The iconic house featured in the 1979 file The Amityville Horror is up for sale, but potential buyers don’t need to worry about evil spirits.
The local landmark, located in Toms River, NJ, is listed for $1.7 million and has a pending offer already. That’s a big jump from the $350,000 it sold for in 2013.
The owners have listed the property twice before, both times in 2013, but removed it from the market (which was probably a good idea, as the asking price then was $950,000).
While this property might be the home most people identify with the horror classic, it’s not the actual house that inspired the book and film. That home, where Ronald DeFeo killed his parents and four siblings (claiming at his trial that voices in the house convinced him to do so), is located on Long Island. The Amityville Horror story does not focus on DeFeo, but rather the Lutz family, which moved in afterward and claimed it was haunted. (Skeptics claim the story is entirely fictional.)
That property was last sold in 2017 for $605,000.
The Amityville movie home in New Jersey, built in 1920, is anything but haunted. It’s a four-level house with four bedrooms, three full baths and 2 half-baths. It has a custom kitchen, according to the listing, that includes a center island and an eat-in area with bar. The fully furnished basement also includes a wet bar and the home has water views along with an in-ground pool and spa.
It spans 3,866 square feet on a lot that’s a little shy of a half-acre.
Homes featured in films and television shows tend to draw a premium from buyers, even if the market is a bit rough. Three years ago, the house that was featured as the setting for The Beverly Hillbillies sold for roughly $150 million, making it the most expensive home sale in California history at the time.
