Amityville Horror house?

A typical Crystal Lane home

I loved the neighborhood I grew up in. It really couldn’t have been any better.  My dad and grandfather developed Woodland Estates beginning in 1955 I believe. Most of the houses were the same. Dad later said that he really got a good deal on the brick face.  We moved into the model home on the corner of Crystal Lane and Fernwood Drive. (A lot of the brick face fell off over the years.) They named other streets Beacon Drive, East Parkway, Patterson Drive and Palimino Drive. Palimino Drive was named after my grandfather’s horses.

All of the houses were the same. The front door led you into the living room.  There was a side door that took you into a galley kitchen and a place for the kitchen table.  Down the hall from the living room were three bedrooms and 1 bath.  Our corner house was a bit larger than the other Crystal Lane homes because our garage was sort of to the side of the house, with a large screened-in porch on top of it. It had more yard space than the other homes, since it was situated on the corner. (I will have to find a picture of it. My descriptions suck.)  There was an empty lot, a wooded area and a gulley across the street that ran the whole length of the road. That’s where we had a lot of our adventures. 

We played kickball in the street by my house. There were also street lights right by our playing area, so we could play well past dark. My mom probably had the city install the lights so we would stay outside later. I mean, she called the ice cream truck people and ordered them not to drive through the neighborhood when her children took their daily naps. She could have done this too.

The great thing about Woodland Estates was the fact that there were so many kids on the 3 block area  that were the same age.   LeeAnn, Ramaine, Monica, Lori, Kathy, Janice, Tammy, MaryLou, Kacey, Melinda, Harold, and Cathy K…. And those were just the kids who were in the same grade as me. Poor Harold.

I will write later about our neighborhood adventures, but today I want to write about something I just heard about. My brother called me the other day and said someone stopped him in the grocery store. “So, I heard your house was going to be used in a movie?”  My brother had no idea what she was talking about. “You mean my mom and dad’s house?” The lady nodded. 

My childhood home

My sister and her husband now live in our childhood home. She stayed there after she finished flunking college and just stayed there with my mom. Never left. My mom is now in a nursing home and the home was turned over to my sister for taking such good care of my mom. (Free rent, electric, food, and other perks sure was a selling point also.) Anywho, my brother called my sister to find out what was going on.

So, it appears that JJ Abrams is directing a movie called Super 8. Stephen Spielberg is producing.  It is going to be an alien ET like movie, I heard.  Supposedly, in the movie,  items had to be transported to Ohio from Area 51 and there is a train accident and something escapes.  So, Paramount people were scouting areas to be used in the film. I guess there will be young teenagers who are playing with a Super 8 camera and catch something on their film.. They wanted a 70 era home and neighborhood for the kids, and they ended up in Woodland Estates….At my Mom’s house. (sister’s house now)

So, it is supposed to be hush hush. The whole movie is clothed in secrecy. It is supposed to be filmed beginning in September and the movie debuts next summer. I guess there was a trailer of it shown during Iron Man 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkvKfmaVFJg

So, out of the millions and millions of homes all across the United States, my childhood home may be used in this movie. I guess there were trucks and helicopters all over the city and many pulled up and like 28 people got out and scoured over the neighborhood and took pictures, measured things and my sister is not allowed to disclose how much they are paying her to use the house.

They said they needed to replace the front door and they also want to use the living room. They are using the house across the street also. I think the kids must be living in them.  I bet they need the living room to look out across the street at the other house being used. I can figure things out like that. So, if this pans out , my childhood home could be like the next Amityville Horror house. The next ET house. 

So, next summer, when you go to the movies to watch Super 8, look for my childhood home.

Unless of course, they decide not to use the house because the secret got out and ruined secret filming.

But, hey, my brother was the one who told me.

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