Buffalo Bill's house from The Silence of the Lambs struggling to find buyer - Action News
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Buffalo Bill's house from The Silence of the Lambs struggling to find buyer

A Pennsylvania couple is struggling to sell a house used as the home of psychotic killer Buffalo Bill in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.

Home not exactly as depicted in film: namely, there's no dungeon in the basement

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says it wants to create a museum in the Perryopolis, Pa. house used as the home of psychotic killer Buffalo Bill in 1991's The Silence of the Lambs. (Keith Srakocic/Associated Press)

A Pennsylvania couple is struggling to sell a house used as the home of psychotic killer Buffalo Bill in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.

Scott and Barbara Lloyd listed the house last summer, but they've dropped the asking price from $300,000 US to $250,000.

Jodie Foster won an Oscar for her turn as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs. (Ken Regan/Orion Pictures/Associated Press)

The three-story Victorian in Layton was the second-most clicked home on Realtor.com last year, but Scott Lloyd told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Reviewthat the publicity has attracted curiosity seekers, but no serious buyers.

"We're finally starting to see a little bit of motion," Lloyd said.

The home's location in a tiny village about an hour's drive southeast of Pittsburgh works against it. So does the fact that it has only one bathroom to go with its four bedrooms.

"Even though it's got notoriety, location still is a big deal," said Erik Gunther, a senior editor and expert on unique homes for Realtor.com.

Not exactly as depicted

The foyer and dining room were depicted in the film, but no, there's no dungeon pit in the basement where the killer played by Ted Levine kept his victims before killing and skinning them. Those grisly scenes were filmed on a soundstage.

A film crew spent three days shooting in the home near Perryopolis. The Lloyds are selling the house, where they raised their son, because they're downsizing into a ranch-style home they're building a few miles away.

Just because I want to gawk at something doesn't mean I want to buy it.- ErikGunther, Realtor.com

A couple months after buying the home, the Lloyds were married Feb. 13, 1977, in the foyer where Levine's character first meets the FBI agent portrayed by Jodie Foster.

Anthony Hopkins won an Academy Award for playing Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a crazed, cannibalistic psychiatrist whose macabre clues help rookie Agent Clarice Starling track down and kill Buffalo Bill in his home. Foster also won an Oscar.

"The fact that a home gets a ton of publicity doesn't necessarily add up to a quick sale," Gunther said.

"Just because I want to gawk at something doesn't mean I want to buy it."

The doorway and stairs to the basement of the house doesn't really lead to a dungeon. The basement scenes from the film were shot on a soundstage. (Keith Srakocic/Associated Press)