By: Darae Lyles

The lonely Rhode Island country home located in Harrisville, about 40 miles from Providence, that inspired the film “The Conjuring” is now for sale. Cory and Jennifer Heinzen, current owners of the 3,100 square foot residence have listed the estate for $1.2-million. 

The couple, who call themselves “paranormal investigators,” purchased the notorious property, also known as “The Arnold Estate”, in June of 2019 and has been living and investigating it ever since. The home has been a huge attraction since the film came out and the owners have created a business of allowing travelers to tour the residence. 

The home gained popularity when the Perron Family, had discovered it in 1970. Moving in with five daughters, the family started to experience supernatural occurrences which resulted in them hiring the infamous paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren. These events consisted of lights flashing, footsteps, knocks on walls, and doors closing on their own. 

The family claimed they were haunted by the ghost of Bathsheba Thayer, a witch whose spirit took over the home. The estate was also associated with many violent acts such as murder, rape, drowning, and suicide. Carolyn Perron, the mother of the family, stated she was visited by a woman dressed in grey with her “head hanging by her side” telling her to leave or else she would face the consequences. 

Bethsheba Thayer lived in the home during the 19th century with her four children of which three of them died. Thayer supposedly sacrificed her last child to Satan by stabbing it in the back of the neck. Carolyn Perron had an incident where she shared similar wounds as the child who was sacrificed centuries back. Was this just a coincidence or does the supernatural actually exist? 

When asked to interview about the home, the Heinzen family politely declined and said they “really don’t want to do any more interviews about this.” However, in a Facebook Live broadcast on September 23, 2021, the couple stated that selling the house was “not an easy decision for us,” said Jennifer Heinzen. “It’s less of a house now and more of work, even when we’re off, we’re not off,” said Cory Heinzen.  

“People don’t respect our property,” said the husband while talking about trespassers that would come onto the estate at night. When discussing the selling price, Jennifer Heinzen stated “that was the realtor. That was him looking at what the business has started since we opened it last year”  

The couple has gone through various troubles since opening the business to the world and believes they are “not good at this… it’s a lot bigger than what we thought it was going to be” says Ms. Heinzen. 

The couple also stated that “everything [the tourist bookings] is going to continue through 2022.” They said, however, if they are not able to find a ‘perfect buyer,’ they will not sell. When speaking about the potential new buyer, Mr. Heinzen affirmed that from his understanding, “it will be in writing” that the buyer must honor the house’s current obligations to tourists.