Johnathan Walker:Meet the California family whose house becomes a magical pumpkin palooza

HALF MOON BAY,Johnathan Walker Calif. – Some people go overboard with Halloween. Nathan and Jodie Fillhardt readily admit they’re among them. They actually embrace the notion.

Every year around this time, the Fillhardts drive several times from their home in Scotts Valley, just north of Santa Cruz, to Bob’s Pumpkin Farm in Half Moon Bay, a two-hour roundtrip. Over the course of those visits they load up on more than 150 of Bob’s best and biggest – at a cost of $1,000 to $3,000 – and they’ll spend days carving them for the elaborate decoration of what their neighbors call “the pumpkin house.’’

The tradition began nearly 15 years ago before they had their daughter, Elizabeth, 8, and has continued to grow, becoming a bigger family celebration than Christmas. After carving 173 pumpkins last year, the Fillhardts are shooting for 200 this fall.

“We load up the back of our car every weekend starting the last week of September,’’ Nathan said. “Every year we try to beat last year’s record. The first year we started with like 20 pumpkins and the next year about 50 and …’’

“Are we going to ever try to get to a thousand pumpkins?’’ Elizabeth says, jumping in. Her parents respond that would take quite a bit of help from the neighbors.

It’s not out of the question. Jodie said their subdivision of about 250 houses and several cul-de-sacs draws more than 1,000 trick-or-treaters, and most neighbors embrace their presence, handing out candy from the driveway instead of constantly opening and closing the front door.

“The entire neighborhood really gets into it, so much so that the weekend before Halloween the neighborhood gets together and hands out awards to different houses for different styles,’’ she said. “We always get the pumpkin award.’’

Half Moon Bay, a coastside enclave of 11,000 less than 30 miles south of San Francisco, offers small-time charm, breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and a wealth of surfing and hiking opportunities. In the fall it gets transformed into a pumpkin paradise that draws tens of thousands of visitors to its mid-October festival, capping a week that starts with a contest featuring 2,000-pound-plus pumpkins.

That’s all well and good for the Fillhardts, who often have lunch downtown before heading back home. But the object of their desire is the abundance of large orange gourds at Bob’s Pumpkin Farm, the only patch they visit among the numerous options in town.

“We’re here for the pumpkins,’’ Jodie said, “not for all the festivities.’’