By Matthew Warakomski
Villager Contributor
Standing outside 9555 S. Winchester Ave., at least three drivers passed by shouting compliments and praise from their car windows, earning a chuckle and smile from Justin and John Uzonyi.
Even though Justin says the constant attention can be a bit overwhelming out of season, elaborate decor has become a tradition in their household.
“Growing up, my family always decorated things for the holidays,” John said. “Our first year that we decorated, people went absolutely nuts for it, further motivating us to continue the tradition.”
Originally from Michigan, John and Justin moved to the Beverly/Morgan Park neighborhood in 2021 after living in the West Loop. According to John, he picked up decorating from his mother who decorated everything from Christmas to Valentine’s Day.
While Justin’s family also decorated for holidays such as Christmas, the couple admit that John was “the one who went overboard first.”
Since moving to their home near the corner of 96th and Winchester in Beverly, their home has become so popular it has even caused gapper delays as children and parents have often lined up along 96th Street to catch a glimpse.
According to John, even the police stopped by around 4 a.m. one Halloween to get a taste.
“I woke up to get something, and I’m like, ‘What are these flashing lights,’” John remembers. “So, I look out the dining room window, and I’m like, ‘Oh wow, there’s just two cop cars parked in the middle of the street on angles. I wonder what happened.’ So I go outside to kind of assess it and they come walking up, and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, such and such told us about this. We had to come and take a look at it.’”
Popular attractions for the spooky season include gigantic inflatables and lawn decorations of spiders and ghosts. One of their most recognizable items is a giant spiderweb which John handmakes each year, something he says he started as a kid.
“We put up this big spider web,” John said. “I tried making it out of a string when I was a kid, and it rained. It didn’t look good.”
John said he discovered a solution to the spiderweb problem after moving a few times. Using shrink wrap he realized that stretching it out into a cord made the web more durable.
“So, at that time I went to the dollar store,” he said. “I bought a bunch of rolls of saran wrap, pulled it into a cord, and then that’s kind of been the tradition every year.”
Justin described John as the craftier of the two, with John saying how he does everything but crochet and knitting.
Justin also shared a further anecdote when they bought a 20-foot Santa inflatable. According to him, during a series of bad windstorms last year, a hole was torn into the base.
“John took his sewing machine outside in the winter when it was freezing so the holidays could continue on,” Justin said.
He also explained how each year they maintain a similar theme but also try to make it unique each time. For Halloween, Justin said they shy away from the gory side of the holiday. Rather, they want the decor to emulate shows like Scooby Doo, which can be creepy in a way kids can handle and engage with.
“Last year we had these scary cartoon octopi stand on the second story roof of the house,” Justin said. “The kids were like, ‘Dad, it’s so scary,’ but they’re like walking up anyway. It’s pretty cool. From the parents, we get a lot of ‘thanks for doing this, that’s so cool, can’t wait to see it.’”
This year, the couple added an inflatable Frankenstein arch around their front stoop and made the spiderweb into a web tunnel up to the porch. They also added two inflatable towers on either side of the yard.
And Justin says the decorating isn’t over just yet. Walk by and check it out for yourself.
