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How a Tampa man turned his house into a Disney shrine
Bruce Michaud lives in a quiet, deed-restricted community. Muscovy ducks plod through manicured lawns, past homes with neutral paint and American flags swinging in the breeze. The exterior of his gray house blends in with the rest.
Culture & Entertainment
TAMPA – Bruce Michaud lives in a quiet, deed-restricted community. Muscovy ducks plod through manicured lawns, past homes with neutral paint and American flags swinging in the breeze. The exterior of his gray house blends in with the rest.
You would never suspect the Disney explosion inside.
Michaud opened the door, extending an arm covered in a Tower of Terror tattoo. His other limbs were encased in more Disney ink: a Space Mountain car on the front of his left leg, along with Angelina Jolie’s mug as Maleficent on his calf.
Behind him, four mannequins decked out in Haunted Mansion uniforms stood sentry in the front hall. The chorus of “It’s a Small World” played over loudspeakers.
Nearly every room is lovingly decorated with its own Disney theme. This is what happens when you hang onto a childhood dream long enough to bankroll it.
“It took me like 10 years,” said Michaud, 59, with a laugh.
Michaud grew up on fantasy, spending hours watching the “Wonderful World of Disney” in his Stamford, Connecticut, home. When he was a kid, his family drove down to Florida for the grand opening of Disney World.
“I was into the design work, into the detail work, the little bricks they put in front of the Haunted Mansion,” he said. “I thought at that time, ‘If I ever get my own house, I’m going to design it like Disney,’” he said.
After Michaud’s father was transferred to North Tampa, their family started taking regular trips to the parks. Later, Michaud got jobs working for the Mouse: In a Disney call center, as a security guard and driving the buses. He even did some designing and Imagineering. And at the end of each work day, he watched the night show at Magic Kingdom.
“Working at Disney was the greatest thing,” he said.
He was making enough to buy a house in North Tampa, but his first wife didn’t share his vision for living Disney.
“The whole house was white and I couldn’t paint a wall,” he said.
They divorced a decade ago. He got on a stepladder and started DIYing the day she moved out.
Michaud doesn’t have a house or car payment. He has lived in this 1,600 square-foot home for more than 30 years. Back then, he paid about $80,000 to build it (It’s worth roughly half a million now.) There are three bedrooms, plus an office and two bathrooms. Most are stuffed with memorabilia, replicas and costumes.