Look Inside Ed Gein House: A True Crime Journey

The name Ed Gein shivers down spines across America.

The quiet, unassuming man behind one of the disturbing crime scenes in U.S. history lived in a modest farmhouse.

The Ed Gein house, located in the small town of Plainfield, Wisconsin, an ordinary looking structure hid terrible horrors.

His twisted personality transformed what should have been another rural home.

When police first entered Gein’s property in 1957, they stepped into what can be described as a nightmare.

The two-story farmhouse sat isolated on a remote plot of land, appearing weathered and neglected.

But from inside, the officers discovered a house of horrors, rooms with furniture and items crafted from human remains, a testament to Gein’s disturbed mind and macabre obsessions. 

Here in this post, we’ll take you through the story of Ed Gein house from its ordinary beginnings to its infamous end.

We’ll explore what was found inside, explore its cultural impact, and look at how this location inspired horror films and crime fascination. 

Who was Ed Gein?

Edward Theodore Gein wasn’t born a monster.

He was born in 1906 in Wisconsin, he grew up under the influence of his mother, Augusta, a domineering woman with religious views who isolated her sons from the outside world.

According to reports from the Wisconsin Historical Society, Augusta preached about the evils of the world.

After the deaths of his father and brother, Ed lived alone with his mother until her passing in 1945.

This loss triggered something dark in him.

He was left alone in their farmhouse, Gein’s mental state deteriorated.

What made Gein stand out in crime history wasn’t only his murders but he was convicted of killing two women, Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan.

According to police records, Gein had been robbing graves from local cemeteries and collecting body parts to create items and clothing.

“Ed Gein represents a unique case in criminal psychology,” noted criminologist Dr. Robert Keppel in a 1992 interview with CNN.

“His crimes stemmed not primarily from a desire to kill, but from an obsession with the female form and an attachment to his mother.”

The Overview of Ed Gein House

The Gein family farmhouse is on a 160-acre property on the Plainfield, a small Wisconsin town with less than 700 residents.

Built in the early 1900s, the white, two-story home was modest in size, under 2,000 square feet with a simple layout of rural farmhouse.

When the property was examined in 1957, they found a home in disrepair, with peeling paint, sagging porch, and a sense of neglect.

What made the house remarkable wasn’t its architecture but what it represented.

After Augusta Gein’s death in 1945, Ed sealed off her bedroom and the upstairs, and started to live in a small portion of the house.

According to the police report, the rest of the house was in chaos, with rooms filled with old newspapers, magazines, and junk.

The house met its end in March 1958, when a fire destroyed the structure while Gein was in custody awaiting trial.

Though never proven, many locals suspected the fire was deliberately set to remove what had become a tourist attraction.

The property went up for auction in 1958, purchased by local resident Emden Schey for $4,658, according to county records.

Ed Gein House Tour: The Chilling Wisconsin House

Looking inside Ed Gein house means entering a space where the ordinary and the horrific existed side by side.

From the outside, it looked like another old farmhouse, white clapboard siding, pitched roof, and a front porch.

But from the inside it is a space where one man’s disturbed mind had created something nightmarish.

Living Room

Gein’s living room presented a strange contradiction.

According to Sheriff Art Schley, who led the investigation, parts of it were normal, an old sofa, chairs and a radio.

But after that officers discovered chairs upholstered with human skin, with the seat cushions crafted from human torsos.

The lampshades were made from stretched human faces.

A bowl, which was on a side table, was created from the top of a human skull.

“What struck me wasn’t only the items themselves, but how they were placed,” Plainfield officer James Leavitt told reporters in a 1959 interview with the Milwaukee Journal.

“As if Gein saw nothing unusual about having a coffee table decorated with human skin.”

Bedrooms

The farmhouse contained several bedrooms, but significant were Gein’s room and his mother’s preserved shrine.

Gein slept in a small, cluttered bedroom on the first floor.

His bed was simple, a metal frame with a mattress surrounded by piles of books about anatomy, death rituals, and Nazi concentration camps.

Augusta’s bedroom remained untouched after her death, clean, organized, with her clothing hung in the closet.

This contrast between the pristine “shrine” and the house spoke volumes about Gein’s unhealthy attachment to his mother.

Bathrooms

The farmhouse bathroom was basic and ordinary compared to other rooms.

It contained an old claw-foot tub, a simple sink, and a toilet, all standard for a rural home of that era.

However, investigators noted the presence of soap made from human fat, according to statements from the crime team.

Kitchen and Dining Area

Gein’s kitchen reflected his isolated, bachelor lifestyle.

Unwashed dishes piled in the sink, open cans of food sat on counters, and the refrigerator contained both normal groceries and human organs preserved in jars.

The dining table was a disturbing discovery crafted from human leg bones and topped with a wooden surface.

Chairs surrounding it had been upholstered with human skin, bearing tattoos and identifying marks.

Workshop and Basement

If the main floor revealed horrors, the basement workshop exposed the whole of Gein’s activities.

This was his crafting space, where human remains were transformed into everyday items.

Police photographs documented worktables covered with tools which are knives, saws, needles and thread.

Hanging on walls and scattered across tables were faces peeled from corpses.

Boxes contained body parts in various stages of preservation.

Most disturbing were the “suits” made from women’s torsos and skin.

Outdoor Space

The farmhouse sat on a large, overgrown property that matched the neglect of the house.

A detached garage held Gein’s truck, which authorities later discovered was used to transport bodies.

The yard contained a chicken coop, an old barn, and scattered farm implements rusting in tall grass.

Behind the house, investigators found graves where some victims’ remains had been buried before Gein brought them inside for his projects. 

Is the Ed Gein House for Sale?

No, the Ed Gein house no longer exists and hasn’t for decades.

After the fire destroyed it in March 1958, the land passed through several owners but remained undeveloped.

According to Waushara County records, the property was absorbed into surrounding farmland.

In 1958, local businessman Emden Schey purchased the land at auction for $4,658.

His stated intention was to prevent the property from becoming a macabre tourist attraction.

Rumors come up about the land being for sale. “Nobody wants to build where that house stood,” noted local historian Gary Reblin in a 2016 interview with Wisconsin Public Radio. “Some things are better left in the past.”

What was Found Inside the Ed Gein House?

On November 16, 1957, Plainfield hardware store owner Bernice Worden went missing.

Her son told authorities that Ed Gein had been in the store the previous day, and had mentioned he would return for antifreeze.

What they found shocked the nation.

According to the official police report, the search revealed:

• Bernice Worden’s decapitated body, hung upside down in a shed, dressed out like a deer
• Ten human skulls, some used as bowls
• Human skin used to upholster chairs
• A corset, leggings, and a belt made from human skin
• Several masks made from the skin of women’s faces
• Mary Hogan’s face in a paper bag
• A lampshade made from human skin
• Four noses, hearts, heads, and other body parts in various states of preservation
• Nine “vulva masks” taken from female bodies
• A string of lips
• A waistcoat made from a woman’s torso

The house met a fiery end in March 1958, while Gein was held in a mental institution.

The cause was never determined, though many suspected arson, by outraged locals wanting to erase the stain on their community’s reputation.

The timing was late at night with no witnesses.

The impact of Gein’s crimes reached far beyond Wisconsin.

His case inspired numerous films and books, including Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (1960), “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974), and “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991). 

Adding to the macabre spectacle was the fate of Gein’s 1949 Ford sedan, dubbed the “Ghoul Car” by the press.

The vehicle he used to transport bodies from the cemetery became an attraction.

Entrepreneur Bunny Gibbons purchased it for $760 at a public auction and displayed it at county fairs in Wisconsin.

Is House of 1000 Corpses Film Inspired by Ed Gein’s House?

Rob Zombie’s 2003 horror film “House of 1000 Corpses” was an inspiration from multiple sources, with Ed Gein’s case being one influence.

While not a portrayal of Gein’s crimes, the film incorporates elements like the Plainfield killer’s activities.

“Zombie created a pastiche of American horror influences,” noted film critic Roger Ebert in his 2003 review.

“You can see traces of Gein, Manson, and other real-life killers mixed with fictional characters like Leatherface.”

The movie’s Firefly family creates furniture and art from human remains, a clear parallel to Gein’s crafts.

The isolated rural property mirrors the seclusion that allowed Gein to conduct his activities.

The film takes significant creative liberties, amplifying the violence and body count beyond Gein’s crimes.

Where Gein operated alone, driven by psychological disturbance and mother obsession, “House of 1000 Corpses” presents a family working together in their sadistic activities.

Conclusion

The Ed Gein house represents more than a crime scene.

It is a dark chapter in American history, a place where one man’s disturbed mind created horrors that continue to resonate through our culture.

From its exterior to the nightmarish discoveries inside, the Plainfield farmhouse forces us to confront uncomfortable situations about human nature and capacity.

Though the physical structure is long gone, burned to ash in 1958, its shadow looms in our imagination.

The story of Ed Gein house reminds us that the terrifying things aren’t supernatural monsters or villains, but the real people living around us.

His legacy lives on through the fictional characters he inspired and the crime discussions his case generates.

As we close this tour of one of America’s infamous homes, we should remember the victims, Bernice Worden, Mary Hogan, and the deceased whose graves were violated.

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