As a young woman noted at the beginning of The Conjuring, “It scares us just thinking about it.”
She was talking about the elements that went into the film. But that statement also applies to the real estate price wars that are driving housing toward the sky throughout the country. In Rhode Island, that means that the early 19th century house that inspired the horror film (but wasn’t shot there) fetched a price 27% above asking, selling recently for $1.52 million.
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For the uninitiated, the 2013 horror film The Conjuring is a fictionalized account of the Perron family and their work with paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The house has a history of murder, rape and suicide. Apparently that’s not enough to dissuade buyers in this over-heated market: the property’s listing says it’s rumored to be haunted by the spirit of Bathsheba Sherman, who resided there in the 19th century.
The 3,109-square-foot house is located at 1677 Round Top Road in Burrillville, RI. The sellers were paranormal investigators Jenn and Cory Heinzen, and they profited handsomely on the deal. They purchased the home for $439,000 in 2019.
The Heinzen’s allegedly spent four months keeping themselves to one room as “a sign of respect for the spirits, letting them get used to us instead of barging in,” they told the Wall Street Journal at the time of listing.
Still, they were paid a visit by a black-colored figure.
“Once we realized we were both awake and both seeing it, it was gone,” Cory Heinzen told the Journal. The pair also have heard footsteps and knocks — and have even seen flashes of light in rooms that don’t have lights in them.
The Journal reported that the new owner is a Boston real-estate developer named Jacqueline Nuñez, 58. She was one of more than 10 offers on the property. She agreed to meet one unique demand of the sellers: not living in the home for the buyer’s own good.
“This is a very personal purchase for me,” Nuñez, who was represented by Ricardo Rodriguez and Bethany Eddy of Coldwell Banker Realty in Providence, told the Journal. “When it hit the market, I thought, ‘This is a property that enables people to speak to the dead.’”
Nuñez says she will host events at the house with the Perron family.
“I’m not afraid of the house,” Nuñez told the Journal. She nervously added, “Ask me again in a year.”
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