As of 2023, the house is owned by an anonymous buyer who purchased the house in 2017. The house was last listed on the market in 2016 for $850,000 and was Realtor.com’s most popular house during the first week of its listing. However, the 5,000 square-foot home was sold just one year on February 2017, when it was purchased by an unnamed buyer for $605,000. In contrast, similar houses along the street go for prices well above a million dollars.
The previous owners of the historic Amityville house were Caroline D’Antonio and her husband. The couple bought the house in 2010 at a discounted price of $950,000 after it was listed for $1.15 million, the highest listed price ever for the haunted house.
It was said that D’Antonio and her husband David chose the house because of its reputed hauntings and popularity. However, with the passing of David in 2015, Caroline decided to downsize and sell the house. The house was put on the market in June 2016 for $850,000 and drew much attention from potential buyers and investors.
After the heinous murders committed by Ronald DeFeo Jr., Amityville House went on to become the home of several families including George and Kathy Lutz (1975), Jim and Barbara Cromarty (1977-1987) , Peter and Jeanne O’Neil (1987-1997), Brian Wilson (1997- 2010), and Caroline and David D’Antonio (2010-2016). At the time of the murder, the house was worth only $75,000.
The Terrifying History of Amityville Horror House
The Amityville House is arguably one of the most famous haunted house in the world, for it was the site of a grisly massacre that shook the nation. It was 3 a.m. in the morning on November 13, 1974, when Ronald Defeo Jr. took a .35 Marlin lever-action rifle and creeped upon his family. Within minutes, Ronald shot and killed his parents, his two younger brother, and then his two younger sisters. However, the heinous murders was only reported at 6:30pm in the evening when Ronald stormed into a local bar named Henry’s Bar and shouted “You have got to help me! I think my mother and father are shot!”
In the investigations that followed, the police were made aware by neighbours that no gunshots were heard, although dogs can be heard barking in the middle of the night. Ronald had initially suggested that the crimes were committed by a mafia hitman Louis Falini. In his initial statement, Ronald alleged that Falini had pointed a gun to his head while shooting his family members with another gun. However, inconsistencies in his accounts of the events as well as mounting evidence against him forced Defeo to confess to the murder of his six family members.
“Once I started, I just couldn’t stop. It went so fast”
– Ronald Defeo Jr. during his confessions to the police
Defeo’s lawyer William Weber eventually pleaded for insanity as a defence, claiming that voices in Defeo’s mind coerced him to commit the murders. However, a psychiatric evaluation of Defeo concluded that while he was a drug user and had displayed antisocial personality disorder, Defeo was well aware of his action at the time of the murder. On November 21, 1975, Ronald was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced with six consecutive sentences of 25 years to life in prison. Defeo passed away on March 21, 2021 at Albany Medical Center; the cause of death was not released to the public.
Soon after the sentencing, the house was auctioned off and sold to George and Kathy Lutz and their three children for $88,000. In December 18, 1975, just a month after Ronald was sentenced, the Lutz family moved in. However, after living in the house for just 28 days, the family of five fled away. In the interviews and reports that followed, George and Kathy Lutz spoke about the paranormal activities that have been happening since the day they had moved in. While the exact details of the ghostly happenings were not revealed, the Lutz family had described it as “too frightening to be living in”.
Soon after news of the Amityville hauntings were published, George and Kathy Lutz were introduced to Tam Mossman, an editor at Prentice Hall publishing firm. The couple eventually worked with Prentice Hall and author Jay Anson to retell the grim events that have happened in the book The Amityville Horror.
Some of the reported paranormal events that have happened during their stay include:
- George and Kathy Lutz claimed to have seen the manifestation of a demon with half of his head blown apart
- The house was infested with flies, in spite of it being the winter season in New York.
- A priest who had came to bless the house alleged heard a disembodied voice screaming “Get out!”
- Missy, dauther of the Lutzes’ family, befriended an entity called Jodie.
- George would wake up at 3:15 a.m. every morning, which was said to be the time when Ronald committed the murders.
- George and Kathy reported hearing the house’s front door slammed shut on its own on multiple occasions. However, the door was also kept closed during the December winter season.
- A crucifix that hanged on the wall kept turning upside down in spite of being turned upright by George and Kathy
- Kathy Lutz would have repeated visions of the murders by Ronald Defeo Jr.
The book went on to become the basis of the 1979 film The Amityville Horror as well as a series of movies that spawned soon after, including Amityville II: The Possession (1982), Amityville 3-D (1983), the 2005 remake The Amityville Horror. Several books have also been written as sequels of the original novel by Jay Anson. This includes Murder in Amityville (1979), The Amityville Horror Part II (1982), and Amityville: The Final Chapter (1982). In spite of the horrific past of the Amityville house, it has continued to captivate tourists and buyers who flock to the house for its hauntings. Yet, the very thing that has kept tourists coming was the over-dramatized events exaggerated by the books and Hollywood films.
The house and its history was also the backdrop for the well-claimed “The Conjuring 2”, which was the top-grossing film during its opening weekend in June 2016.
Where is Amityville House Now?
The Amityville Horror house’s original address was 112 Ocean Avenue (also shown as 110 Ocean Avenue on Google Maps). In 1977, the release of author Jay Anson’s The Amityville Horror book and the subsequent series of horror films attracted throngs of tourists to Amityville in search of the infamous hatuned house. To deter or rather, confuse tourists visiting the area, the address of Amityville House was deliberately changed to 108 Ocean Avenue.
Over the years, the appearance of the house have also been altered to some extent, including changes to its iconic windows and a new paint job to make it less recognizable.
The large volume of searches on Google Map on Amityville House have forced homeowners staying along Ocean Avenue to lodge a formal complaint to Google for the invasion of privacy. As a result, the original Amityville House as well as properties along Ocean Avenue were blurred out to protect the privacy of homeowners living in the area; an aerial view of the house can still be viewed with Google Map’s satellite view. Amityville House was also removed as a local attraction on Google Maps to prevent users from identifying the exact location of the property.
