# Facades for the front of the house



## Mordessa (Jul 23, 2007)

It seems to me that no matter how spookily I do the graveyard in my front lawn, or how I put up the scary death head figure on the overhang above my front door, my house is just not very scary looking. 

Most of the house is a pale sandy brown almost orange kind of color. It's brick. Also, there is a section above the front door that is white siding. 

I would really like to put a facade up this year that would mask the bright, unhaunting colors of my house. Also, I would like to make the area by the front door look like a turret kind of thing, like the Addam's Family house, that big tall part. The section above the front door is sort of a half hexagon, where the nook in our kitchen is, so I think that if it weren't white, I could probably incorporate it's shape in pretty easily to what I'm trying to do.

However, I am uncertain how I should go about doing this facade in general. The end of October here is rarely very gentle weather-wise, so I will need something that can stand up to snow and rain and some wind. 

I'm thinking of making walls to box in the part that is under the overhang of the front door, and putting a gate kind of door there. Then, I'd like to put gargoyles at the corners on of the top of the overhang. I think that would make the half-hexagon thing above look rather naturally like a turret. However, I need a way to cover the bright white of that siding... and perhaps give the windows a more arched shape too. 

So, I guess my question is, does anybody know how to make a good facade that can cover the outside of the house without ruining the house for the rest of the year? 

Any suggestions would be appreciated! 

Thanks!


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## erie_pa_halloween_guy (Mar 20, 2005)

Insulation foam board+ velcro carved out to fit your needs?


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## Iffy49 (Feb 2, 2009)

Mordessa,
Initial question would be is 'how big is your house?' Something like the White House, or a small fisherman's cottage? 

My biggest concern would be fixing whatever you decide to the house. You must ensure that the facade could not come away and fall on someone. This may be especially difficult if the weather is bad. This may also compromise your need to not damage your house.

One suggestion would be to use 8' x 4' canvas 'flats' as they do in theatres. These could then be fixed together, and fixed to your house using existing fittings, or maybe some temporary battens or hooks which could be removed with little damage after Halloween. Advantage of these is that you can repaint them year after year, and change the look of your house for little additional cost. Disadvantages are the weight, and securely fixing to the house, so that they can weather your Swedish weather. If the flats are made with 1" x 1" timber, this will reduce weight, but would be offset by a tendency to 'fly away' with the wind and would not be so rigid.

Another alternative, would be using 2" foam insulation boards. This could be carved to look like stonework, or anything else. Advantage is weight, if one fell off, not so risky as the flats. Disadvantage is that it would always look like the original carving.

Another possibility, would be to use drapes. A large canvas curtain that could painted and hung in front of the house. Depending how robust your drainpipes are (do you have them on Swedish houses?), you could use the existing fittings to attach the drape to, or put battens under the eaves of your house, then just anchor the bottom and middle of the drap to prevent billowing. Advantage, cost, weight and could be reused (repainted), disadvantage; less robust, may not be as effective, if it can be seen moving in the wind.

Never used any of these, but have considered them, as I have the same not at all scary house! 

Hope it helps, even if it gets others thinking.


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## yardhauntjunkie (Feb 26, 2009)

How to build a Cathedral Façade

It doesn't have to be a cathedral, you can make it anything you want, but it gives you an idea of what you could do.


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## TK421 (Mar 27, 2009)

YardHauntJunkie's link is a good one.

I see you hail from Sweden. My question is what materials are available to you?

I build a "haunted tower" onto the front of my house for Halloween. I built the whole thing out of 2x4 studs and 1/2 inch roof sheathing. The roof sheathing is very inexpensive (about $6 for a 4x8 sheet) and its sturdy stuff. I secure the tower to the house with some braces and 4 inch screws. I painted the whole thing with exterior house paint. 

This method has survived three Halloween seasons in all types of weather.


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## meltdown211 (Sep 27, 2006)

Here is my suggestion which is easy to install and remove after Halloween. 1) Go to home depot or any hardware store. Pick up the thinnest painters cloth you can find (its just large sheets of thin plastic. Get a staple gun or tacks and place long sheets on each side of windows and doors. NOW, "TEAR" not cut, and RIP the hell out of these sheets of plastic. All different directions....the result looks like a cross between ripped drapes and old house falling apart. You can add some black and green spray paint to make it look older.

This only costs about $5.00 to do and it make a very dramatic effect. Use some green floods to light the house and it looks great. It looks even better when the wind blows it as it looks like slow motion ghosts....look at my video...the first one I didnt add alot, but you get the idea...just makes everything look ....old.

YouTube - Halloween 2007

This second one I just put the plastic sheeting in front of my FCG. I have some smaller stuff on the corners of the house but its hard to see...

YouTube - The Haunting of Plum Creek.wmv


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## Ugly Joe (Jan 13, 2004)

Perhaps you could just camouflage the house with jute netting and lots of dead branches and vines.

Here's a link to some netting:
EarthAid USA - Jute Netting

So, you could attach lengths of this to your roofline, letting it hang down (perhaps shredding it a bit and perhaps painting some green, brown and black blotches on it to break up the color), and then fasten branches and vines...with and without leaves - whatever you can get a hold of.

Do this for the entire front of your house (lots of work, I know), and it may end up looking like the edge of some dark, decrepit forest at night.

As a bonus, it may give you some space between the jute and your house to hide some surprises for ToT'ers...jump out and send them running!!


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## squatdaddy (Oct 17, 2006)

this is what I did with foam board and 1/4 inch ply...


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## Junit (Sep 1, 2008)

I really like the foam board stone look.


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## meltdown211 (Sep 27, 2006)

HOLY CRAP squatdaddy! That foamboard is awesome!


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## dixie (Jan 30, 2009)

Yeah, when I think Facade, I think Davis Graveyard first and foremost, only because I have seen and admired it so much. Squatdaddy, that is one helluva facade you have going as well.

We are considering a facade this year, if only to cover the very front brick portion of our house, because I feel the same way you do - no matter how detailed you get in the yard, it still has that feel of a buncha stuff thrown in the yard in front of a house in suburbia - not too scary in the big picture.


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## Deadna (Oct 19, 2002)

TK421 said:


> YardHauntJunkie's link is a good one.
> 
> I see you hail from Sweden. My question is what materials are available to you?
> 
> ...




What a cute house...love the green! Is this built over your garage door?


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## rockplayson (Jun 7, 2008)

I'd love to facades one day but there's just not enough time. I tip I got was to take Black sheets and cover the enitre front side of the house. For lighting I was told to use diffrent colored flood lights to reflect. So basically Im going to have a lit up cemetary as a facade.


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

meltdown211 said:


> Here is my suggestion which is easy to install and remove after Halloween. 1) Go to home depot or any hardware store. Pick up the thinnest painters cloth you can find (its just large sheets of thin plastic. Get a staple gun or tacks and place long sheets on each side of windows and doors. NOW, "TEAR" not cut, and RIP the hell out of these sheets of plastic. All different directions....the result looks like a cross between ripped drapes and old house falling apart. You can add some black and green spray paint to make it look older.
> 
> This only costs about $5.00 to do and it make a very dramatic effect. Use some green floods to light the house and it looks great. It looks even better when the wind blows it as it looks like slow motion ghosts....look at my video...the first one I didnt add alot, but you get the idea...just makes everything look ....old.


Wow meltdown, great videos! Did you make that moving ground breaker thing?

MsM


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## LV Scott T (Aug 14, 2007)

I have built my share of large-scale facades, and each one was built completely different.

Our first one (Haunted House) was made from steel framing (like 2x4's only metal) covered in cardboard cut to look like shingle siding.

The next year's (Pirate Ship) was a massive project! It also had a metal framing support wall, but it was mostly to have something to attach the ship's "ribs" to. The covering was muslin saturated in a paint/glue mixture, laid out to dry flat, then stapled to the ribs.

Last year's facade (Castle) was the most solid. At one point during the construction we all climbed to the top and shook it. Rock solid. It was made from 2x4's and pallets. Note: if you use this technique, build it in small sections. Pallets can get VERY HEAVY!

In all 3 designs, I used a push-pull technique to support them. I used 2x4 braces with 6"x8" plywood plates screwed to the ends (to protect the house) fastened to the support wall as the "push" and metal banding straps from the support wall to the inside edges of the garage door as the "pull". The bottom of the wall was stabalized by drilling some 1/8" holes into the driveway on both the front and back edges and tapping in nails.

This year, we'll go back to the 2006 design again but with a few extra pieces thrown in...


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## MLuther (Apr 8, 2009)

if you make foam boards look like wood boards you could use them to board up your window.


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## TK421 (Mar 27, 2009)

squatdaddy said:


> this is what I did with foam board and 1/4 inch ply...


That is some FINE stonework! Really impressive. What was your paint/sealing method?


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## squatdaddy (Oct 17, 2006)

close up...
I did the whole dremmel, then wet then blow torch the thing then multiple washes using a $5 bucket of oops paint from home depot and some reqular acrylic paint thinned with water, brush on wipe off... hot glued some stuff on the surface (moss and such)... between the blow torching and the paint, it sealed fine even through major weather...


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## TK421 (Mar 27, 2009)

Deadna said:


> What a cute house...love the green! Is this built over your garage door?


Yup! I built the tower facade so that I could still open and close the garage door. On Halloween, we leave the garage door up and the front half of the garage is decorated as a witches apothecary. It's a real fun time. Last year, I had a friend dress as a witch and act as the shop keeper. She gives a great cackle for the kiddies.

Here's a picture of more of the house. This is an old shot from when I was setting up in 2007.


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## TK421 (Mar 27, 2009)

squatdaddy said:


> I did the whole dremmel, then wet then blow torch the thing then multiple washes using a $5 bucket of oops paint from home depot and some reqular acrylic paint thinned with water, brush on wipe off... hot glued some stuff on the surface (moss and such)... between the blow torching and the paint, it sealed fine even through major weather...
> [


It looks great! Thanks for posting the close-up pics. I'll try your techniques on the mausoleum I'm building out of 1" styro.


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## RookieSpooker (Aug 11, 2007)

*These guys also did some miraculous stuff with plain old cardboard.*


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Wow, these are great facade ideas! 

Here's one I saw surfing the net. Take one element of your house and use it to your advantage:


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## Jaybo (Oct 18, 2008)

RookieSpooker said:


> *These guys also did some miraculous stuff with plain old cardboard.*


Wow! That is VERY impressive!


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## TK421 (Mar 27, 2009)

RookieSpooker said:


> *These guys also did some miraculous stuff with plain old cardboard.*


Holy Crap!!! That's an amazing facade! Where the heck do they store all of that???


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

TK421 said:


> Holy Crap!!! That's an amazing facade! Where the heck do they store all of that???



They typically don't. They scrap it and salvage what they can for usage on their next build, but they don't save stuff like most of us haunters.... and they are just awesome, amazing, and impossibly talented - it really shows the one of the highest levels a home haunt display can go to.


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## mysterymaiden (Aug 11, 2008)

Hey Mordessa,

Just a thought, why not talk to your local high school drama teacher? They would probably have some durable ideas from their prop exxperiences.

Good luck!


Leigh Clements
The Mystery Maiden
Shot In The Dark Murder Mysteries - Murder mystery games, kids mystery games and fun party games for everyone!


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## The Mad Hatter (Dec 30, 2007)

Facade I built it is 22 feet wide by 24 feet tall.


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## Haunty McSpooks (Jan 20, 2009)

HOLY CRAP is right! That's the thing I love about this Forum: Just when I'm getting too busy with other things to feel inspired to work on my own haunt, someone comes along and blows me away with an amazing creation. Thanks squatdaddy -- I needed that!


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## Haunty McSpooks (Jan 20, 2009)

OOPS! I forgot to include the quote I was responding to in that last post. 




meltdown211 said:


> HOLY CRAP squatdaddy! That foamboard is awesome!


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## TK421 (Mar 27, 2009)

The Mad Hatter said:


> Facade I built it is 22 feet wide by 24 feet tall.


That is beautiful work! Where did you build that? Is it an apartment? Office front? The concrete and metal railing kinda throw me.

How did you build it? What are the materials? How do you store it?

That is an amazing, fantastic, beautiful piece of living art! Way to go!!!


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## Mr Grimsley (May 8, 2008)

Rookiespooker, I've seen that one before but I still think it's amazong! 

Mad Hatter... OMG! Outstanding!!! Simply outstanding!

The facade I'mn considering building this year is to hide the bland preformed siding on the inside walls of my carport. Blah! Using the techniques from the hauntproject.com link, O plan to whip up some crypt walls like that from the "exit queue" at Disney's several Haunted Mansions as seen below:

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## Fiend4Halloween (Sep 5, 2008)

WOW, the pics above my post are AMAZING!!! Thanks for sharing.


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## The Mad Hatter (Dec 30, 2007)

I love D - Land so much. I have always wanted to go to the park in Florida and check out the haunted mansion there I hear it is unbelievable.


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## Mr Grimsley (May 8, 2008)

Yep, hope to take my rugrats sometime in the next couple years. I haven't been back since 1984! :OP

So... has anyone done the facade thing with the crypt wall? I'd like to see some photos of others similar to this.


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## Conman (Aug 7, 2008)

Has anyone seen or built a circus tent facade? I'm doing a carnival theme and I think it would look awesome covering up my garage.


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## Mordessa (Jul 23, 2007)

Wow, thanks for all the awesome ideas guys! Some of these are simply fantastic! Mad hatter, how did you build that facade? PLEASE tell me you made a how to on that thing?? I love it and it is exactly the kind of look I want to go for! 

I'm still trying to figure out how to do a facade that will work for me, and be able to fix it to the house enough so it won't blow away or anything. This year's theme is a haunted mansion, so I'm still hoping to come up with stuff that will enhance that look. I'm in the midst of trying to build my first set of gargoyles, so that'll be fun. 

Any more ideas on this are certainly welcome! You guys rock as a resource and for amazing inspiration! Thanks sooo much!


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## kprimm (Apr 3, 2009)

Wow! all you guys do a great job....as usual. But i also agree madhatter needs to do a how to for that, and squatdaddy. hose facades are just plain awesome.
I want to do one this year also and i was thinking of going lumber framing and using the thick foam insulation sheets. Hoping it will be strong enough. I dont have alot of choices because it has to be lightweight and storable. I build everything modular and have storage plans in every design before i even start building.


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## The Mad Hatter (Dec 30, 2007)

There are some more construction photos of the facade at 
http://www.halloweenforum.com/general-halloween/77214-2008-rot.html
I will be making an addition to the facade this year and will be sure to take photos of the panel construction. I will then post a how to. I have been currently working on another how to for an pneumatic/animatronic character, it is in the how to section. 

The Facade is basically 2x6 ripped down to 1/2" slats for the siding. The posts were bought at Lowels, same as the molding and were cut and tacked up. I made the windows there are a sheet of plexiglass with molding glued to make it look like many glass panels. Plexi glass was then heated and cut with knife to give jagged edges. Torch went over jagged edges to make it not sharp. The roofing were 2X6X1 that were cut with a jig saw. I used a can as a guide to make the curves. That's about it.....not much....Just need to have really good measurements when making these one level at a time with all the angle cuts and stuff so that they will ft together properly.

-Frank Balzer


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## Tish (Aug 5, 2008)

Awesome facades! I hate hate hate how the rest of my house doesn't get incorporated into the decorations. The front yard looks great but the house looks blah. I want to create a whole atmosphere. Since it's June and I'm starting earlier this year, I think we're going to try to create a fairly simple facade. We saw Wicked last weekend and the set was awesome. Very simple vines over everything, really spooky. We got very inspired and plan to do something like that.


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## LT Scare (May 21, 2008)

Squatdaddy and Mr Grimsley = very cool stuff there.

Lightiing, when used properly can be VERY affective in making a house much spookier than when just plain dark.


















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I've seen much better examples of lighting for effect than theses, here on HF. Last year we started to experiment with LED spotlights. You can run a half dozen or more on a Malibu light transformer and really reduce your electric bill.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Wow some really spectacular stuff built. Thanks everyone for sharing your pics. 

Just thought I'd mention that our local Lowes hardware store carries a blue foamboard (Dow Foamboard III, XPS type) that is 1/4-inch thin, 4 feet high and 50 feet in length ($36). Item #127129. For 200 sq. feet of coverage I thought that was pretty good. It's scored on one side and is folded kind of accordian style into a large stack. When unfolded it's smooth on the unscored side. I always thought this might be a good waterproof solution for creating some background scenes attached to wood framing. You could always add dimension by gluing on layers of shapes that could be texturized to add relief. You can find the product on their website. Look under Insulated sheathing.


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## ZombieRaider (May 18, 2008)

Lt Scare, Where did you get the skulls for your entrance?....I really like them around the top of the "Happy Halloween" and the guy on top is just perfect...Thanks...ZR


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 18, 2008)

For years I've taken a 50' length of black plastic, sliced every 18" and hang it from my gutter. it covers the entire front of the house and moves nice and spooky in the breeze.


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## LT Scare (May 21, 2008)

ZombieRaider said:


> Lt Scare, Where did you get the skulls for your entrance?....I really like them around the top of the "Happy Halloween" and the guy on top is just perfect...Thanks...ZR


Many years ago (2001 or 2?) they were on display at a Drug store in Tustin, Ca. From the looks of them at the time, they had been in use for more than one season already. They were designed to "frame" a single door entrance, and were being used at the entrance of the Halloween isle at the drug store. 

My (then) young son and I saw them and we HAD to have them. I negotiated a deal with the manager - I think it was $100 because they were banged up a bit - brought them home and the skulls and triangle have been the inspiring "corner stone "of our Haunt ever since.

We immediately decided they were too cool to display in the shaddows of our entranceway where our front doors are, so we decided to build a "tunnel of terror" mounting the skulls on 2x4s out near the street. We added the gargoyles to center the triangle to enable a "stretched" entrance. Using an old lattice as a roof and Scene Setters+6mil plastic as sides, the tunnel was a hit in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, we didn't take pics in the early years - we avoided documenting our insanity. We do have pics of the final years of the Tunnel of Terror (before it became the Dungeon of Death) in our 2005-06 album here on HF.










They are made of a dense styrofoam with a hard coating applied. Storage each year invariably "dents" them a bit and we touch them up each year. It's probably time to buy some good quality latex paint and recoat them for additional protection. We've resisted the temptation to insert red LED eyes in the skulls due to the concern that the required holes would weaken the integrety of each section and we don't want to risk shortening their life. 

Thanks for asking about them - BTW, since we bought these, I've always been on the lookout for more, or even other "door frame" decorations. I've seen good and bad, cheaper and expensive, but I've NEVER seen these anywhere on ebay or elsewhere on the net.


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## Halloween_Mom (Jun 29, 2008)

*carnival*



Conman said:


> Has anyone seen or built a circus tent facade? I'm doing a carnival theme and I think it would look awesome covering up my garage.


I remember seeing awesome pics of a carnival theme about one year ago. There was a HUGE evil clown face that was the facade and you had to walk thru it's mouth to get inside. Does anyone else remember this? It was really cool. At least I think I am remembering correctly as to what it was.

Try searching carnival or clown and look back....about a year ago. There are lots of great ideas on this board with the clown/carnival theme.


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## Mike and Tiff (Aug 21, 2013)

Wow this is a great thread. Anyone else have facades to share?


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## LT Scare (May 21, 2008)

2013 was our final year - at least for a while. We added short pillars at each end with dozens of homemade skulls and LED eyes covering the pillars. Inside one pillar was a projector for the Haunted Mansion singing busts affect.


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## kittyvibe (Oct 27, 2008)

Halloween_Mom said:


> I remember seeing awesome pics of a carnival theme about one year ago. There was a HUGE evil clown face that was the facade and you had to walk thru it's mouth to get inside. Does anyone else remember this? It was really cool. At least I think I am remembering correctly as to what it was.
> 
> Try searching carnival or clown and look back....about a year ago. There are lots of great ideas on this board with the clown/carnival theme.


I made one, maybe me? If not I know there was a couple more last year. I am planning on a busted up gingerbread house facade for my witches this year.


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## yardhauntjunkie (Feb 26, 2009)

This thread has resurfaced! At the time I originally responded I dreamed of building a facade! 5 years later I got the chance to build one. Cool memories. 

This is what I built. Its from 2014 and is the beginning of my steampunk outpost called Steamtown 18817.


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## matrixmom (Oct 29, 2010)

Nice work yard haunt junkie...


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## Mike and Tiff (Aug 21, 2013)

yardhauntjunkie said:


> This thread has resurfaced! At the time I originally responded I dreamed of building a facade! 5 years later I got the chance to build one. Cool memories.
> 
> This is what I built. Its from 2014 and is the beginning of my steampunk outpost called Steamtown 18817.
> 
> ...


Wow that is awesome.


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