Buffalo Bill never told Clarice that he had a nice big pool in the back.
To be fair, the fictional serial killer and main villain of the 1991 horror and thriller “Silence of the Lambs” was busy doing other, more terrible things.
But for fans of the scary classic, released 30 years ago this Valentine’s Day, the home where FBI agent Clarice Starling finally captured Buffalo Bill will not only be available for the tour – you can spend the night.
“It was really something to witness, to take a look at the realtor,” said Chris Rowan, a New York native, art director and object stylist who recently bought the house at 8 Circle St. in Perry Township, Fayette County.
Rowan is turning this into an inn, albeit with a sordid (fictional) past.
If the façade and entrance of the film were not recognized, the 1910 house is absolutely stunning, with a wraparound porch, carved details in dark wood, vintage patterned wallpaper, a living room, several fireplaces and pocket doors.
“It’s really impressive,” said Rowan. “The style is a Victorian Queen Anne style, 2,400 square feet with four full bedrooms.”
And, of course, right after the cozy kitchen, there is a slightly less ornate staircase that goes down to the basement where, in the film, Buffalo Bill has a young girl trapped at the bottom of a well.
But despite a sinister-looking ring in the basement, scenes depicting Bill’s underground lair were filmed elsewhere.
That didn’t stop Rowan, 39, from considering a minor basement makeover, however.
“With my experience as an art director and object stylist, I intend to recreate the well, manufacture it and install it,” he said. “I’m not going to dig deep, but I want to install something along the lines of the film and give fans a unique photo opportunity.”
It’s almost too good to believe, but Rowan bought the house from a real ex-FBI agent.
For seller David Villareal, the house was more about its location than its “ex-tenant”.
“From the balcony, you can watch canoeists and canoeists (on the Youghiogheny River),” said Villareal when he put the house up for sale last fall. “It is heaven on earth.”
And if Clarice Starling had snuck into the house through the back door, she might have had the opportunity to see the large underground pool in the backyard, along with the vintage railroad car near the tracks that frame part of the property.
“I was told that this particular wagon was related to cargo in its day, around the middle of the century, and it worked on this line,” said Rowan. “At the end of the day, we would like to turn it into a kind of pool house.”
On Saturday, Rowan took a brief media tour of the house, just in time for the film’s 30th anniversary.
“Silence of the Lambs” was released on Valentine’s Day 1991.
And while it may not be most people’s idea of a good night movie, his scary story, Jodie Foster’s confident turn as an FBI Starling intern, and Sir Anthony Hopkins’s brilliant portrait of the extremely educated cannibal Hannibal Lecter elevated the film very much. beyond your gender.
“It stopped being a film to really be part of pop culture,” said Rowan. “Sketches are still made about it and it is still relevant today.”
Rowan is organizing a contest to choose who will be the first to spend the night at the newly named Buffalo Bill’s House. Anyone interested can log in via the social media links at BuffaloBillsHouse.com until February 26th. A winner will be announced in March, and Rowan hopes to begin regular bookings “in a few months”.
“The house really maintained its aesthetic from the film itself,” he said. “It wasn’t bad visuals that Buffalo Bill kept him, but all the places where he and Jodie Foster interacted are exactly as you remember.”
For more information, see BuffaloBillsHouse.com. Or, if you want the first date to be the last, rent “Silence of the Lambs”.
Patrick Varine is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Patrick at 724-850-2862, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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