Stained glass windows at The Stone House in Campbellville provide a dazzling display year-round.

DRIVE SOUTH on the Guelph Line from Hwy. 401 at Campbellville any evening between now and Christmas. When you get into a minor traffic jam in front of No. 8565 you'll have reached Barbara and Paul Singleton's old stone house and the biggest little Christmas display west of Toronto. You'll also, incidentally, have arrived at Canada's biggest collection of stained glass windows -- a mile of them if laid end to end.

Barb Singleton is a retired Halton high-school principal; Paul is a Kitchener hospital doctor. Every minute of their spare time is taken up by two hobbies: Creating bigger and better Christmas displays in their two-acre garden and collecting and selling stained-glass windows.

You're welcome to drive about 45 km west from Toronto any December evening to park and stroll through the garden. There's no admission charge. You can drop a loonie or toonie into a donation box. The money goes to help children at a local Women's Shelter.

Activating the Christmas show are dozens of CD players, robotic computer circuits and motion sensors. You'll be dazzled by hundreds of moving and singing Christmas characters, including, of course, Rudolph and his sleigh mates, the Grinch, Santa and Mrs. Santa at home, as well as wise men, shepherds, the three magi, a train that puffs out smoke, a ferris wheel, carousel and Santa's marching band.

Some of the displays are free-standing; about 40 to 50 are in big, home-made display cases. All have been built by Barb, Dr. Paul and their three sons, Matthew, Zachary and Jamie with help from two small adopted daughters from China -- Emma and Samie.

You hear their voices reading stories from some of the display cases.

Space not occupied by the Christmas display is taken up by more than 2,000 stained-glass windows. The number expands to more than 3,500 in summer.

If you're interested in the windows, come back in daytime from 9 to 5, seven days a week. That's when the window shop is open.

It all started in the 1970s when Paul's father, Jim Singleton, who was Director of Education for Halton County, bought the century-old Easterbrook farmhouse and moved his family there. Jim and son, Paul, both collected and sold antique furniture as a hobby.

That changed abruptly one evening in 1980 when they were sent by Barb to buy a few tables at an auction sale held by a pizza-parlor chain. They came home with more than 1,000 stained-glass windows instead of tables.

To their surprise, the Singletons found a demand for the windows which soon crowded out the furniture. They researched the subject; when their window stock started running out, Barb and Paul went on a buying trip to England and Scotland. Now they import ancient historic windows by the container load.

They have printed information-filled sets of cards that answer the 12 most often asked questions about stained glass. Buildings and racks loaded with windows cover almost every foot of their property that's not occupied by the Christmas display.

I think you'll find a trip to this place fascinating. Be sure to see the Light Room which provides a dazzling view of back-lit church windows. Most are not for sale. The Singletons can't bear to part with them.

Windows sell from $30 to $5,000. Buyers come from all over Eastern Canada and the U.S. There have even been a few Brits who purchase windows and ship them back home.

Formally, the business is called The Stone House of Campbellville. For more info, call 905-854-2152 or 905-854-0261.