For the last ten years, a Bay View house at 2943 S. Clement Ave. has gone all out to decorate for Halloween, tapping into beloved franchises like “Beetlejuice“and “Scooby-Doo” for inspiration, and for a good cause. Over the last ten years, the house has raised over $100,000 in donations for Pathfinders from people who stop by to admire.
A & J’s Halloween House construction begins in early August, starting with sketches and blueprints, says Jaime Beauchamp-Reid, who creates the displays with his husband, Andy Reid. This year, the couple decided to build a display that shows different scenes at Hogwarts, the wizarding school in the world of Harry Potter. Reid says they drew inspiration from the wider Potter-verse that goes beyond the books to movies, theme parks, games and other media. A new interpretation of the stories will be featured in an HBO show that will premiere on Christmas this year.
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“If there’s something big coming out, we try to stay current with what we’re putting into the display, I knew the series was coming out and it’s the 25th anniversary of the first movie as well,” Reid says. “We are focusing on the joy the movies and books have brought to people.”
The display features vignettes of memorable moments from the stories – visitors can sit in a Hogwarts-bound train car with an LED screen background that scrolls the backdrop from Milwaukee to Hogwarts, the couple’s front porch has been transformed into Gringotts Bank with a dragon perched above, Hagrid’s hut is surrounded by ghoulish pumpkins and you can spot old Voldemort lurking in a corner. The centerpiece is a large display depicting a memorable scene from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” where a troll rampages through Hogwarts, complete with the Grand Hall’s iconic floating candles.
“I knew I had to do the Grand Hall,” Reid says. A screen flanking the back of the Grand Hall shows video scenes like the school’s sorting hat assigning houses.
Visitors can donate cash or scan a QR code right by the scene of a cart morphing through a brick wall at Platform 9 ¾. The funds are all donated to Pathfinders, an organization that works to expand “supported housing and homelessness prevention for youth.” The impressive amount raised by A&J has come from donations big and small from people who appreciate a little Halloween magic.
