ATLANTA — A Seattle company has purchased and renovated a Fayetteville, Ga., home used for external shots of the original Byers home in the popular Netflix series “Stranger Things,” which will be available as a vacation rental later this year.
The three bedroom, two bathroom home, located at 149 Coastline Drive, was the fictional home of Will, Joyce and Jonathan Byers, who lived in Hawkins, Ind. It was featured the first three seasons of the drama series before the family fled to California. Resting on six acres, the home itself has about 1,800 square feet.
Because “Stranger Things” fans would drive by daily, the previous owners had to build a driveway barricade and posted “Private Property” signs to prevent intruders. They put the house up for sale in September 2022 for $300,000.
Arrived, a Seattle-based company that gives people who have as little as $100 the opportunity to invest in individual properties and receive a share of the rental income and real estate appreciation, bought the home at a premium for $400,000.
For Arrived, the “Stranger Things” home is an experiment of sorts since it’s the first property they have purchased that has any “celebrity” caché.
“I’m a huge ‘Stranger Things’ fan,” said Alejandro Chouza, co-founder and chief operating officer, in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I was part of the Reddit community. My personal love is now meshing with my day job. We want to replicate the vibe of the show.”
The home, which is more than 100 years old, needed a lot of renovation work. Arrived has been working on modernizing the home’s plumbing, HVAC and electricity. They are planning to pay homage to the interiors of the house seen on the show. (Indoor scenes were actually shot at EUE Screen Gems, a studio in Atlanta.)
Chouza said they plan to turn the vacation rental into a fan experience. He plans to make the home period accurate to the mid-1980s including the furniture and fixtures. Future guests will get to listen to vinyl records in Jonathan’s bedroom, sit on the living room couch surrounded by Christmas lights or play Dungeons & Dragons in an Upside Down-inspired den. Visitors will be able to explore the property on vintage BMX bikes and communicate via old-school walkie talkies. Arrived will also build out Castle Byers, a makeshift fort, and Billy’s grave, both elements from the show.
Chouza hopes to have the property ready for rental by the summer. Pricing hasn’t been finalized. He also doesn’t know what day shares for the property will go on sale.
The company has invested in 350 properties in 45 cities across the nation over four years. Most are 12-month lease rentals but a handful are vacation rentals like this one. Chouza said they now have 35,000 investors.
“We tap into a lot of different customer segments,” Chouza said. “Some are millennials or young folks who want to own real estate but can’t afford yet to invest all by themselves. There are also rental home investors of all ages.”
“Stranger Things,” which debuted in 2016, is currently shooting its fifth and final season around metro Atlanta. New episodes won’t air until 2025.
