In Back Of This House One Of The Most Horrendous Killings In New York History Occurred
Westchester Home For Sale in 2014. In the 1930’s the home was known as Wisteria House. photo: HGMLS
You may or may not believe that houses have vibes, memories or energies surrounding them. But regardless of your beliefs, would you want to live on a property where a serial killer committed a murder so horrific that the police did not initially believe the details of the confession?
In a bucolic town in Westchester, NY, you can buy the three acre property where serial killer Albert Fish took and brutally killed ten-year-old Grace Budd on June 3, 1928.
Asking price – $799,900.
The home shown in the contemporary photograph above and in the vintage news photograph on the left was once known as Wisteria House, an 1860 villa in what was once Greenburgh, NY, and is now part of the town of Irvington.
Obviously the real estate agent listing the home will not advertise the fact, that on this property right behind the old home was where Wisteria Cottage stood (shown in photo to the right). This is where Albert Fish strangled, dismembered and later, at his own home, ate Grace Budd.
To say Albert Fish was one of the most heinous people who ever walked the earth would be an understatement.
Reading Fish’s life story is to uncover the debaucheries of a real life Hannibal Lecter as described in Silence of the Lambs.
A Real Life “Psycho”
When Albert Fish was finally apprehended in 1934, thanks to the relentless police work of New York City Detective William F. King of the Missing Persons Bureau, Fish admitted to murdering at least three people, and probably committed dozens of other killings. After extensively interviewing Fish, Dr. Frederic Wertham, one of the defense psychiatrists, believed that Fish had raped and tortured at least one hundred children.
Fish had been arrested for other petty crimes as far back as 1905 and probably began murdering people in the 1910’s according to his captors. He had been evaluated at Bellevue twice in the 1930’s. So why did this monster escape detection of his egregious crimes for so long?
One of the reasons he was free to roam Dr. Wertham explained was, “Fish looked like a meek and innocuous little old man, gentle and benevolent, friendly and polite. If you wanted someone to entrust your children to, he would be the one you would choose.”
Wertham then added that Fish as the most complex example of a “polymorphous pervert” he had ever known. Fish practiced every perversion and deviation known to man, from sodomy to sadism, eating excrement and self mutilation.
Besides torturing and eating children, over the years Fish had inserted 29 needles into his pelvic and scrotum area.
In March of 1935 after a ten day trial Fish’s insanity plea was rejected. The jury took three and a half hours to find Albert Fish guilty of Grace Budd’s murder. He was sentenced to death by electrocution. Fish was very excited by the prospect of being electrocuted. “Going to the electric chair will be the supreme thrill of my life,” Fish proclaimed upon hearing the sentence.
On the evening of January 16, 1936 at Sing Sing prison, Fish climbed into the seat and readily helped the guards fix the electrodes to his legs. Two jolts of electricity were given and three minutes later Albert Fish was dead. At age 65, Fish became the oldest person ever put to death at Sing Sing.
Wisteria House was abandoned when Albert Fish wandered its halls and rooms. Wisteria Cottage is long gone from the property. But would you want to live here?
The house still stands 359 Mountain Rd Irvington, NY 10533
I need to correct a few inaccuracies, the first one is that the murder did not occur in the house listed for sale, but in a cottage on the property behind the house. That is incorrect, the smaller house was not behind the house for sale, that house was further down the same road going west., Albert Fish and his sons lived at that house,that is the house and area where they said they watched their father on the hill yelling that he was christ.
The house for sale was built in the 1850’s and was more than likely abandoned when they lived down the street, something I’m sure they were all aware of. Given the few houses on the street and the relative isolation of the area at the time, Fish was aware that if he ever wanted to take a victim to a place where he could take his time and not have to worry too much about witnesses then it couldn’t get much better that that area or that house. Fish’s own son told his lawyer after Fish was executed that he was always lurking around old abandoned houses and there was no telling how many he may have killed. There is no indication or evidence that anyone was killed in that smaller house they lived on, but the rape,killing and dismemberment of Grace Budd did happen in the house listed for sale. He cut off the pieces of meat that he wanted, wrapped it in newspaper, put the remains of her body behind a door in the room by a corner and pushed the door open so that they wouldn’t be readily seen in case anyone came inside while he was gone, probably hoping the smell would be too much for anyone wanting to venture any further in the house. He took the meat back with him to Manhattan where he cooked and ate it, in the span of 9 days he made return visits to 379 Mountain Road and returned back to Manhattan with more meat.
In the picture of the police investigating it happened by the window all the way to the left on the top floor. Right by that window in that corner of the house is where the killing happened.
I have images of the pictures the police took of the room during the investigation, the floorplan of the room from the trial, (it’s now one room,at the time it was divided into 2) and a picture of how it looks today.
As for the question of living there, I don’t know. Probably wouldn’t bother me that much, what would bother me more and I’m surprised it doesn’t seem to bother other people is owning a house or plantation where slaves were kept.
You want to talk about vibes imagine living somewhere where countless people were physically and mentally abused, and raped day after day, night after night,year after year.
Let’s not forget those who were murdered on the property. A lot more suffering, tears,anguish and pain than a single murder in a house. That house had nothing to do with the murder, murders happen,can happen anywhere. A plantation that had slaves was built by and sustained and prospered by the long term suffering of people. I think if anything would leave a mark in a house, yeah this is getting like The Shining, it would be something like that. Long term sustained pain. Also I am aware that there were slave owners that treated their slaves as good as the law would allow them, and as good as I suppose you could treat someone you owned but still wanting them to work so your investment in them would be paid off and you start making profit, but still the same I would be leery of buying any house where slavery legal and has a history of having slaves. I like old houses and that would knock out pretty much any large house in the south from 1865 and back and some northern houses too. Now an 1880’s Queen Anne, Romanesque or Second Empire in Georgia I’d be all over.
I lived at 359 Mountain Rd in The town of Greenburg. Our small house was referred to as Wisteria cottage !! 379 Mountain Rd was the next door house down the road which led to the Saw Mill River Parkway. I was in 379 Mountain road many times. The Road was called Peter Bont Road before being changed to Mountain Road There are pictures of our small cottage on Google and you tube. My grandparents barn is in the background of the cottage. There was Bad Karma in that area !!!!!!! My father went Crazy and my brother Gary was murdered while attending Yale University !!!!!!!
I live in Bristol CT and out of interest just searched and read about your brother’s murder. Sad stuff
I wouldn’t mind living somewhere where someone died, but I think I draw the line at people like Albert Fish. That man was every kind of fucked up you can imagine and worse. He got off on terrorizing not only his victims but their families too. I love true crime, and I can stomach a lot, but Fish makes my gut churn like no other.
I think they demolished it. The listing used to be for a house, but now it’s just for land.
No it’s for sale for 1.2 million
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What a majestic house !
I`m a sceptic and need solid evidence before I believe something sadly.
It`s interesting looking at all the old crime scene photos of how it looked in the day and even then it was an old house.
Wonder if there`s anything ever been found long after the events ?
The well I`m guessing is still there somewhere and the footings of the cottage where Mr Fish resided.
Nice to see the house preserved and well loved by the looks of it.
Great story too thank you !
rented a room in a supposed haunted property in ossining. didn’t believe in ghosts but had my mind abruptly changed. a friend of mine at the time said if you could only see the look on your face, what happened?it was a horrible confusing experience.its probably rare but when an area retains bad vibes its a good idea to stay away!
Did someone buy the house?
There was an old, run-down cottage behind the house where the murder actually took place (not the house proper) that was demolished, but the house itself still stands. I had a friend who works in real estate check for me and she verified that the house is not only still standing, it sold in 2016 for about $1 million (according to a real estate broker from that area).
https://www.williampitt.com/search/real-estate-sales/379-mountain-road-irvington-ny-10533-4526373-1163562/
I kinda want this house I want to see if grace’s sprit lingers there or something I’m only 13 I wouldn’t mind a friend. Idk maybe she wouldn’t want me to be there but it’s a nice house. I’m werid but I’ve always wanted a ghost friend since I was 8.
Pretty sure that even Hannibal (both incarnations) would have found this man revolting, and likely have felt insulted by the comparison since the only child that I can recall him have ever eaten is his sister; plus I doubt that he’d have even half of this monster’s “fetishes”. *shivers*
There was a cabin in Northern Arizona for sale and a husband and wife committed suicide there. There as still some blood stains but they were almost giving it away. I told my wife at the time that I would clean the entire cabin before she saw the inside, she said not just no, but hell no. I would live in that house. I may have someone bless if for me, but I would live there….