Roost

Porch Lights, by Roost Studio

Light up your neighborhood this Halloween.

A map just for your streets. Neighbors tap their address to light their porch, and trick or treaters follow the glowing pumpkins straight to the houses handing out candy. No app, no account, nobody left waiting by a full bowl.

Free for your whole street this Halloween.

Open the live demo Get Porch Lights for your street

The demo is a made-up neighborhood called Lantern Hollow. Tap anything you like, nothing there is real.

How it works

Three steps, and only one of them is yours.

01

I build your map

You tell me your streets. I build a map of your neighborhood from public address listings, with every house already on it, ready for neighbors to claim.

02

Neighbors light their porches

You share one link. Each neighbor taps their address, drags the pumpkin onto their house, and they are on the map in about a minute.

03

Everyone follows the glow

On the night, families open the map and walk to the lit porches. Houses put a candle at the end of the driveway and blow it out when the candy runs out.

What is on the map

Everything here is built and running in Glenaire right now.

Glowing pumpkin mapCandy here, all out, or not this year. Each house shows its own status.
Teal pumpkinsHouses handing out allergy friendly treats get a teal pumpkin, so families know where to stop.
Tap a house for directionsAny pumpkin opens the address and walking directions.
Light your porch in a minuteTap your address, drag the pumpkin onto your house, add a note if you like. No account, no name, no email.
A four digit porch codeSo a second phone in the house can update your porch too.
Near meFinds the closest lit porch from wherever you are standing.
Your hills, called outSteep streets are drawn on the map with the direction they run, so families can plan the walk.
A guided first visitA short tour walks every neighbor through it the first time they open the link.
Spooky soundtrack, one tapAn original score, off by default, on if you want it.
Day and night looksHaunted Hollow after dark, a pumpkin patch in daylight. Each phone remembers.
It goes dark on its ownThe map turns itself off at midnight after Halloween. Nothing to take down.
A help button on every pageAny neighbor can reach me directly if something looks wrong.

A look at it

These are real screens from Glenaire's map.

The Porch Lights home screen at night, showing the neighborhood map with glowing jack o lantern pins on lit houses
The map on Halloween night
The guided first visit tour, explaining the map to a neighbor opening the link for the first time
The guided first visit
The light your porch screen, where a neighbor picks their address and drags a pumpkin onto their house
Lighting your porch

Why I made this

Nine years ago I brought trick or treating back to my own neighborhood, Glenaire, out in Ivy. It worked, and then every year I got the same question: which houses are actually handing out candy? Glenaire is big and hilly, and families would pick one street and miss the rest.

So I built the answer. Neighbors light their porch on a map, and everyone can see where to walk. We pair it with candles at the end of the driveway, blown out when the bowl is empty. Now it belongs to your street too.

Lynsie Steele, Roost Studio, Crozet, Virginia

What it costs

Nothing. Free for your whole neighborhood this Halloween.

Order by October 24
Free
for your neighborhood, Halloween 2026

I would rather see a hundred porches light up than charge a few. All I ask is your email, so I can let you know when it is time to light up again. Order by October 24 and your map is live a full week before the 31st.

Start your neighborhood
Up to 75 homesBigger neighborhood? Tell me in the form and I will take care of it.
Yours again next yearThe same neighborhood comes back each Halloween, free.

I am taking five neighborhoods this Halloween. I build each one by hand, so when those are spoken for I will say so here.

Start your neighborhood

Tell me about your streets and I will come back to you the same day to get your map started. It is free. The only thing I ask is your email, so I can let you know when it is time to light up again.

Open Google Maps, drop a pin in the middle of your neighborhood, tap Share, and paste the link here. This is how I find your streets.

One per line. If part of a street is in and part is out, say so.

Open is how most neighborhoods run it, like a porch light. A password keeps it to the people you give it to. Either way it stays out of search engines, and there is no extra cost. More in sharing and safety.

Steep hills, a cul de sac that does its own thing, a street that never participates, a neighborhood Facebook group I should know about.

I read every one of these myself. If the form will not send, email me at lynsie@roost-studio.com and your answers stay on this page so you can copy them.

Questions

The ones neighbors ask first.

Do neighbors need an app or an account?
No. It is a web link that opens on any phone. No download, no sign up, no name or email asked for. A neighbor taps their address and they are on the map.
Who can see it?
By default, anyone with the link, like a porch light. It is kept out of search engines so it will not turn up on Google, but that is not the same as private. If your neighborhood would rather keep it closed, I can put a password on it. There is more on this in sharing and safety.
Can we password protect it?
Yes, and it costs nothing extra. One password for the whole neighborhood, which you share the way you share anything else on your street. Just ask for it in the form. Most neighborhoods run it open, which is what the demo shows.
What if a house is missing?
Neighbors can add their own house themselves, right on the map. I build the starting list from public address listings, and the streets fill in from there.
What happens after Halloween?
It goes dark at midnight on its own. Nobody has to take anything down. Next year you can relight the same neighborhood, free.
What do you need from me?
Your streets, a Google Maps link to the neighborhood, and your trick or treat hours. That is genuinely it. I build the rest and send you one link to share.
How long does it take?
A few days. Order by October 24 and your map is live a full week before Halloween, which is the time neighbors need to find it and light up.

Sharing and safety

A Coop is built for friends, family and neighbors. Here is the plain version of what that means, with nothing dressed up.

It is a link, not a vaultBy default anyone who has the link can open the map. It is kept out of search engines, which is not the same as private. Treat it like a porch light: visible on purpose, to the people on your street.
You can put a password on itIf your neighborhood would rather keep it closed, say so and I will add one. Everyone uses the same password and you share it with your streets. No extra cost.
No neighbor is ever asked who they areNo account, no name, no email, no phone number. The map holds street addresses and whether a porch is lit. It does not hold anything about the people in the house.
Every neighbor agrees before they use itThe first time someone opens your map, they agree to share it only with trusted friends, family and neighbors. They cannot skip past it.
Roost can switch a Coop offIf a Coop is shared or used in a way that puts people at risk, I reserve the right to turn it off or take it down. I would much rather talk to you first, and I will, but the map is mine to pull if it comes to that.
It ends on its ownEvery Halloween map goes dark at midnight on November 1. Nothing lingers online after the season.

If you are weighing this for a neighborhood with any particular sensitivity, email me and we will talk it through before you pay. lynsie@roost-studio.com