The Rhode Island farmhouse that inspired the 2013 horror film "The Conjuring" is scheduled for a mortgagee’s foreclosure auction on Oct. 31, according to a listing by JJManning Auctioneers and confirmation from Burrillville town officials. The listing described the 18th-century, 8.5-acre property as "an antique farmhouse that has become famous for historical paranormal sightings and activity."
The property, at 1677 Round Top Road in the Harrisville section of Burrillville, last changed hands in 2022 when Bale Fire LLC, controlled by Boston developer Jacqueline Nuñez, purchased it for $1.525 million, land records show. The auction is listed as a mortgagee’s foreclosure sale, meaning the lender is seeking to seize the property after a loan default.
Nuñez, who has described herself as a medium, converted the farmhouse into a ghost-tourism business offering overnight stays and paranormal investigations that drew visitors from across the globe. The house became widely known because the Perron family’s reported experiences there in the 1970s were investigated by Ed and Lorraine Warren, the case files of which helped inspire the Warner Bros. film franchise.
Controversy and legal trouble have shadowed the property since Nuñez’s acquisition. In August 2023, local reporting said Nuñez fired her property manager after she told police that the spirit of former owner John Arnold had accused the worker of stealing. The dismissal triggered legal claims over unpaid wages and led other former employees to allege mistreatment. Burrillville officials revoked the site’s entertainment license in November 2023, citing irregularities in the application, safety concerns and strained interactions with police, but tours reportedly continued despite the revocation and some visitors later demanded refunds.
By summer 2025, mortgage payments faltered and the lender moved toward foreclosure, according to the auction listing and local reporting. Nuñez did not respond to requests for comment Friday, and JJManning Auctioneers did not immediately return messages seeking additional details about the sale.
The house has remained a magnet for both believers and skeptics. Visitors have reported shadows, whispers and sudden temperature drops during tours and overnight stays, while critics and some local officials have described elements of the property’s operation as commercial promotion of legend. The 2013 film dramatized the Perron family’s accounts and helped cement the location’s status as one of the most famous alleged haunted houses in the United States.
The auction listing and the fall sale date have also drawn interest from public personalities who collect paranormal properties. Comedian Matt Rife and YouTuber Elton Castee, who jointly own the Connecticut home once belonging to Ed and Lorraine Warren, have campaigned openly to acquire the Burrillville farmhouse. Rife said last month that, as a fan of the paranormal, film and the site’s history, it would be an "honor to help preserve its beauty." Representatives for Rife and Castee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Local officials and some neighbors have complained in recent years about safety and management at the property. After the entertainment license was revoked, town leaders cited concerns about proper permitting, crowd control and whether events on the site met local code requirements. Those concerns factored into the public scrutiny that followed the property through legal disputes and negative press coverage.
The Warren investigations of the 1970s and the Perron family’s allegations remain the primary historical touchpoints linking the farmhouse to the film and to the broader cultural fascination with hauntings. The couple’s files and the Perron accounts were adapted for the screen, and the cinematic depiction amplified tourism interest in the real house, turning it into a commercial destination for horror fans and paranormal investigators.
Prospective bidders at the auction will confront a property that has accrued a complicated public record: its cinematic fame, contested paranormal claims, municipal regulatory action and a recent mortgage default. The sale will transfer ownership through the foreclosure process unless the lender withdraws the listing or the borrower resolves the default before Oct. 31. JJManning Auctioneers’ listing is the latest public step in a process that could conclude on Halloween, a date that local officials and members of the public noted is particularly resonant for a property wrapped in ghost lore.
Warner Bros., the Perron family and the late Warrens are part of the public narrative surrounding the house; the studio and representatives of the film did not have an ownership stake in the physical property. Nuñez, JJManning Auctioneers and the public figures who have expressed interest in purchasing the site did not return immediate requests for additional comment.