No one will buy Buffalo Bill's house from The Silence of the Lambs
Apparently putting lotions in baskets doesn't top the average homebuyer's hobby list.
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Your support makes all the difference.The house utilised as the location of serial killer Buffalo Bill's lair in The Silence of the Lambs is failing to sell.
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb (Ted Levine)'s imprisonment and torture of a U.S senator's daughter forms the central spark point which spurs FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) to seek the aid of the notorious, imprisoned killer Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins). She's eventually discovered in Gumb's spacious basement, trapped in a dry well underneath the house; held there as a future, unwilling participant to his plans to build a suit from the skin of his female victims.
Disturbing stuff. Which may explain why the otherwise beautiful Pennsylvania home of Scott and Barbara Lloyd just won't sell; their exterior, hall, and dining room were all used as filming locations for the thriller.
Indeed, though the property is listed as "oozing with charm", it jokingly references that the property is "complete with the pit and Precious [Bill's dog]. too!". Don't worry, there's no torture basement lurking underneath the stairs. The entire sequence was, in fact, shot on a sound stage and the property's real basement was left unused.
You'd think the chance to own a piece of Hollywood history would attract its fair share of interest, and it's no surprise the property was the second-most viewed on realtor.com in the past year.
Unfortunately, interest doesn't always translate to a purchase, as senior editor of the site, Erik Gunther, told the Telegraph; "The fact that a home gets a ton of publicity doesn't necessarily add up to a quick sale. Just because I want to gawk at something doesn't mean I want to buy it." A shame, as it's a gorgeous property on its own merit; built in 1910, the house still includes many of its original furnishings as well as period wallpaper.
Though initially put up for sale last summer, the couple has since been forced to reduce the asking price from $300,000 to $250,000. That said, Gunther stated there are other factors potentially involved, in particular its rural location in Layton, a hamlet with fewer than 50 inhabitants; "You hear the mantra: Location, location, location. Even though it's got notoriety, location still is a big deal."
The couple originally bought the property in 1977, and were married shortly afterwards in the foyer of their own home. Barbara Lloyd described the move to a local news outlet as "rather bittersweet."
"We got married in this home, we raised our son in this home, but we are ready to move on,” she stated. The couple is planning to relocate to a ranch home they're currently constructing nearby.
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