The historic homes of Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood are dressed for Halloween, drawing crowds of visitors eager to capture the ornate and impressive seasonal displays.
This year, a home on Mt. Vernon Street has become a particularly popular attraction, earning the nickname the "Butterfly House" thanks to an elaborate display featuring oversized monarchs, skeletons and an impressive floral arrangement spanning the brick façade.
The decorations are the work of Parterre Garden Services, a Billerica, Massachusetts-based landscaping company that specializes in garden design but has expanded into elaborate holiday displays. Their work can be seen draping several Beacon Hill homes this fall.
"Beacon Hill has always been known for their Halloween decorations. And I think that we've just been able to enhance it a little bit," said Vanessa Tropeano, the company's creative director and director of fine gardening.
Tropeano said the Butterfly House display took a team of five workers approximately 85 hours to install. The project began with a sketch and a vision from homeowner Mary DiLeo, who wanted to create something special for her two young daughters.
After considering several themes, including a witch's tea party and haunted dollhouse, DiLeo and Tropeano settled on a whimsical, haunted butterfly garden.
"The monarchs feel fun because it's orange and black, the kind of quintessential Halloween colors," DiLeo said.
The display features custom-made butterflies, oversized flowers spilling from window boxes and carefully positioned skeletons that help tell a spooky story.
"The butterflies were a challenge because they're heavy," said Cory Wojcuilewicz, Parterre's urban fine gardening field manager.
Wojcuilewicz said the team also had to account for unpredictable October weather while ensuring the decorations would not damage the home's historic brickwork and windows.
The skeletons required their own creative process.
"We found some really great skeletons so that you can pose even the fingers. Jaw placement, everything, lighting, and they kind of go to town with creating a story just in the skeleton's gestures," Wojcuilewicz said.
The finished product has become a popular photo opportunity for visitors walking through the neighborhood.
For DiLeo, the display has also become part of her family's daily routine.
"I mean I've taken probably a thousand pictures of it already and every morning before my kids go to school I take a picture of them in front of it," she said.
DiLeo said her family was inspired by neighbors who decorated their homes last Halloween and wanted to do something special for the neighborhood.
The family has also enjoyed watching visitors stop to admire the display and take photos. DiLeo said her daughters have even greeted people gathering outside their home.
"It's just awesome to see all sorts of people from all over Massachusetts and beyond come out for Halloween," she said.
While the projects can be costly, sometimes up to thousands of dollars, DiLeo said the memories and moments they create are priceless.
"People spend so much money on art to put inside their homes, and then they're the only people who get to see it. And so this is, I hope, a gift for the neighborhood as much as it is for our family... and everybody gets to enjoy it," she said.
After this Halloween season, Parterre crews will take down the decorations and put them into storage. The decorations can then be reused next Halloween, giving homeowners the option to bring back their displays or try something new.
