This is really much harder than I thought - all the good houses have trees at the front, so from streetview you just get a nice picture of the trees, no view of the house!
Your dream Halloween House
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A local eccentric TV producer built a huge house to resemble Collinwood from Dark Shadows. Inside and out- it is finished and furnished in the style of the the old TV show. I've been there and it is dark and magnificent... complete with secret passages and false walls. The only thing is- it is built like a film set. For example, you might see what looks like an Italian marble mantle-piece. But when you touch it, you realize that it is really MDF board with a faux finish. Odder still, the house is built at the end of a large cul-de-sac set amongst a cluster of McMansions.
![Photograph Grass Estate Stately home Lawn]()
This is a house in my town, probably 1900 ish in date, and its not the house I would want. It is one of a pair of semi detached houses and I want its pair, which is hidden behind the trees to the right. So, street view would only show you a load of trees! Imagine it without the caravan, the rails from the old roadworks etc. Its also not in as good state of repair as the one you can see, so think lots of peeling paint, slipped tiles and other general creepiness.
So to go through the list:
Big creepy trees
Nice spooky gate and railings
Reasonable front garden (it is not all tarmac) for props, space for Axworthy ghost
Good creepy house look
Big downstairs windows for ghosts etc
Massive upstairs windows for silhouettes/projections
Nice porch for more props and hiding a dropping beastie to get the Toters
Spooky log stack by the door for more surprises
If we are going for a party venue, then I would use my wedding venue, Sandon Hall.
http://www.sandonhall.co.uk/
Your traditional gothic country house, long drive, loads of rooms, history, gardens etc.
In googling this, I also discovered that last year they did a drive in movie theatre for Halloween, so you could sit in your car in front of the house and watch Evil Dead, I think the setting would make watching the film a little creepier.
Lots of great house pics. Castle or Victorian-like certainly comes to my mind. Now I'll come at this topic from a different angle. Not so much the overall look of the house but the haunting space potential it can offer outside.
We re-did our landscaping a few years back to include a courtyard and a walkway that would go all around our house (with plans come some "dry" halloween to do a full yard walkthru). Given we can get wind or rain at this time of year (fog is welcomed!), I personally would find a house with a big wrap around porch like maybe those I've seen pictured in the Australian outback would be perfect for haunting with. Just add drop cloths to set up a cave like atmosphere. Stuff could be hiding under the raised porch for a walk around the lower perimeter as well or lots of props can be hung from the large overhanging roof. The porch posts would give you lots of ways to anchor things. Of course the house would have to be creepy looking too. Maybe the windows would be leaded glass with lacy curtains or super tall for great vertical displays. Maybe a few dormers at the roof, with a creaking weathervane as it turned in the wind. Big lot with big trees with lots of possibilities for hanging things from and lighting up. Now banyon trees would be great with their weird root areas or giant spanish moss trees.
Here's a few houses with great wrap around porches I found in Australia -- not the old colonial outback houses but lots of great haunt room. I like the tall windows of the first house and some of it's porch area but love the total covered porch area of the second house.
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No dormers on this house but it does have a balcony and 3 garages for total enclosure.
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We re-did our landscaping a few years back to include a courtyard and a walkway that would go all around our house (with plans come some "dry" halloween to do a full yard walkthru). Given we can get wind or rain at this time of year (fog is welcomed!), I personally would find a house with a big wrap around porch like maybe those I've seen pictured in the Australian outback would be perfect for haunting with. Just add drop cloths to set up a cave like atmosphere. Stuff could be hiding under the raised porch for a walk around the lower perimeter as well or lots of props can be hung from the large overhanging roof. The porch posts would give you lots of ways to anchor things. Of course the house would have to be creepy looking too. Maybe the windows would be leaded glass with lacy curtains or super tall for great vertical displays. Maybe a few dormers at the roof, with a creaking weathervane as it turned in the wind. Big lot with big trees with lots of possibilities for hanging things from and lighting up. Now banyon trees would be great with their weird root areas or giant spanish moss trees.
Here's a few houses with great wrap around porches I found in Australia -- not the old colonial outback houses but lots of great haunt room. I like the tall windows of the first house and some of it's porch area but love the total covered porch area of the second house.
No dormers on this house but it does have a balcony and 3 garages for total enclosure.
I'm a fan of the second empire style too and it has to have a widow's walk and of a course, a beautiful view to see from it! Plus the property itself has just as much importance to me as the house - it has to have the right setting, the right landscaping etc. to complete the picture. I have so many ideas and plans for such a home haunt that it's almost scary!
I have visited numerous beautiful, historic homes - we have many such homes in Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island though they would be considered preemies in comparison to European and American historic homes. The saddest part is that many have been surrounded (or swallowed up) by urban subdivisions, their once beautiful grounds hacked at and subdivided for new homes that usually contrast in style.
Luckily I have a healthy imagination and am able to picture what these beautiful properties would have looked like in their prime.
In the meantime, I'll just keep buying them damn lottery tickets and maybe, one day ...
I have visited numerous beautiful, historic homes - we have many such homes in Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island though they would be considered preemies in comparison to European and American historic homes. The saddest part is that many have been surrounded (or swallowed up) by urban subdivisions, their once beautiful grounds hacked at and subdivided for new homes that usually contrast in style.
Luckily I have a healthy imagination and am able to picture what these beautiful properties would have looked like in their prime.
In the meantime, I'll just keep buying them damn lottery tickets and maybe, one day ...
Attachments
Since I didn't add a picture before, and I was thinking about this one, I went and found it. This would be nice, and I really like the attached gazebo. [source], found [on this tumblr] which is just chock full of good stuff.
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