The abandoned farmhouse at 220 Middlesex Turnpike served as exteriors for the 1971 film, “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death” which was filmed in the Connecticut River region. Photo courtesy of the town of Old Saybrook

The 124-acre property sits next to an Interstate 95 off-ramp in Old Saybrook, a town of 10,000 known for its picturesque beaches and historic homes.

As expected, the 220 Middlesex Turnpike parcel’s size and location have generated interest from multiple developers since a June 4 auction was recently scheduled, said Justin Manning, president of J.J. Manning Auctioneers. But it’s the property’s connection to an early 1970s horror movie that’s adding an extra layer of interest in the pending sale.

“Social media is blowing up on this, as you can imagine,” Manning said.

The only structure on the property, a vacant farmhouse with an appropriately foreboding exterior, was featured in the 1971 psychological thriller “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death.”

Director John Hancock used the Connecticut River and shoreline regions as the setting for his film about a troubled young woman who moves with her husband to a rural farmhouse, but can’t escape her demons. Other scenes were filmed in Essex, Chester, Lyme and East Haddam.

The gable and hip-roofed farmhouse was built in the late 19th century. For nearly a century, it’s been owned by the Pointkowski family, which had listed the property through broker Michael Hvizdo of Coldwell Banker Real Estate in Glastonbury, most recently with an asking price of $2.95 million.

Hvizdo recently partnered with J.J. Manning Co., a Yarmouth, Massachusetts auction house, to accelerate the sale process. The firm has received multiple inquiries from developers, primarily for a residential project, Manning said.

Approximately half of the site is buildable uplands, Manning estimated.

“125 acres is a ton of land and Old Saybrook is a prime, central location,” Manning said.

Town Official Supports Development

Town officials are monitoring the potential sale and changes under new ownership.

The property is located in Old Saybrook’s Residence AA-1 zoning district, which permits single-family homes and has minimum 40,000 square-foot lot sizes. A row of car dealerships is located on the opposite side of Middlesex Turnpike.

After nearly a century under family ownership, a 124-acre parcel near Interstate 95 in Old Saybrook heads to auction in late spring. Image courtesy of J.J. Manning Auctioneers

“We would encourage housing, especially with an affordability component. We would also welcome commercial, but that would be controlled by zoning,” Old Saybrook First Selectman Carl Fortuna Jr. said in an email.

Major housing developments have been rare in Old Saybrook in recent decades. The vast majority of the town’s housing stock is single-family homes, which comprise 87 percent of the total inventory, according to Old Saybrook’s 2023 Plan of Conservation and Development.

The largest undeveloped parcel, the 963-acre Preserve on the border of Old Saybrook, Essex and Westbrook, was placed under conservation restrictions in 2015 following acquisitions by the town of Old Saybrook, Essex Land Trust and state of Connecticut.

Multifamily housing developers would have the option of pursuing approvals through Chapter 8-30g, Connecticut’s affordable housing zoning law. The statute allows multifamily development to override local zoning regulations if at least 30 percent of the units in a project are set aside as income-restricted.

Manning said the auction could attract regional or national developers, because of the scarcity of similarly sized parcels in the shoreline area. Previous listings by Coldwell Banker suggested such uses as a conference center and hotel, apartments or a senior living facility.

“When you come off the highway, it’s right on the main drag, so it’s a really prime location,” Manning said. “We think there’s going to be some good competition in an auction, where you’ve got different groups with different ideas [for development]. We’re going to get hammered with questions from people who want to know exactly what they can do.”