Luna Parc: The New Jersey Home That Became a Work of Art
Some artists hang their work on the walls. Ricky Boscarino turned the walls themselves into art.
Hidden among the woods of Sandyston, New Jersey, Luna Parc is Boscarino’s home, studio, museum and decades-long artistic experiment. What began as a small, dilapidated hunting cabin in 1989 has gradually become a sprawling fantasy filled with colorful mosaics, ceramics, sculptures, stained glass, carved wood, found objects and wonderfully eccentric collections. For more than 35 years, Boscarino has continued adding to the property, making Luna Parc a work of art that is seemingly never finished.
The result looks as though a storybook castle, curiosity cabinet and sculpture garden all collided in the New Jersey woods. Inside, visitors encounter everything from mannequins and taxidermy to art books, unusual antiques and Boscarino’s own creations. Outside, the fantasy continues across the wooded property with sculptures, mosaics and what Boscarino calls his “electric garden.”
Boscarino has described Luna Parc as essentially living inside a museum, but the home is also intensely personal. His fascination with collecting began during childhood, while his later studies at the Rhode Island School of Design helped shape his appreciation for kitsch, camp and unconventional art. Those influences now cover virtually every corner of Luna Parc.
The extraordinary home recently received national attention on CBS Sunday Morning, where correspondent Serena Altschul toured Luna Parc and explored the more than three decades of imagination behind it. The segment captures what photographs alone have difficulty conveying: this isn't simply a house decorated by an artist. The house is the artwork.
And Boscarino intends for that artwork to survive him. He has established a nonprofit foundation that will eventually inherit Luna Parc, with hopes that his eccentric wonderland will endure as one of America's memorable artist-built environments.
In an age of beige interiors and carefully coordinated décor, Luna Parc is a glorious rebellion—a reminder that a home doesn't necessarily have to be finished, fashionable or restrained. Sometimes it can simply be one enormous, ever-changing canvas.
