GoFundMe had collected nearly $50,000 toward the goal, with supporters chipping in in small increments rather than large lump sums, per her GoFundMe page.
A Landmark Built for Horse Shows and Holiday Shopping
The Christmas Barn's shop opened in the late 1960s, and an addition was made in the 1990s. The site once featured furniture and a Christmas shop, along with music boxes and holiday displays.
It closed in 2007 when its longtime owners retired, and it's been listed for sale as a commercial property since 2023. Per the outlet's reporting, the barn still carries a seven-figure price tag even as it sits vacant, and Alyss says she has no firm fundraising deadline but is racing to assemble the down payment before another offer lands on the property.
A Business Plan Built Around Community, Not Just Nostalgia
Alyss hasn't just launched a crowdfunding page — she's submitted an informal business plan to Bethlehem Township officials proposing to turn the site into a year-round destination with local retail space, a café and an event venue, according to WFMZ's reporting. She's told NBC10 Philadelphia she's trying to save the barn outright, and she's said her goal is to get the property and her business plan under contract by Christmas.
This isn't the first historic Lehigh Valley property Alyss has tried to rescue. Her GoFundMe page notes she previously attempted to preserve a historic farm, a drive-in theater and a plant nursery in the region before each was sold off for commercial development, turning her attention to the Christmas Barn once those efforts fell through.
From Local Fundraiser to National Headlines
The “Save the Christmas Barn” campaign has grown well beyond Bethlehem Township. People magazine picked up the story in August, spotlighting the crowdfunded effort to preserve what's been described as a 150-year-old historic structure, a sign of how far social media carried a small-town campaign.
A Symbol Bigger Than One Barn
The fight to save the Christmas Barn is unfolding against the backdrop of Bethlehem's identity as “Christmas City USA,” a nickname the city adopted on December 7, 1937, according to Wikipedia. The debate also touches on concerns about development replacing local landmarks with apartments, warehouses or other buildings.
Whether $5 donations can eventually add up to a $1.895 million purchase, plus financing and zoning approval, remains to be seen. But for now, Alyss is treating the campaign as a race against the clock, hoping to lock down a deal before the holidays — and before someone else beats her to the barn.
