When Lookiloos first visited Amy and Parke Young’s tudor home, they told us how it had been so dark and overgrown when they first bought it, it looked like the witch from Hansel and Gretel must have lived there. While their renovation swept away all signs of scary, come Halloween every year, the family invites the witch back home.
“My favorite holiday is Halloween,” Amy said.
At the front door, a full-size witch guards the entrance with autumn vines swirling over the doorway. Amy’s black urns are filled with stacked pumpkins. A black cat ornament stands with his back arched in perpetual fright.
Inside, the living room mantel is decorated with orange candles and a whimsical “boo” sign. A glass candy jar is filled with colorful mini pumpkins and gourds.
On a credenza in the dining room, a haunted village is set up with a menagerie of zombies and gargoyles. Every year, Amy’s 9-year-old son looks forward to adding a new piece to the spooky scene.
“It’s a dollhouse without girls!” said Amy’s friend, Laurie Stewart, who, like Amy, has two boys.
And my personal favorite? Amy’s “skull under glass.” While she has seen similar skulls as part of a Martha Stewart collection, she bought this one last spring at the Dollar Store. But, knowing Amy, it should be no surprise that she added an extra special touch — clear plastic beads for sparkling eyeballs! Then she rested the skull on moss and covered it with a glass dome.
In my book, I’ll call that “sophisticated scary.” Thanks Amy for indulging in the unexpected Lookiloos call! Trick or treat!
To take a peek at the the Young’s house before and after their renovation, click here.
Also, take a look at how Amy transformed her old entertainment center into a bar.
Click here for other fall decorating ideas.
Saltilo tile floors greeted her in the entryway with a sweeping staircase with curved wrought-iron railings. Two steps down took her to the grand formal living room with plenty of space for the baby grand piano and their whimsical orange and black “Halloween tree” that adorns the front window for the autumn Rose Garden Homes Tour in mid-October.
One of Mary’s favorite spots for a little solitude is the lovely balcony off the master bedroom where she often reads or enjoys a cup of coffee while overlooking the lush backyard and swimming pool.
wash in her glory and while the drought stricken earth needed the rain, we personally could have waited a couple of days.
(To follow the rest of the Hinkley Family remodel, go to 
That was our morning at the home of one of our favorite lookiloos — Vicki Petulla. We have done a couple of stories about her home already. One featured the inside of the house, where her family of three has the kitchen table always at-the-ready for a party of 10 (A girl after my own heart.) We did a second photo shoot of her new backyard fireplace. But that still wasn’t enough for our readers. We received an email from one who wondered what Vicki was doing with her home for the holiday season. “Would LOVE to see how she decorates for fall/halloween/Christmas,” the reader wrote.
Well, we here at Lookiloos aim to please.
Our friends, Amy and Parke Young and Julie and Craig Paulsen and my husband, Chris, and I decided on a south of the border theme and called the party “Night of the Iguana,” inspired by the 1962 film classic starring Richard Burton and Eva Gardner.
All I can say is, thank God for Amy. As much as I write about great decor and tabletop settings, I still tend to be all thumbs when I try it myself. (Every year, I swear I’ve got the most uninspired Christmas wreath on the block.)
We started by clearing out the screened porch and putting the seating arrangement on the back lawn for cocktail hour. I dragged an old rug I found at a garage sale from the shed (I could never get the musty smell out of it for inside) and put it on the grass. Parke built a bar from salvage plywood. Amy added palapa grass to the umbrella. Parke strung paper lanterns across the back yard and we lit a fire in the chiminea outside and in the fireplace on the porch, and lit tea lights everywhere.
And with boxes of colorful odds and ends from Amy’s basement, plus some potted palms from their yard, I’d say we made a pretty good effort at a “faraway paradise.”
I’m completely smitten with rooftop gardens. A big city filled with high rises and concrete but hidden at the top of the stairs you find an oasis. My love of rooftop gardens began years ago watching a very sappy chick flick staring Christian Slater. Bed of Roses is not a great movie, but the garden is fabulous. I found all of these rooftop gardens at 
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