{"id":22937,"date":"2025-10-30T19:07:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T19:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/22937\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T19:07:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T19:07:12","slug":"nyc-homeowners-spend-big-bucks-on-halloween-pumpkinscaping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/22937\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC homeowners spend big bucks on Halloween pumpkinscaping"},"content":{"rendered":"

In early October, when a truck with 4,000 pumpkins suddenly s<\/a>howed up<\/a> on Amsterdam Avenue, right around the corner from Hillary Wallace\u2019s Upper West Side brownstone, none of her neighbors were surprised.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because Wallace has become known for transforming the front steps of her 135-year-old home on West 82nd Street into a stylish Halloween haven \u2014\u00a0every spooky season since she bought her place eight years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She estimates that this year\u2019s eek-inducing installation ran her a shocking $4,000 \u2014\u00a0much of that spent on seven pallets of pumpkins<\/a> she purchased at auction in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

No tacky animatronic props, faux spiderwebs or plastic monstrosities for this fearsome, fun-loving homeowner, however. Instead, spectators will be shocked by the two massive eyeballs keeping their terrifying watch from either side of Wallace\u2019s front door \u2014\u00a0sourced especially from a wholesaler in Atlanta, and painted red around the edges by an artist friend to make them look scarier.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m calling this \u2018Someone is Always Watching You,\u2019 and it\u2019s this mystical, New Orleans potion theme,\u201d Wallace, owner of Simon-Wallace Design<\/a>, an interior design firm, proudly told The Post.<\/p>\n

Hillary Wallace has decked out her Upper West Side home with an eye-popping Halloween display. J.C. Rice<\/p>\n

On each of the 12 steps leading to the front door, there\u2019s an endless variety of gourds in exotic shapes, colors and textures, including some that were grown in silicone molds to form faces. (If you look closely, you\u2019ll see a few Draculas and Frankensteins stacked in the stylish display.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about the details, Wallace explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend five days going through everything, from where to place the bugs and how we wanted the rats to look on the trees,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m out there in my overalls, climbing trees and making sure everything looks perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wallace\u2019s decked-out d\u00e9cor is part of a trend sweeping the Big Apple and environs, where the house-proud are splashing out hundreds to thousands of dollars to one-up their neighbors on the most frightening night of the year \u2014\u00a0even if they have to hire someone else to give their stoops their menacing makeovers.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s even a name for the new service:\u00a0pumpkinscaping.<\/p>\n

A molded pumpkin face is supplemented with a Frankenstein-esque hand, a rat and more. J.C. Rice<\/p>\n

Bronxville homeowner and Halloween lover Katie Petruzziello is just one busy area mom (of three) who opted to outsource the custom creation of an impressive 50-pumpkin pile-up she\u2019s laid on this year in front of her handsome, century-old suburban home.<\/p>\n

Petruzziello, who works at PricewaterhouseCoopers and moonlights as a children\u2019s book author, says it was a no-brainer to hire Gia D\u2019Onofrio, owner of Platinum Porches, a pumpkin concierge design, delivery and set-up company in Eastchester, to zhuzh up her front yard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is so worth it because I didn\u2019t have to carry the pumpkins to the car, lug them to my porch, and figure out what to do with them,\u201d said Petruzziello, who spent around $450 for the setup, which will accessorize her front steps until Thanksgiving. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone can buy pumpkins at a supermarket or pumpkin patch \u2014\u00a0but the way Gia styles and stacks them is so gorgeous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wallace cozies up to a massive pumpkin \u2014 and a slithery snake \u2014 in her holiday display. J.C. Rice<\/p>\n

D\u2019Onofrio is one in a growing number of people cashing in on the trend \u2014\u00a0to date, she\u2019s decked out over 70 homes in Westchester, with customers paying a range of $325 to $1,000 for the design of a layered, stacked look, delivery and set-up. <\/p>\n

For an extra fee, she\u2019ll even tear the whole thing down afterward \u2014\u00a0retrieving the entire display and composting the pumpkins, assuaging any potential eco-worries of her guilty, go-go clients.<\/p>\n

Across the Hudson River, realtors Samantha Zoller and Emily Gonzalez have found sideline success as co-owners of The Entry Edit<\/a>, a seasonal porch styling company based in Mountainside, New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusy parents in dual-working households don\u2019t have the time to go out and buy all these pumpkins for their front steps,\u201d Garden Stater Gonzalez told The Post, adding that rates for their cascading pumpkin set-ups range from $400 to $1,200. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we do involves a lot of heavy lifting and coordination. Our customers love seeing how amazing their porches look \u2014 and they don\u2019t have to lift a finger to create this look.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emily Gonzalez gathers a horde of gourds for a Halloween display.<\/p>\n

Samantha Zoller\u2019s own porch is enhanced with dozens of pumpkins and more.<\/p>\n

For some, the festive piles of pumpkins aren\u2019t quite enough. That\u2019s where Marc Evan, co-owner of Yonkers-based Maniac Pumpkin Carvers, steps in \u2014\u00a0knife at the ready. <\/p>\n

His intricate hand-carvings are beloved among his well-heeled clientele in brownstone Brooklyn and Manhattan \u2014\u00a0Evan told The Post he\u2019s had to sign many an NDA when taking on a custom carve-up, which can cost clients into the \u201ccouple of thousand dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do museum-worthy works of art, and these pumpkins light up the porch and become a star attraction for our clients,\u201d said the serial squash stabber, whose company was featured on \u201cShark Tank.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the trend towards having portraits carved in pumpkins is a natural evolution of the craze surrounding all things pumpkin \u2014 and Halloween,\u201d he told The Post.<\/p>\n

On the Upper East Side, lifestyle influencer Kristi Hemric\u2019s seasonal stoop displays have become the talk of her block<\/a> of East 78th Street just off of Third Avenue \u2014\u00a0and far beyond.<\/p>\n

For the photographer, videographer and mom of four, one Halloween display isn\u2019t enough \u2014\u00a0she began unveiling the first of four themes back in August, amping up the scary as the day draws closer to Oct. 31.<\/p>\n

Kristi Hemric\u2019s Halloween-themed stoop on East 78th Street is an eye-catcher on her block.<\/p>\n

And while she wouldn\u2019t reveal just how much she spends, a stroll past the beautiful five-story home she shares with husband David and their children makes it clear \u2014 this doorstep diva\u2019s not skimping on anything.<\/p>\n

Hers is a dazzling display, venturing beyond just pumpkins and featuring railings lined with black leaves that light up, tombstones, books of potions and white ceramic skulls.<\/p>\n

And even though the 100 oversized custom LEGO flowers that Hemric ordered for the final Halloween display are currently stuck in transit, she confessed to The Post, her spirits remain high.<\/p>\n

The improvisational wizard has simply pivoted to updating the colorful LEGO blossoms she used for her Mother\u2019s Day stoop setup \u2014\u00a0with black bricks, of course.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big element isn\u2019t there,\u201d Hemric apologized. \u201cIt\u2019s okay \u2014 we\u2019ll just use them next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hemric displays some of her intricate, spider-topped LEGO blossoms.<\/p>\n

Dozens of custom LEGO flowers were still stuck in transit, but Hemric was able to use at least some toy creations this year.<\/p>\n

Back across Central Park, Wallace says her Insta-ready Upper West Side stoop not only forges community spirit, but it makes people happy, too, whether they\u2019re tourists or locals.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy office is two floors above the stoop, so I can hear people talking about it,\u201d she said, adding that the students at the French school down the block give her an extra reason to smile. <\/p>\n

\u201cI keep hearing them count how many cockroaches there are in French, and now I know how to say that word!\u201d (It would be \u201cle cafard.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Hillary Wallace is practically dwarfed by her pumpkinscaping this year. J.C. Rice<\/p>\n

Delighting passersby is reason enough for Wallace to keep dreaming about her next designs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had people put letters under my door telling me that they took their baby\u2019s first Halloween photo on my stoop and now that baby is four,\u201d she said, adding that she\u2019s already designing her next stoop display, Candyland with a Twist, which will debut before Christmas. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have even gotten engaged here \u2014 right on my stoop. Doing this is so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

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