From Bowser to Goomba and even the classic Mario mystery boxes, a Richmond home has it all for Halloween this year.
Sylvain Marcotte and his family are putting on the final touches to their Mario-themed home to welcome trick-or-treaters on Tuesday night.
The family in the Thompson neighbourhood has been decorating their home for the spooky holiday for the past two decades with about 500 kids visiting their home last Halloween
They expect nothing less this year.
Marcotte said decorating his home in elaborate Halloween decorations started as an annual tradition for his family in 1988 when he was living in Montreal, and he brought along the tradition when he moved to Richmond in 2001.
“I think Halloween is just a great time to see kids enjoy themselves and be what they want to be,” said Marcotte.
“Especially during the pandemic, we debated if we wanted to decorate the house with everyone social distancing but we eventually followed through with the idea. When kids saw the house and said we made their day it was definitely a heart-warming moment.”
This year, Marcotte’s brother from Montreal flew in to join him for the Halloween tradition.
“It’s been a while since we planned and decorated a Halloween together and it’s great to have him here with me this time. He’s the one that drew everything out.”
In previous years, the home was decorated in themes such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Carribbean and recently Stranger Things.
When asked how long the planning-to-decorating process takes, Marcotte told the Richmond News they start as early as June or July.
“We start deciding on the theme and then draw out how we want the house to look like,” he said, adding that finding materials and actually crafting everything out takes the most time.
”Because we decorate our house with a different theme every year, we try not to buy new decorations because it’s just a waste.”
Instead, Marcotte often finds himself at Richmond’s Recycling Depot looking for used materials such as cardboard and paint.
“We especially love using the election boards because they’re waterproof and study so they are perfect to build and craft with.
“It just doesn’t make sense to buy decorations every year when we can create it ourselves.”
The Mario-themed home can be found at 6273 Jade Crt.
