Est. 1736 · Colonial New England Farmstead · Perron Family Case (1971-1980) · Warren Investigation Archive · Conjuring Film Franchise
The Old Arnold Estate is a center-chimney colonial farmhouse built in 1736 on what is now Round Top Road in the village of Harrisville, within the town of Burrillville, Rhode Island. The property remained in the Arnold family for multiple generations across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and passed through several subsequent owners before the Perron family purchased it in 1970.
Roger and Carolyn Perron and their five daughters lived in the house from January 1971 through June 1980. Carolyn Perron published a three-volume memoir, House of Darkness House of Light, that documents the family's experiences. The accounts brought the Perron family into contact with paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren of Monroe, Connecticut, whose subsequent investigation of the property contributed to the Warren Occult Museum archive.
The 2013 film The Conjuring, directed by James Wan and starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, drew on the Warren case files concerning the Perron family. The film's commercial success generated sustained public interest in the property, which had been privately owned and held closed to public access throughout the Perron tenure and the decades that followed.
The house changed hands again in 2019 and was purchased by Boston developer Jacqueline Nuñez in 2022. Nuñez opened a commercial paranormal program including daytime tours, guided investigations, and overnight bookings. Within a year, disputes with former staff, legal filings, and concerns from town officials about permitting and safety compliance produced significant friction with the surrounding community.
On November 20, 2024, the Burrillville Town Council voted not to renew the property's entertainment license, citing missing paperwork and unapproved uses. The tour program ended on November 30. Ticket revenue ceased, and the mortgage went into default in early 2025. The foreclosure auction was called off after sale of the mortgage note. A deed selling the property to Jason Hawes for $1.3 million was accepted by the town on June 15, 2026, while related court cases remained pending. Public access at the time of this writing is limited to roadside view; visitors should not enter the property.
Sources
- https://www.conjuringhouses.com/about
- https://www.rimonthly.com/conjuring-house/
- https://matadornetwork.com/read/conjuring-house/
- https://spellcasterghosttours.com/conjuring-house/
- https://www.americanghostwalks.com/the-conjuring-house-is-the-haunting-real
- https://usghostadventures.com/haunted-stories/the-conjuring-house-the-true-story-rarely-told/
- https://bostonghosts.com/the-conjuring-house/
- https://www.lemon8-app.com/@paranormal.curiosity/7461883759604843051?region=us
- https://allthatsinteresting.com/conjuring-house
- https://www.hauntedalmanac.com/houses-mansions/unearth-the-haunting-secrets-of-the-harrisville-farmhouse-in-rhode-island/
ApparitionsPhantom voicesObject movementDoors opening/closingCold spotsEVPTouching/pushingShadow figures
Carolyn Perron's published account describes a sustained pattern of phenomena across the family's nine-year tenancy, with reports concentrated in the home's earliest months and the cellar spaces. Documented experiences include the figure of a woman in nineteenth-century dress observed in the upstairs bedrooms, doors opening and closing without apparent cause, beds shaken during the early morning hours, and the displacement of household objects between rooms.
The family's accounts identified the principal figure as a previous resident named Bathsheba Sherman. Subsequent historical research on Sherman has produced a contested record; she was a real nineteenth-century resident of the surrounding area, but specific claims about her practices attached to the property by the Perron narrative are not independently documented. The story should be treated as the Perron family's experiential account rather than as verified Sherman biography.
The Warrens' 1973 investigation of the property is among the cases preserved in their files. The Warren investigation produced the Annabelle and Amityville cases as well; the Perron case became the central source material for the 2013 Conjuring film. The film significantly altered specific events and chronology while preserving the broad outlines of the Warren report.
During the Nuñez tour program from 2022 through 2024, visiting paranormal investigators reported phantom voices in the cellar, equipment battery drain, photographs containing shapes interpreted as figures, and EVP recordings cited in tour-program promotional material. The investigation findings published during that period are not independently peer-reviewed and should be treated as marketing material rather than as research output.
A deed selling the property to Jason Hawes for $1.3 million was accepted by the town on June 15, 2026; related court cases remained pending; check with the owners before planning a visit.
Notable Entities
Bathsheba Sherman
Media Appearances
- The Conjuring (2013, dir. James Wan)
- Travel Channel paranormal programming
- House of Darkness House of Light (Carolyn Perron memoir)
