A Nightmare on Wardlaw Avenue: Historic Winnipeg house decorated for Halloween

The Boyd House at 484 Wardlaw Ave. decorated for Halloween. (Matthew Frechette)

Old buildings can be a little spooky this time of year, but none like the Boyd House in Winnipeg’s Osborne Village.

Adorned in a dark green exterior, the two-storey wood frame house naturally blends into the others that line Wardlaw Avenue. But for the last two fall seasons, it’s been modified to stand out from the rest.

“I turned around and cut out a couple of cardboard teeth, painted them white and threw them up on the house,” said David Park. “And that's kind of where it all began, you know, six cardboard teeth.”

Park bought the house in 2021 and lives there with his partner Matthew Frechette. According to the Manitoba Historical Society Archives, it was originally built in 1907 for grain inspector Melville Boyd and his family, but was eventually converted into a multi-tenant facility around 1967.

“It’s always a work in progress, maintenance. It’s a labour of love,” said Frechette.

In the years since they first started decorating, Park and Frechette said they try to amp up the décor and fully embrace the spirit of Halloween.

“The goal was, obviously, to animate the whole house,” Frechette said.

“Last year was the first year with all the wooden teeth,” Park added. “Then this year, actually, we put all the coloured spotlights on the house and permanently mounted them there.”

The pair also added a piece of plywood hand-painted to look like an eyeball to complete the face of the ‘Franken-house’ monster.

“It's kind of a growing evolution,” said Park.

Both Park and Frechette said their house has garnered a lot of attention from strangers and social media.

“They’re always stopping and chit-chatting about the house and about the decorations and, you know, it's been great so far,” Park said.

The couple invites community members to check out the outside of the house this Halloween, located at 484 Wardlaw Ave. While the decorations have been up for about a week, they’ll stick around until the first week of November.