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Northern California home next to schoolhouse in Hitchcock movie ‘The Birds’ for sale

A scenic 1880s Italianate Victorian home set on 1.15 acres next to the legendary Potter Schoolhouse from the 1968 Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds” just hit the market in Bodega, California for $1.1 million, according to Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty.

The countryside property on Bodega Lane is also adjacent to the white, wooden church with a steeple that is the subject of Ansel Adam’s beautiful 1953 black and white photograph called “Church and Road.”

The charming three-bedroom, two-bathroom house spans 1,515 square feet and is set against a dramatic rural backdrop. The property also has a detached garage/office/studio.

The sellers, who bought the Sonoma County home about six years ago, extensively upgraded the property, according to listing agent David Gowan of Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty.

“It was a complete, rundown mess,” he said.

Not any more.

“They went through and loved the house even though it needed all that work,” Gowan said, adding that the owners have an affinity for Victorian homes.

The renovation included a new foundation, new septic, plumbing and electrical systems, new windows and installation of a tank-less hot water heater, hot tub, generator and underground gas line that is capped and ready for a propane fire pit.

The detached artist’s studio/office sits near the famous church and schoolhouse. An additional, 130-square-foot structure was added to the lot, which is actually two parcels. That unit served as a home office for one of the owners and was built during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The historic setting of the property “is one of a kind in the world” and has great appeal, Gowan said, but the owners also love being able to walk to town and to their favorite restaurant.

The sellers are planning to move back east to Connecticut, Gowan said. He’s holding his second open house this weekend.

“The Birds” put Bodega and Bodega Bay on the map, Jolene Piazza Orr, a longtime resident and movie extra, told ABC10.

“We get tourists from all over asking about ‘The Birds’,” Orr told the television station.

Orr , who was 6 when the movie was filmed, said her role was to run down a hill from the schoolhouse and pretend to be attacked by birds, according to ABC10.

“I’d say the church is more spectacular than the schoolhouse,” Gowan said. “That’s an Ansel Adams connection there because he photographed that a lot. But there are people who go up to the schoolhouse, and it happens occasionally where they run down the lane screaming ‘bird, bird’. So you know, it’s got a lot of history and character.”

Bodega Bay has been a longtime destination for Sacramentans wanting to escape the valley heat.