'Silence of the Lambs' turns 30 — celebrate by spending the night in 'Buffalo Bill's house'

Buffalo Bill never told Clarice he had a nice big pool out back.

To be fair, the fictional serial killer and main villain in the 1991 thriller-horror film “The Silence of the Lambs” was busy doing other, more terrible things.

But for fans of the frightening classic, released 30 years ago this Valentine’s Day, the house where FBI Agent Clarice Starling finally caught Buffalo Bill will not just be available to tour — you’ll be able to spend the night.

“It was just really something to witness, doing the walk-through with the Realtor,” said Chris Rowan, a New York City native, art director and prop stylist who recently bought the house at 8 Circle St. in Perry Township, Fayette County.

Rowan is turning it into a bed and breakfast, albeit one with a (fictional) sordid past.

If one didn’t recognize the facade and entryway from the film, the 1910 home is otherwise absolutely gorgeous, with a wraparound porch, ornate dark wood-carved appointments, vintage patterned wallpaper, a parlor, multiple fireplaces and pocket doors.

“It’s really stunning,” Rowan said. “The style is a Queen Anne Victorian, 2,400 square feet with four full bedrooms.”

And of course, just beyond the cozy kitchen is a slightly less-ornate staircase leading down to the basement where, in the film, Buffalo Bill has a young woman trapped at the bottom of a well.

But despite an ominous-looking ring on the basement floor, the scenes depicting Bill’s subterranean lair were filmed elsewhere.

That’s not stopping Rowan, 39, from considering a little basement renovation, however.

“With my background as an art director and prop stylist, I plan to recreate the well, have it fabricated and installed,” he said. “I’m not going to dig into the earth, but I want to install something along the lines of the film and give fans a pretty unique photo opportunity.”

It’s almost too good to believe, but Rowan bought the house from an actual former FBI agent.

For seller David Villareal, the home was more about its location than its “former tenant.”

“From the porch, you can watch kayakers and canoers (on the Youghiogheny River),” Villareal said when he put the house on the market last fall. “It’s paradise on earth.”

And if Clarice Starling had sneaked in the house through the back door, she might have had occasion to see the large in-ground pool in the backyard, along with the vintage railroad caboose near the railroad tracks that frame part of the property.

“I was told this particular caboose was cargo-related in its day, circa mid-century, and ran on this line,” Rowan said. “Ultimately, we’d like to turn it into sort of a pool house.”

On Saturday, Rowan hosted a short media tour of the home, just in time for the film’s 30th anniversary.

“Silence of the Lambs” was released on Valentine’s Day 1991.

And while it might not be most folks’ idea of a good date night movie, its frightening story, Jodie Foster’s confident turn as FBI trainee Starling, and Sir Anthony Hopkins’ brilliant portrayal of supremely polite cannibal Hannibal Lecter, have elevated the film far beyond its genre.

“It has transcended from being a film to really a part of pop culture,” Rowan said. “Skits are still done about it, and it’s still relevant today.”

Rowan is hosting a contest to choose who will be first to spend the night at the newly christened Buffalo Bill’s House. Anyone interested can enter via the social media links at BuffaloBillsHouse.com through Feb. 26. A winner will be announced in March, and Rowan hopes to begin regular bookings “in a few months.”

“The home really did maintain its aesthetics from the film itself,” he said. “It’s not in the visually poor condition that Buffalo Bill kept it in, but all the places where he and Jodie Foster interacted are just the way you remember.”

For more, see BuffaloBillsHouse.com. Or, if you’re looking to make your first date your last date, rent “Silence of the Lambs.”