Stranger Things house ‘sells after just one week’ to become themed Airbnb

Will Byers frantically opens the door to his family home in the first episode of Netflix’s Stranger Things. He runs down the carpeted hall, past the chintz wallpaper and chunky retro TV, but no one is home, and the monster is coming.

Like the rest of the programme’s aesthetic, the house, which is home to Will (Noah Schapp), his brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder), drips with 80s nostalgia.

Earlier this month, the house was listed for sale for $300,000 (£265,153.50) — and it has reportedly sold after just a week on the market.

Set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in Stranger Things, the real-life house is based in Fayetteville, a small city on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia.

Approached by a gravel driveway, the 1,846-square foot bungalow recedes into the surrounding woodland, sitting on more than six acres of land.

In the series, we see the house’s walls covered with a scrawled alphabet, as Joyce and Jonathan try to communicate with the missing Will. Joyce later smashes those walls with an axe.

It is where the Byers family and friends meet to plot, where a trap is set to catch the monster, and where the Demogorgon moves between the real world and the Upside Down.

In reality, the property is more sedate. Advertised as a single family residence, there are three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an open-plan kitchen dining room.

Outside, there’s a porch looking out over the garden and an outhouse – the same shack where Will is seized and brought to the Upside Down in the first episode.

Built in 1900, the house’s décor remains old fashioned, with wood panelling and a ceiling fan in the living area. It was advertised as needing “a full rehab”, leading some to baulk at its price. Indeed, property listing website Zillow puts the value as closer to $200,000.

This hasn’t stopped buyers, though. After just a week on the open market, the seller has reportedly accepted an offer on the house from an investor — at above the asking price.

Capitalising on its Netflix fame, the Byers’ home will supposedly be reproduced to create a Stranger Things Airbnb, also featuring parts of the Upside Down.

Earlier this year, Stranger Things broke Netflix’s viewing records for the release of its fourth season, watched for 287 million hours during the premiere weekend.

Since the programme first aired in 2016, the house in Fayetteville has drawn so many visitors that its current owners erected a driveway barricade, as well as private property signs. It even has its own Lego set.

With Halloween on the way, the buyers will hope to get something up and running quicky. The question is: would you stay there?

The property was listed for $300,000 with Michael Smith at EXP Reality LLC.