(Source) Calls poured in from the Huffington Post, National Public Radio and the Wall Street Journal when Scott and Barbara Lloyd’s home hit the market last summer, but none of the calls resulted in a sale. Their three-story Victorian in Fayette County was used as Buffalo Bill’s torture lair in the 1991 thriller “The Silence of the Lambs.”
It was the second-most clicked home on realtor.com in 2015, so why won’t it sell?
“The fact that a home gets a ton of publicity doesn’t necessarily add up to a quick sale,” said Erik Gunther, a senior editor and unique home expert at realtor.com. “Just because I want to gawk at something doesn’t mean I want to buy it.” The Lloyds live in Layton, a remote village of fewer than 50 people about an hour south of Pittsburgh. If the home weren’t in such an isolated location, it would have a better chance of selling, Gunther said.
“You hear the mantra: Location, location, location. … Even though it’s got notoriety, location still is a big deal,” he said. Another deal-breaker is the limited indoor plumbing. The home has four bedrooms and a finished attic but only one bathroom. “If I can buy a (three-bed, two-bath) up the road that’s around the same price, why would I buy something that’s a (four-bed, one-bath) just because it was ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ house?’” Gunther said.
The Lloyds listed their home for $300,000 in August but dropped the price to $250,000 in December. When the home went up for sale, their Realtor, Dianne Wilk of RE/MAX Select Realty, fielded calls from across the country. But most were from journalists, not interested homebuyers. “We know there are people interested,” Wilk said, “but it comes down to who wants a home like that?” The Lloyds’ foyer and dining room appeared in the Academy Award-winning film, but the house doesn’t have a dungeon in the basement, as in the movie. That was filmed on a sound stage.
The couple have owned the home since 1976. A movie producer knocked on their door in 1989 while scouting locations for the film. Once they retired, the Lloyds decided to downsize. They are building a ranch-style home a few miles from Layton. They hope the price reduction will generate more leads. “We got the message out to the curious, but not to the people who are interested in actually buying,” Scott Lloyd said. “We’re finally starting to get a little bit of motion.”
Fuck buying this house and moving into it with your own free will, you would have to pay me millions of dollars to live in it. I don’t care if Buffalo Bill is a fictional character, that shit 100% haunts that house to this day.
Phantom butterflies flying around, faint screams coming from the basement. These people might pretend their house is totally fine and a great bargain but anyone with a brain knows better. And I love that they were randomly chosen by a movie producer scouting locations. Probably thought it would be so cool to have their house in a major film. People would think it’s so neat when you tell them the story of the fun movie that took place IN YOUR HOUSE! Then you go to the theaters and realize they used your house for a dude tucking his penis between his legs asking if he would fuck himself. Fun times.
PS
Gotta love the real estate agent. Yeah bud, it’s total the location and not the fact that people see this house and immediately think of a woman being tortured in 20 foot hole in the basement.
“You hear the mantra: Location, location, location. … Even though it’s got notoriety, location still is a big deal,” he said.
