I can honestly say that out of all of the locations that I have ever stalked in my entire life, the subject of today’s post is hands down the most perplexing and mind-boggling! Last week, when I called up Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to tell him that Geoff, from the 90210locations website, had tracked down the residence belonging to Donna Martin (aka Tori Spelling) during Season One of Beverly Hills, 90210, he fell silent with shock. As it turns out there is another very famous, or perhaps very infamous, property located just up the road from Donna’s house and it is a property that Mike has actually been to countless times in the past. He then proceeded to tell me about the Los Feliz “Murder House”, or “Murder Mansion” as it is also sometimes called, which I had never before heard of. And, let me tell you, once Mike filled me in on the story of the home I was literally up ALL NIGHT reading articles on the subject and I also immediately ran right out to see the place in person the very next day.
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The story – and it is absolutely fascinating – is as follows . . . On the night of December 6, 1959, Dr. Harold Perelson, a wealthy Inglewood heart specialist, bludgeoned his wife, Lillian, to death with a ball-peen hammer and severely beat his 18-year-old daughter, Judye, while his other two children slept soundly in their bedrooms. Judye survived the beating and ran down the hillside to a neighbor’s home at 2471 Glendower Place to call for help. In the meantime, the two younger children awoke and asked their father about the screaming. Harold told them that they had been having a nightmare and to go back to sleep. He then took a cocktail of pills, killing himself instantly. The police arrived shortly thereafter and took all three Perelson children into custody. The mansion was locked up and the children were sent to live with relatives back east. The motive behind the brutal murder/suicide was never completely known, although some speculate that the Perelsons were in financial trouble. But here’s where the story gets weird.
About a year after the murder/suicide, the Perelson’s 5,050-square-foot, Spanish Revival-style mansion was purchased by Emily and Julian Enriquez via a probate auction. And while the couple, who lived in Lincoln Heights at the time, visited the mansion on occasion and even stored some of their possessions there, for reasons that remain unclear they never inhabited the property, nor did they ever move the Perelson’s belongings out! To this day, over five decades later, the mansion remains in almost the exact same state it was in on the night of December 6, 1959! According to a February 6, 2009 Los Angeles Times article written about the case, not only is the Perelson’s furniture still as it was on that evening, but their Christmas gifts remain sitting on the kitchen table, as if someone was interrupted mid-wrap, and their Christmas tree still stands in the living room!! I’m not making this up! Even stranger still is the fact that even though Emily and Julian have since passed away and their son has owned the property since 1994, it still remains in its December 1959 state. The Los Angeles Times article reports that numerous buyers have contacted Rudy wanting to purchase the home, but that, for whatever reason, he refuses to sell.
The mansion, which was built in 1925 and was quite beautiful in its day, boasts four master bedrooms, three bathrooms, a conservatory, maid’s quarters, a 20-foot by 36-foot ballroom, sweeping views of Los Angeles, and sits on over half an acre of land. Sadly though, the house has fallen into severe disrepair during the past fifty-plus years that it has remained vacant. As you can see in the above photographs, the driveway is severely cracked and the mailbox is almost completely toppled over. Neighbors do what they can to keep the grounds in order and a burglar alarm has recently been installed to keep trespassers out, but other than that the house remains frozen in time and most believe that it will eventually have to be torn down. Ron Shinkman, of The Irony Supplement Blog, wrote a very interesting post on the Perelson mansion back in early 2009 and actually managed to snap a few photographs of the interior of the property, in which some of the Perelson’s former furniture and even one of the children’s former board games are visible. Personally I think there has to be something more to the story and that perhaps the Enriquez family knew the Perelsons and had a personal reason for leaving the house in its 1959 state, but the truth of the matter is that we will most likely never know the whole story.
Another famous property, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis house, is located directly behind the Perelson mansion and is denoted with the pink arrow in the above photograph. The house, which I have yet to blog about, is one of the most famous properties in the entire world, architecturally speaking, and has appeared in such films as 1959’s House on Haunted Hill, The Day of the Locust, Blade Runner, and Rush Hour.
Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for telling me about this location! 
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The former Perelson mansion, aka the “Los Feliz Murder House”, is located at 2475 Glendower Place, just off of Glendower Avenue, in Los Feliz. Donna Martin’s house from the first season of Beverly Hills, 90210 is located at 2405 Glendower Avenue and the Ennis house is located at 2607 Glendower Avenue.
http://www.uer.ca/forum_showthread.asp?fid=1&threadid=120688
Just FYI… The Donna Martin house located at 2405 Glendower belongs to pianist Michael Feinstein. There was a recent PBS documentary where he shows the interior of his home.
I owned in the house 2405 Glendower that Michael Finestein lives in now. That is, me, my husband and our 10 children. In the book Helter Skelter about the Charles Manson murders, one of the Manson group said “We went up to a very large house and when we saw there were a lot of children in the house, we moved on.” Then went to the next house on a few streets over – the La Biaca house and you know the rest of that story.
Not sure if you have seen this site, but there are some excellent pictures on here of the interior of the house.
http://mylabucketlist.com/2012/09/24/the-paranormal-house-in-los-feliz-bucket-list/
Anoher great post! Thanks!
A lady I met told me this story while we were on a ghost hunting adventure. Love reading your article. I too am fascinated by these kind of stories.
In addition to the famous murders, there were two other deaths. Not sure if they were natural or homicides, but…
• Here’s another death from December 4, 1932: Beautiful Los Feliz Home Estate of Harry F. Schumacher, Deceased 2475 Glendower Place (from the AUCTION section): Tues. Dec. 6th, 11 A.M. A delightful 12-room Home, with terraced lawns, artistic gardens and a magnificent view. Spacious tiled Entrance Hall and Stairway, Charming Living Room, 18 x 32, Large glassed-in Conservatory, Dining Room, Den, Breakfast Room, Kitchen and Lavatory on First Floor. Four Master Bedrooms and Three Baths on Second Floor, Attractive Ball Room and Bar, 20 x 36, on Third Floor. Laundry, Maid’s Room and Bath in Basement. Three-Car Garage. The beautifully landscaped grounds face two streets, with frontage of 83 feet and 243-foot depth. Property will be sold to the highest bidder for any amount over present Bank encumbrance of $15,000, subject to approval of Superior Court. If you are looking for a home in a beautiful district, centrally located, yet with the seclusion of a large estate, inspect this property. SUNDAY FROM 1 TO 5 P.M.
• (OBITUARY section) May 6, 1931 which ran in the LA Times: BEATON, May 3, at 2475 Glendower Place, Hollywood, Donald Beaton, aged 20 years, beloved son of Mr. and Mrs. Welford Beaton and brother of Mary Beaton and Mrs. E.A. Bowen. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, May 6, at 2:30 p.m., from the Little Church of the Flowers, Forest Lawn. B.E. Dayton, Inc., directors.
Ok, Why has no one put tow and two together. The auction of the home during the 1932 death was on Dec. 6th and the murders/ suicide was Dec 6th 1959. Seems strange to me. I’m a believer in the spiritual natural, and this just seems too coincidental!
I enjoy reading stories such as this one. They’re a fascinating part of Los Angeles History people don’t talk much about anymore.
Great post Lindsay!
Good job! I am fascinated by this house. And the Ennis house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, who had a tragedy in one of his homes in 1914! The Ennis house was built in 1924, just one year before this house. Perhaps FLW had some spirit attached to him which brought all this activity to this house.
The Weekly Home News, August 20, 1914 “Murderer of Seven: Sets Fire to Country Home of Frank Lloyd Wright Near Spring Green”
hile the members of the household were at dinner, last Saturday, Julian Carlton, a negro servant, fired Frank Lloyd Wright’s bungalow, murdered seven and seriously wounded one with a hatchet and another received injuries in jumping from a window. The dead are:
Great web site. Very creepy indeed. However do you think that Emily and Julian Enriquez worked for the Perelson family?
Just came upon your site yesterday, and it is so up my alley. (I have a lot of stories and photos I could submit myself, but that is for another day…) This is a very creepy story! Question: What is the yellowish coloring in the tall thin window with the “turret” underneath? I can’t tell if it’s some sort of glass coloring or a view of something inside (a staircase?). Keep up the good work!
it is a staircase it wraps around the entire interior, it is seen from the side of the house as well right up against a window on the second floor
What an interesting story! Never heard about it. Gonna read the posts from the links you’ve provided as well!
Great story and very creepy!
Great post!! I cant believe Ive never heard of this story! I have a curiosity about famous murders in LA. This story is fascinating!
o.m.g such a good post!!!!!!!
Wow creepy! Great post though. I’m fascinated with stories like this, regardless of the morbid factor lol.