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Talk about taking a bite out of an opportunity.
Amber and Dean Neufeld didn’t originally set out to run a short-term rental empire. But after purchasing the unassuming St. Helen’s, Oregon house featured as Bella Swan’s residence in the “Twilight” film franchise, the couple has turned a piece of cinematic history into a steady income stream.
The five-bedroom property — which is instantly recognizable to the saga’s devoted followers — draws in guests from around the world, many of whom are eager to recreate scenes from the vampire romance series that exploded into pop culture in 2008.
The pair purchased the home for $360,000 back in 2018 for $10,000 over asking in order to outbid competing buyers, according to Fortune.
Their offer included a personal letter and a sizable down payment — a move that secured them not just a house, but a fan landmark.
“I had come up and visited all the filming locations,” Amber said in the Fortune interview. “When the house popped up on the market, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I know that house.’”
Now, the Neufelds earn as much as $140,000 in annual gross revenue by renting the home directly through their website, the outlet explained.
While the home’s original flooring, fixtures and exterior remained the same from when it was used for filming the movie — to transform the rest of the home into a near replica of its on-screen appearance, the Neufelds invested an additional $20,000, sourcing original and imitation props.
They even managed to snag the kitchen table used in the film — and the home’s rental listing describes it as “Charlie’s actual dining table.”
The home’s rooms are styled to reflect characters from the series, including Bella’s bedroom and a “Jacob Black guest room.”
The couple worked as a team on the home project — Amber scoured auction sites for pieces, while Dean handled most of the physical work.
“I would go work my nine-to-five, and then I’d go to the house and be there from five until bedtime just fixing stuff,” he told Fortune.
The home was originally listed for rent in 2019, and the couple struggled to get consistent bookings at first.
Eventually, interest in staying at the home skyrocketed following a viral TikTok video in 2020, which showed a guest reenacting a scene of Bella gazing out her bedroom window.
According to Dean, the response overwhelmed Airbnb’s system — where the listing originally lived, which caused the couple to create a website for the home and rent it through there.
“Life was never the same,” he said. “Our bookings were filled the moment they were open, and it’s never slowed down ever since.”
While rates hover around $400 per night, the Neufelds have resisted the temptation to raise prices despite overwhelming demand.
“We don’t really want to charge more,” Amber said. “It’s not just, ‘How can we make the most money?’ It’s really always been, ‘How much can we charge and still put money back into the house and pay the mortgage?’”
After paying mortgage payments and maintenance costs, the couple profits around $60,000 a year.
Overall, preserving the home’s cinematic identity is as important as financial returns.
When buying the house, Amber said in her interview with Fortune that she was more concerned about saving the house and not letting it lose its “fiming history.”
Even all these years later, the movie remains incredibly popular, now appreciated by a second generation of fans discovering “Twilight” through streaming platforms and social media.
“What actually happened, surprisingly often, was the teenagers — the second generation — getting into Twilight too,” Amber added.
Guests often describe the experience in emotional terms. One fan told Amber, “It was amazing to spend two nights where the Twilight movie was filmed. It was a dream come true.”
Another called it “unforgettable” and said, “There are no words to describe the feeling and joy.”
English (US)