Festive decorations at 836 Homestead Rd., La Grange Park (Cummings/LION).

Since Halloween 2020, Don Coglianese and his family have dove into the holiday festivities by decorating their home to mimic that of Disney’s own Haunted Mansion. Located at 836 Homestead Rd., La Grange Park, unique pieces are out on display for families to enjoy throughout the season.
Not only has the attraction earned national recognition with decorations being finalists for a national home haunter award, but the house has also been named “Illinois’ Best Spooky Yard” of 2021. The Coglianese family is only just getting started, and have plans for their home pizzazz to grow bigger and better with each passing year.
“Honestly, our goal when creating the Haunted Mansion is to have fun, stretch our imagination, and see what we are capable of,” Coglianese said. “We truly have [created] something really interesting and unique with this project and managed to pull off this Disney effect with nothing but plywood and our own art skills, which is a feat. Each year we try and challenge ourselves: ‘Can we build singing busts, how about a 20 foot high ghost pinwheel, maybe a 12 foot plywood horseman?’ We continuously rise to those challenges.”
All decorations displayed in the Haunted Mansion of Homestead are homemade and original, Don’s spouse Katharine Coglianese said. This takes much time and planning, and so the Coglianese family creates new pieces during the summer with eldest son Joey Coglianese ‘21 acting as lead artist. He draws his designs and transfers them onto plywood. Together, Joey and Don then cut and prime the wood, before Joey reprints the designs back on the plywood in detail. Finally, Katharine will paint the design before Don incorporates the new decoration within the set up and ensure it has proper lighting and position. By the final weekend of September, the display is set up and complete.
“I go on night walks a lot, and just going by our house and seeing it in all of its glory is for sure one of my favorite Halloween memories,” son Michael Coglianese ‘24 said. “Then I have to sneak inside because of how many people are [admiring] the house.”
Each decoration is built with the intention of replicating Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride, while also adapting concepts for Chicago weather, children interaction, and the uncontrollable environment, Don Coglianese said. One decoration that particularly stands out is the incorporation of the Phantom Five, the iconic Haunted Mansion band. After sorting the Haunted Mansion soundtrack for individual instruments played by the band, Coglianese created a sound board where kids can come up and press buttons that mixes and matches instruments to recreate the Haunted Mansion theme song.
“Our attraction is very kid friendly,” Don Coglianese said. “We have been creating items that encourage kids to touch and play because that is what Disney does with their attractions and we want to [cultivate] that feeling.”
Going further, the Coglianese family uses their Halloween platform to raise money for cancer through the Puck Cancer Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping families cope with the financial burden of cancer, Don Coglianese said.
“We raised over $1,000 [for Puck Cancer] last year, and have even created ‘the ghost that follows you home’ which are custom collectible glow-in-the-dark 3D printed ghosts that we give out every night for those who make a donation,” he said. “Kids love running around our haunt with their new glowing ghost friend.”
The Coglianese family hopes to match last year’s $1,000 donation, a realistic goal considering that their home has become one of the bigger, well-known haunts of the Chicagoland area, Don Coglianese said.
“Your funds are donated directly to families, not a large organization or corporation,” Puck Cancer board member Shannon Bierman said. “It feels good to make a local impact, and during the spooky season, why not check out the Haunted Mansion on Homestead with their lit flying ghosts and singing busts?”