It took Jeff Eggener more than a month to build a facade around the entire front of his home in New Lenox, Illinois.
Eggener, a carpenter by trade, used only a few sheets of foam and three-quarter-inch plywood to transform the exterior of his home at 2867 Ferro Drive into a spooky and dramatic Halloween display.
“Kids in the neighborhood love it,” Eggener said when asked about neighbors' reactions to his home. “Nobody’s complained yet.”
The plywood and foam, colored in a cool gray with hints of black, create the likeness of haunted stone. The dark shades differ greatly from the light brick underneath the veneer that was visible in his suburban neighborhood only a month before.
Now, the brightest hints of color are the orange pumpkins on Eggener's driveway, which enter in stark contrast to the gray-black chains blocking his front door and black shroud covering an entrance to his garage.
Like gargoyles on the roofs of European cathedrals, Eggener lines his roof with skulls pierced by spikes.
His brainstorming process began more than a month ago with sketches of what he wanted his house to become. This is the first year he’s created a full façade on the front of his house, upgrading in both scale and complexity from his partial façade in 2014.
He credits his wife as his inspiration for the epic Halloween project and is enjoying raising the stakes (and spikes and skulls) to make it look even better for this year’s holiday.
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“We love Halloween,” Eggener said. “The excitement, the kids. It’s just good fun.”
