Michael Jackson’s First L.A. Home

Last week, on the recommendation of fellow stalker Grant, I picked up a FABULOUS new book about the life and times of the King of Pop by author J. Randy Taraborrelli named Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story, 1958-2009.  For anyone who is at all interested in MJ’s life, the 765 page tome is a must-read!  Taraborrelli first met Michael on May 2, 1970, at a Jackson 5 concert in Philadelphia.  Both boys were just youngsters at the time.  Taraborrelli went on to become a best-selling author and journalist and a trusted friend of the King of Pop, writing many feature articles about him throughout his life and career.  Besides sharing some amazing insight on what really took place behind-the-scenes of MJ’s life, Taraborrelli also divulges some fabulous tidbits of information in his book, such as the address of the home that Michael and his family lived in when they first moved to Los Angeles in 1969.  YAY!  So, I, of course, had to run right out and immediately stalk it.  🙂

In November of 1969, just as the Jackson 5 group was starting to hit it big, Motown founder Berry Gordy rented a house in West Hollywood for the family to live in.  At the time, Joe and the rest of the boys had been living in various L.A. area hotels, Katherine, La Toya, Randy, and Janet were still back in Gary, Indiana, and Michael had spent the past month staying with Diana Ross.  It was time to bring the family together.  Their new Mediterranean-style home boasted four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a sparkling view of L.A., and a spacious 2,962 square feet of living space.  According to Taraborrelli, the Jackson’s new living room alone was twice the size of their entire house back in Gary.  But, as it turns out, as much as they liked their new home, they wouldn’t stay long.  In May of 1970, just seven months after moving in, the Jacksons were relocated to another house leased by Berry Gordy – this one on Bowmont Drive in Beverly Hills.  According to Taraborrelli, Gordy said, “They were kicked out of several houses.  You see, they would make too much noise.  They had their band, and we would put them in a house, and then they would get kicked out.  We’d lease another place, and they would make too much noise, and they would get kicked out.”  LOL  The Jackson family finally purchased their own home – located at 4641 Hayvenhurst Avenue in Encino – and put an end to their constant moving on May 5, 1971.

While researching this house, I actually came across quite a few conflicting online reports about its exact address.  While in the book, Taraborrelli had written that the house was located at 1601 Queens Road, I found several websites which stated that the Jacksons actually lived at number 1616, while still others reported an address number in the 6000 range.  I wasn’t quite sure who to believe.  But, as luck would have it, while stalking the house I happened upon an older gentleman walking his dog.  I asked him if the Jackson family had actually lived at the home I was currently snapping photographs of and he said that yes, indeed, they had.  I told him about the differing online reports and he assured me that I was stalking the correct house.  He told me that while he didn’t know the Jacksons personally when they lived in the home, he definitely knew of them, as they were just starting to become famous and all of the neighborhood children would go over to their house to play.  🙂

I highly recommend stalking the Jackson family’s first L.A. home as it is a very pretty place and – best part of all – has no front gate blocking it from view, as is the case with their Hayvenhurst mansion!  YAY!  🙂 

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Jackson Family’s first Los Angeles home is located at 1601 Queens Road in West Hollywood.