We all need to visit this famous house!
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Tim Burton’s gothic classic “Edward Scissorhands” was filmed in Tampa Bay more than 30 years ago, and now the fictional Bogg Family home in Lutz has been turned into a museum.
“Google sends people straight from Disney here, I mean it’s crazy,” Joey Licalzi, who bought the home for $230,000 with his wife Sharon almost a year ago, tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
The Licalzis claim that since they recently lost out on a property across the street and Joey worked as a dishwasher on the movie set, it was fate that they ended up winning the bid. The house is located at 1774 Tinsmith Cir.
“After TMZ wrote about it, we went up against probably 200 bids on the house,” says Licalzi, who also owns a drum manufacturing company. “When you battle the whole planet for the house, you can’t Airbnb it like everybody thinks you can, so we turned it into a free museum. Now everybody has access to come on the property.”
Some people, according to Licalzi, schedule appointments, but many times they just show up and knock on the door. Licalzi currently believes that 30 families visit his museum, where he and his wife also reside, each week.
“Yeah, we live in the Edward Scissorhands Museum. It is totally bizarre,” he jokes.
Original film props from the movie, including Kim Bogg’s purse, authentic wall coverings, and the scissors Edward used to cut the dinosaur hedge, are on display in the museum. There are currently six exhibitions, but Licalzi says he intends to increase the number and eventually transform his garage into the upper level of the castle seen in the movie.
“It’s crazy, says Licalzi. “We bought a running theme park with a worldwide following for $230,000.”
So far, most of Licalzi’s neighbors seem to appreciate the new attraction, but not everyone is on board.
“You know, a majority of them, they come up here and they come on the property and they shake my hand and says ‘thank you, thank you, thank you,'” says Licalzi.
Licalzi claims he hasn’t heard from Tim Burton or Johnny Depp, but the actor who portrayed Kevin Boggs in the movie, Robert Oliveri, did get in touch with him to offer his congrats.
“It’s only going to get bigger,” says Licalzi. “We do tours day and night, and in the wintertime you can come and watch the movie on the property and it’s free.” – Colin Wolf
