'Amityville Horror' house back on market, for $1.15M

The real estate listing for the house that went on the market Monday at 108 Ocean Ave. refers to it as a "legendary home," but most people would know the sideways Dutch Colonial on the canal as the so-called Amityville Horror house.

Listed for $1.15 million, the picturesque and pristine home looks very different from the home where Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered six family members as they slept in 1974. The 28 supposedly haunted days in the house experienced by subsequent owners George and Kathleen Lutz spawned the 1977 bestselling Jay Anson book "The Amityville Horror: A True Story" and a series of scary movies about alleged supernatural happenings at the house starting in 1979.

Even the address is different. Previous owners James and Barbara Cromarty, who own the Riverhead Raceway, said they had it changed from 112 Ocean Ave. to protect their privacy.

James Cromarty, 77, bought the house in 1977. By that point, a bank had foreclosed on the house from the Lutzes, who have since died. DeFeo is at the upstate Green Haven Correctional Facility, serving 25 years to life for the murders.

"Nothing weird ever happened, except for people coming by because of the book and the movie," said Cromarty, who lived a decade in the house.

He and his wife, Barbara, sold the house in 1987 to Peter and Jeanne O'Neill. Reached Monday, Jeanne O'Neill said, "I loved it. It was a beautiful home." They sold the house in 1997 for $310,000 to the current owner, which records identify as Brian Wilson.

"It's one of the more beautifully redone houses in the neighborhood," said listing agent Laura Zambratto of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty.

Jerry O'Neill of Coldwell Banker Harbor Light, who has been selling Amityville real estate for 38 years and whose brother, Peter, used to own the house, said he thinks the price is fair. "It's a gorgeous, big center hall Colonial with a finished basement," said O'Neill, with "nothing spooky about it." Neighbors said that there are occasional gawkers, mostly on Halloween.

It's not the only notorious Long Island house on the market. Recently, the East Meadow expanded ranch where serial killer Joel Rifkin used to live, sometimes bringing victims back to the house, was listed for $424,500.

-With Stacey Altherr

108 Ocean Ave., Amityville

Breakout Dutch, colonial, 5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, Renovated boat house, Central air, Gas heating, Deck and patio, Finished basement, Interesting history

ASKING PRICE: $1.15M