Another chapter being written about 'The Conjuring House' in Harrisville
BURRILLVILLE, R.I. (WJAR) — There's another chapter being written in the long sordid history of that Harrisville, Rhode Island house, made famous in the movie "The Conjuring."
It's for sale, again, just two years after it was bought, this time for three times as much.
In 2019, paranormal enthusiast Cory Heinzen of Maine purchased the notorious house built in 1736, on Old Round Top Road in Harrisville, Rhode Island, for just under $440,000.
In an interview last year, Heinzen told NBC 10 about the "goings-on" he said he's experienced there.
"It's been very busy, doors opening and closing on their own, footsteps, knocking, the disembodied voices."
It's now on the market through Sotheby's for $1.2 million.
Andrea Perron penned a trilogy of books, "House of Darkness, House of Light," starting in 2011, documenting what she says were her family's experiences living there for 10 years starting in 1970.
"Frankly, if I had the money I'd buy it myself just to protect it," said Perron, in a video phone interview, after hearing the news of the sale. "That was always my dream to someday have the farm back, but not to live in the farm, I don't want to live there."
The release of the first Conjuring movie in 2013, in production that coincided with Perron’s first self-published book, is the embellished story based on Ed & Lorraine Warren's factual account of their investigation of alleged hauntings on the premises.
None of the Heinzens were available to talk on camera Thursday, but told The Wall Street Journal they're selling the house due to Cory's health and the stress of running the business.
Perron said, "We went through that, my father wanted to stay, some of us, some of the kids, wanted to stay, some wanted to go. My mother wanted to go. It kind of emotionally fractured our family."
The Heinzens are reportedly completely booked through 2022 hosting paranormal events, and bed and breakfast rentals by the curious. They went on to tell The Wall Street Journal they're looking for a buyer who will continue to run the enterprise they started.
In a 2019, interview on NBC 10, Jennifer Heinzen recalled some of her experiences, seeing what she called paranormal events, like in a room one night, "the head, the shoulders, but a black shadow. To me, it reminded me of 'Slender Man.' It was just kind of creepy, but it was exciting."
There's money to be made in stories of things that go bump in the night. The Conjuring movie franchise and spinoffs have grossed more than $2 billion world-wide. The notorious Lizzie Borden house in Fall River recently sold for nearly 1.9 million.
Andrea's in pre-production on her own movies based on her books and family's experiences, but she's concerned after having a great working relationship with the Heinzens, "now that it's on the market again, you don't know who's going to come along and what their intentions are."