Celebrity Homes – IAMNOTASTALKER

April 10, 2019April 10, 2019

JFK and Jackie’s Former Georgetown Homes

Considering how much I love history, I know shockingly little about former President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline. So I was thrilled when the Grim Cheaper gifted me with Jackie, Janet & Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill last Christmas. The 2018 biography and its depiction of the women’s intensely complicated relationships with each other as well as with their significant others was fascinating all the way through. And it even reminded me of two residences related to the former First Lady that I stalked during my visit to Washington, D.C. in September 2016. I learned about the homes thanks to my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, who just prior to my trip emailed me a list of area attractions he had compiled. Even though I was not well-versed in anything pertaining to Jackie O at the time, I decided to add the addresses to my stalking itinerary which turned out to be quite foresightful.

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Upon returning home from World War II, John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy worked for a brief time as a foreign correspondent for Hearst Newspapers prior to embarking on his political career which brought him to Washington D.C. After landing a seat in the House of Representatives in 1946, he moved around to a couple of different Georgetown properties until ultimately leasing a picturesque pad at 3260 N Street NW in 1951.

He would remain there for the next two years.

It proved an eventful time in young Jack’s life. During his tenure at the 5-bedroom, 2.5-bath, 2,220-square-foot dwelling, not only did he meet his future wife, Jacqueline Bouvier, who was then working at the Washington Times-Herald, but he also won his 1952 Senate seat.

Jack proposed to Jackie in June 1953 (supposedly at neighborhood favorite Martin’s Tavern, which I blogged about here) and vacated the N Street house that same year. After dotting around to different residences, the newlyweds settled into an estate in McLean Virginia known as Hickory Hill. The sprawling property soon proved too large for the fledgling couple, though, and they sold it to Robert F. Kennedy in 1956 before heading back to Georgetown, eventually moving into a mansion at 3307 N Street NW, just one block over from their old house.

Standing at four stories, the handsome Federal-style residence, built in 1811, boasts 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, and over 4,000 square feet of living space. Along with JFK and Jackie lived the couple’s daughter, Caroline, and their nurse, cook, butler, and maid.

The family’s time at 3307 also proved eventful. While there, JFK announced his candidacy for president, ran a successful campaign, was elected to office, and, on November 25th, 1960, celebrated the birth of son John F. Kennedy Jr.

It was also from the stately pad that Jack and Jackie left for the inauguration on the snowy morning of January 20th, 1961, at which time they moved into their most famous home, the White House.

Countless pictures were taken of the Kennedys outside of 3307 N Street during their years there, including this one snapped by JFK’s official campaign photographer Jacques Lowe. Jack was also often documented addressing the press right from the front door. As Thomas Wolfe wrote in a 1960 Washington Post article, “Our next president doesn’t take the old, easy way of making his announcements about new cabinet ministers, the fate of the new frontier, etc., from his office on Capitol Hill — where, if one need edit, the corridors have steam heat. He just steps right out on the old front porch at 3307 N St. NW and starts talking. And disappears back into the manse.” Seeing the brief happy moments captured at the residence is jarring considering the tragedy that will befall the family in such a short time and the eerie realization they bring that the man standing front and center is gone while the house remains virtually untouched.

After the assassination in 1963, Jackie returned to Georgetown, first moving into the home of a friend and then, in February 1964, to a Colonial dwelling just a few blocks east of her previous residence at 3017 N Street NW with her sister, Lee. (I failed to stalk that particular location while in D.C., but an MLS photo featured on Zillow is pictured below.) The 12-room manse was selected by Radziwill and, per Jackie, Janet & Lee, of the choice, designer Billy Baldwin said, “It had been chosen for Jackie with the greatest possible bad decision by her sister. I think the home was designed by someone for purposes of publicity. There was no hope for privacy, it was out in the open, high atop a mountain of steps. When I saw it, it looked like a monument. I thought, ‘Why, Lee, why? Why?’” As predicted, the place did quickly become an attraction for lookie-loos, with tour buses stopping by throughout the day and people camping out on the sidewalk in front hoping for a glimpse of the resplendent Jackie. Needless to say, she didn’t last long there. In July 1964, she took her two children and moved to a spacious apartment at 1040 Fifth Avenue in New York.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to my friend Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for telling me about these locations!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: From 1951 to 1953, while serving in Congress, John F. Kennedy lived at 3260 N Street NW in Georgetown. In 1958, JFK and Jackie settled into a pad one block over at 3307 N Street NW where they remained until moving into the White House in January 1961. The property Jackie briefly called home following the president’s assassination is about four blocks east at 3017 N Street NW. Martin’s Tavern, where JFK is said to have proposed to Jackie, is located nearby at 1264 Wisconsin Avenue.

October 29, 2018October 16, 2019

Boris Karloff’s Former Home

The Haunting of Hill House is giving me life right now! To say I am obsessed with the spooky new Netflix original series would be an understatement. I am currently only five episodes in (so no spoilers please!), but am absolutely mesmerized by the storyline, the characters, the actors (it is amazing how much the child stars resemble their adult counterparts!), and the locations. Sadly, it was filmed in Georgia (the eponymous house is actually Bisham Manor in LaGrange), so I won’t be stalking its locales anytime soon, but when I brought the show up to my grandma recently, she mentioned that the most frightening movie she had ever seen was the original Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff as The Monster. She first watched the 1931 classic as a child and said it absolutely terrified her and still does to this day. The conversation reminded me that I had stalked Karloff’s former residence a few years back, but had failed to blog about it. I learned about the pad thanks to my friend Scott Michaels’ 2013 article for Discover L.A. titled “The 13 Scariest Places in Los Angeles,” in which he wrote, “Frankenstein’s monster thespian Boris Karloff was a gentleman who had a passion for gardening. He was especially proud of his rose garden. Legend has it that several of Karloff’s friends willed their cremains to him, so they could permanently reside in his rose bed.” So the actor who played what is arguably moviedom’s most famous monster supposedly buried the ashes of multiple friends in his yard? There couldn’t be a more appropriate locale for my Haunted Hollywood posts! I honestly don’t know how the place sat in my stalking backlog for so long. Thank you, Grandma, for reminding me about it!

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Though I was most interested in the 1927 Spanish-style hacienda thanks to its Karloff connection, it turns out that the property’s macabre history dates back prior to his ownership. In July 1923, the place was leased by Katharine Hepburn, who had just won a role in A Bill of Divorcement which prompted a move from the East Coast to the West. Per the book Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites, written by my buddy E.J. from The Movieland Directory, she lived in the dwelling with best friend, actress Eve March, and a family maid. All soon became convinced the pad, most notably the pool apartment, was haunted. E.J. writes, “One night March watched the door latch open and close by itself, and the next day Hepburn and March watched a ghostly man walk from the pool into the apartment, closing the door behind him. The first time Hepburn’s younger brother Richard stayed overnight, he told her that a young man stood over his bed all night staring down at him. He was too afraid to move until sunrise.” Because of the hauntings, Katharine did not stay on the premises long, moving out in 1934 at which point Karloff (real name William Henry Pratt) moved in with his wife, Dorothy.

The property quickly became his paradise. During his tenure, Boris kept a menagerie of animals on the grounds including a tortoise, ducks, chickens, six dogs, a cow, a parrot, and a 400-pound pig named Violet. In the book Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff: The Expanded Story of a Haunting Collaboration, author Gregory William Mank says, “For Karloff, home was his Mexican farmhouse — a bizarre aerie, high amidst the oak trees and honeysuckle of Coldwater Canyon, in the mountains above Beverly Hills. Twenty-three twenty Bowmont Drive, with its pool and beautiful, rambling gardens, previously had been the address of Katharine Hepburn. The actress sincerely believed a ghost haunted the house, moving the furniture, jiggling the latch on Ms. Hepburn’s bedroom door and looming over the guest bed — so terrifying Hepburn’s brother Richard that he couldn’t sleep ‘one single night’ during his visit. After Kate’s friend Laura Harding tried to have her dogs ferret out the ghost — to no avail — Hepburn vacated, and Boris and Dorothy had moved into the haunted hacienda in the spring of 1934. ‘We felt rather sorry for the ghost,’ said Laura Harding — after all, the spirit had likely met its match in the star who’d played Frankenstein’s Monster! Perhaps Boris scared away the ghost, or maybe they were kindred spirits, for the star loved his ‘little farm.’”

Indeed he did. Dorothy and Boris created an oasis at the home, which at the time boasted a sprawling 2.5 acres of land, planting laurel and eucalyptus trees (which still line the property to this day), farming a massive fruit orchard, landscaping a rambling lawn, and cultivating a plethora of terraced gardens including a large rose garden with more than 20 varieties of the flower. It is there that Karloff is said to have sprinkled the remains of more than one friend, which I can presume only added to the hauntings. As Mank relayed to the Los Angeles Times in 1995, Boris buried “under the roses the cremated remains of old stock-company cronies whose last wish was to rest in their now-famous friend’s Eden.” A supremely bizarre request, especially considering the actor’s horror background, but I guess the heart wants what the heart wants.

Karloff lived on the premises until his divorce from Dorothy in 1946. The majority of the land surrounding the hacienda was subsequently subdivided, leaving behind a much smaller 0.95-acre lot. Today, the pad boasts 5 bedrooms, 6 baths, 4,984 square feet, white-washed masonry walls, tile and hardwood flooring throughout, beamed ceilings, multiple patios and courtyards, a whopping SIX fireplaces including one outside, an exterior pizza oven, a chef’s kitchen, a pool, maid’s quarters, a wine cellar, a bar, a library, a tiled staircase, a den, and a sun room. The residence, which you can see photos of here, is absolutely exquisite! It very closely resembles the La Quinta Resort & Club, at least how the hotel looked prior to its recent (and unfortunate) remodel. Sadly, outside of the front gate and garage (pictured below via Google Street View), virtually none of the estate is visible from the road. (Because the latter is situated quite a distance up from the former, I did not realize it was part of the Karloff residence when I was stalking the place and failed to snap photos of it.)

As I’ve said before, though, that’s why God created aerial views.

Several other stars have called the Bowmont pad home over the years, including rocker Eric Burdon, who also reportedly moved out due to the hauntings, and director Gottfried Reinhardt. Per The Movieland Directory, producer Leland Hayward and his wife, actress Margaret Sullavan, lived on the premises at one point, as well. But the home’s storied pedigree doesn’t end there! Realtor Elaine Young told People magazine in 1991 that the property, which she was responsible for leasing out during the many years it belonged to Producers Studio head Fred Jordan, has a “quasi-demonic history.” LOVE IT. Young says, “Donovan [Leitch] leased it and did something to the toilet paper rack. Elliott Gould leased it and threw the furniture in the pool. Everybody did something.” Jordon sold to Frasier actress Peri Gilpin in 2003 who subsequently sold to Friends writers/producers Scott Silveri and Shana Goldberg-Meehan in 2007. Per Yolanda’s Little Black Book, the abode is currently owned by producer John Goldwyn and his husband Jeffrey Klein, who bought it for $7.3 million in 2015. Despite the multiple changes of hand, the dwelling apparently remains largely in its original state because in Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, Mank writes, “ . . . a recent owner relates that a late-in-life Katharine Hepburn (who died in 2003) suddenly appeared one day without warning, mysteriously dressed in black and inspecting the house and grounds. ‘Well,’ said Hepburn to the owner, ‘I’m glad to see you haven’t f*cked the place up!’”

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to Scott Michaels, of the Find A Death website, for writing about this location and to my Grandma for reminding me of it!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Boris Karloff’s former house is located at 2320 Bowmont Drive in Beverly Crest.

October 17, 2018October 16, 2019

Ray Raymond and Dorothy MacKaye’s Former House

I have been told that I am ridiculously easy to buy presents for. Anything pink or sparkly, dainty and gold, or having to do with Los Angeles automatically fits the bill. Some gifts are so perfectly suited to me when it comes to the latter category, in fact, that I have received them on multiple occasions. Case in point – The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals, a 514-page tome dedicated to Tinseltown’s most famous crimes, which my mom originally bought me for Christmas in 2013. When the Grim Cheaper came across the publication a few years later while perusing the stacks at our local Barnes & Noble, he snatched it right up and gave it to me the following Christmas, not realizing that my mom had already done so. Both copies remain on my bookshelf today, heavily highlighted, dog-eared and annotated. Chapter 5, titled “The ‘Almost Perfect’ Murder,” about the 1927 killing of Ray Raymond at the hands of his wife’s lover, especially piqued my interest. Prior to reading it, I had never heard of the actor or his homicide, but I devoured the story in minutes, promptly added the address of his former home to my To-Stalk List, and finally made it out there last month while prepping for my Haunted Hollywood posts.

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Ray Raymond was born in San Francisco in 1887. Described as a “song and dance man,” he found success on the vaudeville circuit early in life. While acting in a play in New York in 1921, Ray’s eye was caught by his much younger leading lady, Dorothy ‘Dot’ MacKaye (also sometimes written as “Mackaye”), and, despite a 12-year age gap – he was 34, she was 22 – and the fact that he was already married, he quickly took up with her, ditching his wife in the process. Ray and Dot reportedly wedded that August (though it has been claimed the two never actually tied the knot) and a baby girl the couple named Valerie was born the following year. In 1926, the family of three moved to Los Angeles, eventually settling into a small bungalow located at 2261 Cheremoya Avenue in the Hollywood Hills.

Their 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,622-square-foot home, which was originally built in 1922, still stands today boasting a 0.16-acre lot and a detached 2-car garage, which is just visible in the images below.

The quaint dwelling, largely hidden from the road, was not the site of many happy times for Ray and Dot. Not only did Ray reportedly have a major drinking problem, but he spent most of his time touring the country playing vaudeville shows. And Dot . . . well, Dot was in love with someone else.

During Raymond’s time away, MacKaye rekindled her longtime friendship with so-called “tough guy” actor Paul Kelly, whom she had met as a teenager while acting in a play in New York. Born in 1899, Kelly was a true child star having appeared in more than 55 movies before he even turned 18. The red-haired looker moved to Los Angeles around the same time as Dot and Ray and settled into an apartment conveniently located right around the corner from their home at 2420 North Gower Street. It was not long before the two were engaged in a torrid affair, of which neither took great pains to hide. As Dot’s maid later testified, when Raymond was touring, the young mom often did not come home at night, instead choosing to stay over at Paul’s. Newspapers of the day also reported that the couple regularly asked Kelly’s “Japanese houseboy” Jungle to serve them meals and gin fizzes, their apparent drink of choice, in bed.

Ray returned from touring in mid-April 1927 distraught over the affair. He confronted Dot about it and she did little to deny things. Ray also mentioned his wife’s indiscretion to friends, which apparently set Paul over the edge. On the evening of April 16th, under the pretense of going out to buy Easter eggs (I’m not making that up), Dot headed to Paul’s place where the two got drunk on gin fizzes (natch). She told her lover that Ray had been spilling the tea to his buddies and Paul, inexplicably enraged, called Ray to confront him. Raymond suggested that Kelly come to the Cheremoya house to talk in person and, at around 7:30 p.m., Paul headed over. Upon arriving, Ray demanded to know where Dot was. An argument ensued and things rather quickly turned physical, but the 5’7”, 135-pound Raymond was no match for the 6’, 180-pound Kelly, who was 12 years his junior. Paul pummeled Ray, punching him six times in the head and the actor collapsed to the floor. Ray’s housekeeper and daughter witnessed the entire altercation.

Though Ray appeared to be OK in the hours following the fight, he fell into a coma the next day. Dot, hoping to avoid publicity and questioning from authorities, called in a favor from a doctor who was a personal friend and her husband was quietly transported to Queen of Angels Hospital (now Dream Center) at 2301 Bellevue Avenue in Echo Park. The damage had been done, though. Raymond passed away at 5:20 a.m. on April 19th. After being slipped $500, Dot’s doctor friend signed off on the death certificate, claiming “natural causes.” Someone at the hospital smelled a rat, though, and notified the newspapers that an actor who was badly beaten had died. Police were contacted and an autopsy was ordered. Ray, it was found, had actually died from brain hemorrhaging caused by the beating. Paul and Dot were arrested.

Their trials were reportedly the most attended in California history up until that time. Kelly wound up being convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to one to ten years at San Quentin. He served two and was released on August 2nd, 1929. Dot was convicted of compounding a felony and was sentenced to one to three years, also at San Quentin. She was released after ten months. The two, of course, found their way back to each other and were married in February 1931. Hollywood inexplicably embraced the duo despite the murder. As Paul Drexler stated in a 2018 San Francisco Examiner article about the case, “Killing someone is not generally considered a good career move. It is frowned on in the bible and there is no mention of this technique in any of the books of Dale Carnegie, Stephen Covey, or Tony Robbins. For Paul Kelly, however, this act secured a long and successful acting career.” Kelly indeed made a huge comeback, starring in hundreds of films post-release. He even won a Tony award in 1948! Dot also walked away from the affair fairly unscathed, penning a play based upon her experience behind bars titled Women in Prison, which was later made into the 1933 movie Ladies They Talk About starring Barbara Stanwyck. The couple’s wedded bliss did end up to be rather short-lived, though. On the evening of January 2nd, 1940, Dot was involved in a car accident and, in an eerie echo of Ray’s death, while she appeared fine in the hours following, she passed away from internal injuries three days later. Kelly, who later remarried, died of a heart attack at the age of 57 in 1956. That karma never forgets! Ray and Dorothy’s marital home is the only element of the whole sordid tale that seems to have fared well in the end. Per Zillow, the tiny bungalow is currently worth a whopping $1.58 million!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Ray Raymond and Dorothy MacKaye’s former home is located at 2261 Cheremoya Avenue in the Hollywood Hills.

October 10, 2018October 16, 2019

Gia Scala’s Former House

I am embarrassingly ignorant when it comes to Old Hollywood. So much so that when a fellow stalker named Alan tipped me off to a few celebrity death sites including that of Gia Scala via a comment on my Challenge Lindsay page in early 2017, I thought he was referring to the ‘70s supermodel who was the subject of an eponymous biographical film starring Angelina Jolie. As soon as I inputted the name into Google, I realized my mistake – he was actually alluding to a raven-haired actress best known for her role in 1961’s The Guns of Navarone. Upon researching further, I became quite a bit transfixed by the starlet’s mysterious death, as well as the pedigreed Hollywood Hills home where it occurred. So I added the address to my To-Stalk List and headed on out there earlier this year.

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Born Giovanna Scoglio in Liverpool, London on March 3rd, 1934, Scala migrated to Italy with her parents at three months old. At 15, she headed to the U.S., Long Island specifically, where she lived with an aunt and attended high school. The acting bug hit her early and upon graduation, Gia moved to New York City, began studying under Stella Adler and worked as a reservations clerk at Scandinavian Airlines to make ends meet. She landed a studio contract in 1954, a role in All that Heaven Allows with Rock Hudson the following year, and fame came shortly thereafter.

Image result for gia scala

Sadly, her years in show business were marred by scandalous headlines and severe despondency, both largely stemming from the passing of her mother in 1958, a death which she was said to have never gotten over. Gia attempted to jump off the Waterloo Bridge just a few months later while filming The Angry Hills in London.

Scala found temporary happiness in 1959 when she married actor/stock broker Don Burnett. The two settled into a picturesque 1940 Cape Cod home boasting two bedrooms, three baths, maid’s quarters, and a den at 7944 Woodrow Wilson Drive in Hollywood Hills West.

The couple eventually separated in 1969, divorced the following year and Gia was given the residence in the settlement. Following the dissolution of her marriage, she found herself disconsolate and the subject of tabloid fodder once again. In May 1971, the actress was arrested for drunk driving and, during the subsequent hearing, she passed out in the courtroom. The judge sent her to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation, which caused her to miss a different hearing for a different charge – this one for assaulting a parking lot attendant the month prior. Photos from that arrest are a far cry from images of the actress taken early in her career. In July, Gia suffered injuries, including the loss of a portion of her index finger, after her car overturned on an embankment. It took rescue workers 45 minutes to retrieve her from the wreckage. In November, she was in court yet again for harassing her ex-husband who had since remarried. Gia, Burnett claimed, had not only set his car on fire, but had kicked a hole in his front door. Scala was not in a good place.

Things came to a tragic end on April 30th, 1972. As reported in the newspapers of the day, early that morning, Gia got into an argument with Larry Langston and three other “hippie-type” young men who were staying in her home. The actress had apparently hired the men to do odd jobs around the property. When Gia informed them the arrangement was no longer working out, an altercation occurred. Langston and his friends, who claimed Gia had been drinking heavily and taking barbiturates, decided to leave. They supposedly put her to bed at 6 a.m. Langston then returned that evening at 8 p.m. to gather his belongings and say goodbye to Scala. When he headed upstairs to her bedroom, he found her nude lifeless body sprawled on the bed surrounded by both liquor and prescription bottles – which all sounds rather suspicious to me. Gia fires four men working in her home, an argument ensues and one of those men then finds her dead a short time later? That’s a lot of red flags, especially considering some reports claim her body was bruised and her pillow stained with blood. Coroner Thomas Noguchi (who also performed Marilyn Monroe’s autopsy) ruled the death accidental, though, caused by acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication and advanced arteriosclerosis. Gia’s good friend, male model William Ramage, thinks the latter explains her erratic behavior in the years leading up to her death. As he said in a 2009 interview, “Her brain simply was not getting enough oxygen.” It was a grim ending for someone with such potential.

Shortly after the actress’ passing, her home was purchased by Sally Kellerman, aka Major Margaret ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan from M*A*S*H, who proceeded to live there for the next four decades, initially with first husband, Rick Edelstein, and then with second husband, Jonathan D. Krane, and their two children, Jack and Hannah. At some point, she also purchased the cottage next door at 7932 Woodrow Wilson. Jack, who grew up on the premises, became convinced the two pads were haunted. As he told People magazine in 2016, “I always asked if someone died in one of these houses, and my parents said no. I have always felt something strange. That house is haunted, for sure. I’ve had a few ghost stories over there. It’s creepy.” He didn’t elaborate on who exactly the spectral visitors were, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one was Gia Scala.

Several years after moving in, Kellerman invited her friend Frank Gehry over for a meal. The renowned architect took one look at the property and immediately suggested a renovation. As Sally told the Chicago Tribune, “Frank Gehry came to dinner and he was like, ‘This is how you live, big movie star? We can gut the upstairs, and change everything in every room, and add a three-story contemporary wing with a rooftop garden.’ So I have a combination Frank Gehry-Cape Cod house.” (The three-story contemporary addition is pictured below.)

Gehry completed his work on the pad in 1983. During the renovation, he left many of the dwelling’s original, traditional elements intact, partially covering them with modern touches. The result of his efforts is a home that looks much like Gehry’s own residence in Santa Monica.

Sadly, Kellerman and Krane lost the property to foreclosure in 2014. You can check out some photos of what it looked like around that time here. It was then snatched up by flippers who gave the place yet another renovation before putting it on the market once again in 2015. (Post-reno pics can be viewed here.) The home, which today boasts 5 bedrooms, 6 baths, 4,412 square feet, a pool, a spa, beamed ceilings, a massive walk-in closet, gardens, and a 0.22-acre lot, was purchased later that year by One Direction’s Niall Horan for $4 million. But its Hollywood pedigree doesn’t end there! Per the 2015 real estate listing, at some point during his pre-acting days Harrison Ford did carpentry work on the residence. Talk about some major Tinseltown connections!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Alan for telling me about this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Gia Scala’s former home is located at 7944 Woodrow Wilson Drive in Hollywood Hills West.

October 8, 2018October 16, 2019

Neve Campbell’s Former Haunted House

I love a good haunted house, especially at this time of year. One owned by a celebrity is even better. One owned by the star of my favorite horror film of all time? Well, I can’t think of anything more thrilling – or more perfectly suited to my annual October postings. So when I came across a mention of a ghost-inhabited pad formerly belonging to the Scream Queen herself, Miss Neve Campbell, in the book Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites (written by my buddy E.J. Fleming, from the Movieland Directory website), I just about came unglued and promptly added the place to my To-Stalk List. Identifying the residence in person wound up taking quite a bit of legwork once I finally got out there, though, thanks to a mysterious and misleading address placard. But more on that in a bit.

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Per Berg Properties, Neve purchased the 3-bedroom, 4-bath, 2,347-square-foot home at 8875 Wonderland Avenue in 1996 for $745,000. Upon moving into the dwelling with then husband Jeff Colt that summer, shortly after wrapping production on the first Scream installment, Campbell, a classically-trained ballerina, installed a dance studio on the premises. Other amenities included a pool, a spa, a 0.17-acre lot, and plenty of privacy thanks to a large amount of foliage surrounding the perimeter. Of the purchase, the excited actress told Detour magazine, “I just moved into my first house with Jeff Colt and we’re very, very excited. It’s in the Hollywood Hills . . . all of a sudden I’m obsessed about houses and furniture. I walk around the Party of Five set thinking, ‘That’s a nice table.’”

Things weren’t all sunshine and roses, though. As author Elina Furman explains in her 2000 book Neve Campbell: An Unauthorized Biography, the star awakened one night “after sensing what she believed to be the presence of a young woman’s ghost. Concluding that her new house was haunted, Neve dubbed her resident specter Madame X. The story got even more interesting when she discovered that a twenty-two-year-old maid had been brutally murdered in the house in 1991. The domestic was working for a mystery writer when a delivery man entered the home and committed the crime. Years later, the furnace in Campbell’s house would turn off and on by itself and the lights would dim of their own accord. Unwilling to be frightened out of her new home, Neve made friends with the spirit, much as her character in The Canterville Ghost had befriended Simon de Canterville. She now considers the specter one of the family. ‘She’s cool. I’m cool. We don’t bug each other, so it’s all right,’ she confirmed to Detour in March 1998.”

The actress also talked about the haunting during her 2011 press tour for Scream 4 (though she mentions living in the home with friends and not her ex-husband). As she told Daily Mail, “I know that ghosts exist because I’ve seen one. A few years ago I moved into a haunted house in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, with some friends. It turned out that it was inhabited by the ghost of a woman who had been murdered there in 1991. Doors would repeatedly slam, windows would open and ashtrays would fly off dressers. Then there were times when the ghost would actually walk into the room. After a while it felt normal. I’d pass her in the hallway and casually wish her good morning.”

Though I have no doubt as to Neve’s claims about the residence being haunted, I do question if a murder actually happened on the premises. I cannot find a reference to such a killing anywhere – though searching for a homicide that occurred on Wonderland Avenue, or in the Laurel Canyon area in general, is admittedly difficult considering that almost every result kicked back has to do with the infamous Wonderland murders, which took place just down the street in 1981. My hunch, though, is that the story is pure conjecture, a tale told to Campbell by a mischievous neighbor or perhaps a real estate agent with a penchant for the macabre.

Though I can’t say for certain whether or not a murder occurred there, one definite odd element concerning the property is its address placard, which reads “8909.” When I first showed up to the corner of Wonderland Avenue and Holly Place, where Neve’s former pad was supposed to be located per both Google and my GPS, I was thoroughly confused to see the 8909 number. Figuring both map programs were off by a few hundred feet or so, I proceeded to walk up and down the block looking for 8875 Wonderland. I came up empty. I was further surprised upon returning to 8909 to discover that its address did not coincide numerically with its neighbors. I surmised that the number had to have been changed at some point, snapped some photos of the place, and headed home to investigate the matter further.

Searching Google and newspapers.com for “8909 Wonderland Avenue” and “8909 Holly Place” yielded pretty much nada. So I headed over to the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety website to look through old records. An inquiry into that database for “8909 Holly” also yielded nothing. But “8875 Wonderland” kicked back a treasure trove of info, all of which assured me that the house I took photos of was not only Neve’s former residence, but that it bears the address 8875. As you can see in the permit below, filed in 1990, 8875 is noted as being on the corner of Holly and Wonderland, right where my GPS said it would be.

Another permit I dug up from that same year featured a diagram of 8875 that perfectly matches the layout and placement visible in aerial views of the structure with the 8909 placard.

And a parcel map available on the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor website also shows 8875 Wonderland in the exact spot where the 8909 placard is currently hung. Why a different address number is displayed at the property is a complete mystery, but what I do know is that Neve Campbell’s former haunted house is most definitely located on the northeast corner of Holly Place and Wonderland Avenue.

The actress sold the pad in February 2000 for $850,000 and it has not changed hands since. I guess the current owner doesn’t mind having a phantom roommate, either.

Big THANK YOU to E.J., of the Movieland Directory website, for finding this location!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Neve Campbell’s former haunted house is located at 8875 Wonderland Avenue in Hollywood Hills West.

November 27, 2017November 26, 2017

Richard Simmons’ House

I, along with the rest of the world, became absolutely transfixed by the first season of Serial, the 2014 podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig which detailed the murder of Baltimore teenager Hae Min Lee and the subsequent conviction of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed for the killing. Not only did the Grim Cheaper and I listen to the entire thing three times through, but we also voraciously devoured Truth and Justice (née Serial Dynasty) and Undisclosed, two of Serial’s unaffiliated offshoots that further investigated the crime. Since then, I have constantly been on the lookout for other engrossing podcasts, but finding ones that fit the bill has proved difficult. Some, like In the Dark and Accused, definitely hit the mark. Others like Someone Knows Something and My Favorite Murder were horribly disappointing (though to be fair I only listened the first season of the former). Then in February of this year, Missing Richard Simmons dropped and I felt as if my prayers had been answered! The GC and I couldn’t get enough! Created by director/producer Dan Taberski, a close friend of the eccentric fitness guru, the series is extremely well-executed, intelligently written, and absolutely gripping. Prior to the podcast, I knew very little about Simmons and never would have thought he’d be someone I’d be interested in listening to 3.5 hours worth of dialog on, but thanks to Taberski’s engaging narrative, I was hooked right from the start. At the forefront of the story is Richard’s palatial Hollywood Hills West mansion. So I, of course, just had to stalk the place.

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For those who haven’t listened to Finding Richard Simmons (and if not, you really should!) and don’t know much about the mystery shrouding the icon’s life as of late, I’ll break it down for you. On February 15th, 2014, Richard did not show up for the exercise class he had been teaching thrice weekly at Slimmons, his Beverly Hills studio, since 1974. No explanation was given – nor was one given when he failed to show up the following week. At the same time, Simmons also cut off ties to his legions of regulars and, from what it seems, all of his close friends, including Taberski. His calls, emails, and texts just ceased. He also stopped talking to the media, stopped giving interviews, and stopped doing promotions. Richard Simmons hasn’t been seen in public since (unless you count his blanket-covered homecoming after a four-day visit to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in April 2017). Reportedly holing up in his Colonial-style mansion, rarely (if ever) venturing past the fence line, the star pulled a gone guy – with his longtime housekeeper, Teresa Reveles, acting as a gatekeeper. Friends, colleagues, and fans were understandably concerned and attempted to get in touch. Richard wasn’t talking, though. According to the podcast, outside of his brother, manager, publicist, a friend in Minnesota, and Teresa, Simmons went radio silent on the world.

Why the silence? Why the hiding? Why the mystery? That is what Taberski sought to find out. And he left no stone unturned in his quest for the truth – contacting countless friends and associates of Richard’s, traveling to New Orleans to interview his brother, and showing up at Simmons’ house (where he used to be a frequent guest) a couple of times unannounced. All of it is recorded, documented, and broadcast to tantalizing effect in the podcast. On his trek to the massive dwelling during the taping of episode 1, titled “Where’s Richard?”, Dan is shocked to discover that a 6-foot wall has been erected around the residence since the last time he visited. As you can see in the Google Street View images below from June 2011 and May 2014, while there has always been a fence surrounding Simmons’ home, since his self-imposed exile, a secondary barricade, one built of concrete, has replaced the white picket enclosure that once ran along the property line. The result is a house that is much less accessible and welcoming, which I’m sure is the point.

A funny side-note – Teresa, Richard’s housekeeper who I mentioned earlier and who figures prominently in Missing Richard Simmons, is visible moving Simmons’ trash cans (just as she did during Taberski’s second visit to the house in episode 2, “Stakeout”) in Google’s Street View imagery from November 2015.

According to the Mary Cummins website, Richard purchased the two-story residence in 1982 for $670,000.

Per Zillow, the 1937 pad, which features 4 bedrooms, 5 baths, 4,119 square feet of living space, a 0.56-acre lot, and a 2-car detached garage, is worth a whopping $5.2 million today.

The property also boasts a massive black-bottom swimming pool, as you can see in the aerial view below.

Though definitely ornate, the house is not nearly as over-the-top and ostentatious as one would expect considering its owner.

Simmons has been known to give the place its own grandiose spin, though. As Taberski says in episode 1, “He loves to tell people his house was featured as a plantation house stand-in in the opening credits of Gone with the Wind, but I’m gonna call bullshit on that one.” Dan was probably smart to do so. I did the legwork and watched the GWTW credits and while Richard’s residence does bear a striking resemblance to a property featured in it (pictured below), I do not believe the two are one and the same.

I was most excited to check out the home’s mailbox, which, as noted in the podcast, boasts a touch of the star’s ostentatious flair and is, thankfully, still visible from the street despite the new fencing. As you can see below, the letter drop is a miniature replica of Simmons’ antebellum mansion.

So what is the outcome of Taberski’s quest, you ask? Does he get to the bottom of the icon’s disappearance? How does Missing Richard Simmons end? Sadly, Dan does not really uncover any definitive answers. All he hears over and over again is that Richard is tired and wants to retreat from public life – which he is perfectly entitled to do. But to do so by cutting off ties to virtually everyone he has ever been close with and essentially becoming a recluse overnight? Well, that smacks of something problematic (in my opinion, at least). What that something is, I have no idea. But I don’t begrudge Dan – or the rest of Richard’s friends – for wanting to find out. And though the podcast was met with quite a bit of controversy, I believe Taberski’s intentions were pure. He just wanted to make sure that Simmons, someone he cares a lot about, is OK. In doing so, he created a podcast that showcases the amazing person that Richard is. Prior to listening, I had no idea of Simmons’ incredible generosity and kindness, nor his astute business sense. All I really knew of the guru centered around his eccentricity, his love of costumes, and the fortune he made sweatin’ to the oldies. Dan taught me – and legions of other listeners – that Richard is so much more. I hope that whatever he is currently doing and for whatever reasons he is doing it, that he is happy.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Richard Simmons’ house is located at 1350 Belfast Drive in Hollywood Hills West.

June 30, 2017June 29, 2017

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour

My knowledge of Elvis Presley is basically limited to the fact that he was a singer (duh!), his 1957 drafting into the army served as the inspiration for the play and movie Bye Bye Birdie, he called a spectacular Tennessee mansion named Graceland home (the manse is the setting of one of my favorite plays ever, Ellen Byron’s aptly titled Graceland), and he learned his famous hip-thrusting moves from a young Forrest Gump. (Ha, just kidding about that last one.) So yeah, virtually everything I know about The King was gleaned from some sort of movie or stage production. (Truth be told, most of my knowledge comes from movie, stage, or TV productions.) I’m always interested in learning more about anyone or anything Hollywood-related, though. So when my good friend Steffi (who surprised me with a visit recently for my 40th birthday) mentioned that she wanted to take a tour of the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway in Palm Springs, I jumped at the chance.

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I have stalked the exterior of the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway a couple of times over the years and covered its history pretty extensively in this July 2012 post. So as not to repeat myself, today’s write-up will focus mainly on the tour and only include a brief recap of the property’s background.

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway was originally built in 1960 for real estate developer Robert Alexander. Designed by the mid-century-modern master William Krisel, the layout of the sprawling pad consists of four perfect circles situated on three levels.

Elvis leased the residence, which Look magazine dubbed “The House of Tomorrow,” for a year beginning in September 1966 and used it as a vacation home. He quickly fell in love with Palm Springs during his visits to the dwelling – so much so that he decided to marry his longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Beaulieu, in the property’s backyard next to the swimming pool. As the story goes, gossip columnist Rona Barrett, who lived nearby, caught wind of the impending nuptials and announced it on her nightly TV show. A media firestorm quickly erupted and journalists descended upon the home. The frenzy caused Elvis and Priscilla to rethink their decision and in the early morning hours of May 1st, 1967, the two headed to Las Vegas, courtesy of Frank Sinatra’s private plane, and tied the knot in a suite at the Aladdin hotel. They returned to their Palm Springs pad later that afternoon, where Elvis carried Priscilla up the front steps, across the threshold and upstairs into the bedroom, forever cementing the home’s status as the “Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway.” Two days later, the newly betrothed couple headed back to Graceland, though they visited the Hideaway several times throughout the year it was leased. Elvis eventually purchased a house of his own nearby, which he owned until he passed away in 1977. (You can read about that residence, located at 845 West Chino Canyon Road in Little Tuscany, here.)

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour begins at the threshold Elvis carried Priscilla over.

The tour is actually led by a longtime reader/fellow stalker named Michael (that’s him below), who I’ve been friends with on Facebook for years. Michael is a veritable expert on all things Elvis. There was literally no question about the singer that he couldn’t answer. Listening to his stories about Presley and anecdotes about the house was fascinating. I couldn’t have imagined anyone better to walk in the footsteps of The King with.

Setting foot inside the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway is like stepping back in time to 1967. The pad is virtually frozen in time from the days when The King called the place home.

Just beyond the threshold is a large sunken living room . . .

. . . where circle motifs can be found in abundance.

Not only is the room rounded . . .

. . . but the space boasts an amazing circular fireplace and hood . . .

. . . as well as a circular ottoman and a 64-foot curved banquette couch –

– the very same couch that was installed at the house during Elvis and Priscilla’s tenure.

Yep, that’s a photo of them sitting on said couch pictured below.

Amazingly, guests are not only allowed, but encouraged to sit on the couch to pose for photos.

From there, visitors are led into the circular kitchen . . .

. . . which features a rounded stove –

– a close-up of which you can see below;

a massive fridge and two ovens;

and an indoor BBQ (for those hot Palm Springs days when it is much too warm to do any outdoor grilling).

There it is open.

Visitors also get to check out the guest bathroom . . .

. . . which boasts a dressing-room-style mirror;

and a shower.

Obligatory Elvis bathroom selfie!

After passing through the jungle-themed sitting area . . .

. . . visitors are led up the very stairs that Elvis carried Priscilla up the night of their wedding . . .

. . . and into the master bedroom, which is fabulous.

Because of the home’s circular shape, regular photos just don’t do it justice.

It is much better showcased via panorama pics.

None of the furniture or furnishings in the residence are off-limits to guests. As was the case with the couch, visitors are invited to pose on Elvis and Priscilla’s bed, which Steffi and I gladly did!

We also got to catch a glimpse of the master bath . . .

. . . which boasts a massive sunken tub . . .

. . . as well as a built-in magazine rack and a bidet.

I honestly cannot recommend the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour more! It’s the perfect experience for fans of The King, those who want to catch a glimpse of the interior of a celebrity home, and architecture buffs alike.

Sadly, the property is currently for sale, so I am not sure how long tours will be offered.

For those in the market for a new pad, the 4-bedroom, 5-bath, 4,695-square-foot property, which features a pool, a tennis court, gardens, a fruit orchard, and three parcels of land, can be yours for a cool $7 million.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway is located at 1350 Ladera Circle in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs. Tours are offered daily at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and cost $35 for adults and $15 for children under 12. You can find out more information about the tour, as well as purchase tickets, here.

October 12, 2016September 29, 2017

Robert Pastorelli’s Former House

Growing up, I absolutely loved Murphy Brown. This was largely due to the antics of zany housepainter/nanny Eldin Bernecky, played by actor Robert Pastorelli. I adored Eldin so much in fact that when Pastorelli left the show in 1994, I stopped watching. I was heartbroken to learn of his death a decade later and was even more heartbroken when news came to light that he was being investigated as a suspect in the 1999 killing of his then girlfriend, Charemon Jonovich, at the time. Not surprisingly, the case fascinated me, so when I came across a Curbed LA article back in 2009 about the Hollywood Hills house where both deaths occurred, I immediately added the address to my To-Stalk List. And while I made it over there shortly thereafter, somehow in all of this time I never managed to blog about it. I had actually forgotten about the place until a couple of weeks ago when I sat down to look through all of my old stalking photographs in order to compile a database of yet-to-be-blogged Haunted Hollywood locales. As soon as I spotted the images, this one was moved right to the top of the list!

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The story of Robert Pastorelli’s life is a sad one. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1954, Robert set out on a path to become a professional boxer. A near-fatal car accident at the age of 19 derailed those plans and he began battling a drug problem shortly thereafter. During his twenties, Pastorelli moved to New York and became involved with the theatre scene. He eventually relocated to L.A., where he found success with small movie and television roles before finally hitting the big time when he landed the part of Eldin in 1988. He got clean around that same time, but just two years later tragedy struck when his then girlfriend died of AIDS, apparently the result of repeated drug use.

When Murphy Brown creator Diane English left the show in 1994, Pastorelli followed suit. Though he landed a starring role in another English sitcom, Double Rush, almost immediately, it was cancelled after only 12 episodes. Robert continued to work in Hollywood in the ensuing years, though not very successfully. Then in 1999 things really got bad. According to reports, at approximately 9:50 p.m. on March 15th of that year, Pastorelli’s 25-year-old live-in girlfriend Charemon shot herself in the head during an argument with the actor while in the master bedroom of their shared home. She died instantly. Their one-year-old daughter was asleep in another room. Pastorelli cooperated with authorities and the coroner ruled Charemon’s death “undetermined.” That ruling was later changed to “homicide,” though, according to Inside Edition which cited “staging of the crime scene and scientific evidence the firearm was handled after discharge” as the reasoning behind the adjustment. Pastorelli became the police’s number one suspect.

According to numerous articles, including this one from the Daily News, Pastorelli knew he was being investigated and that detectives were closing in and an arrest was likely imminent. He began using drugs again and on March 8th, 2004 the actor was found by an assistant, slumped over on his toilet with a syringe in his arm, dead from an accidental heroin overdose at the age of 49. It’s a sad story all around.

Pastorelli purchased his Hollywood Hills home in 1989 for $487,000. After his death, it was sold to a PR exec, who, in turn, put it on the market for $1.095 million in 2009. Per the listing from that year, the gated contemporary 1962 pad boasts 2 bedrooms, 1 ¾ baths, 1,726 square feet of living space, an open floor plan, a remodeled kitchen with stainless appliances, a fireplace, 360-degree views of the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory, and an “oversized party shower with direct access to the outdoor deck.” I’m not really sure what an “oversized party shower” is, but I’m guessing it’s not something I want. The residence wound up selling for $976,000 in May 2010. The photos below are from the 2009 MLS listing. You can check out some more images of the house here (and yes, the master bedroom, bathroom, and oversized party shower are pictured).

Though I have not been inside the house, I can attest to the fact that the views are stunning. The Hollywood Sign is literally right there!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Robert Pastorelli’s former house is located at 2751 Hollyridge Drive in the Hollywood Hills. Heidi and Spencer’s home from Season 5 of The Hills is located just up the street at 3132 Hollyridge Drive.

March 31, 2015March 31, 2015

Hacienda Palomino – Michael Jackson’s Former Las Vegas House

I am not really that into stalking celebrity homes (though I have quite a few of them on my site), the main reason being that typically little else besides a gate can be seen from the road. There are some exceptions, though. If there is a star I really like, or if I read about a residence in a book, or if a significant event happened there, or if the look of a place piques my interest, I am most definitely going to want to stalk it. The latter was the case with an estate that pop star Michael Jackson rented for a brief period time in Las Vegas. Now everyone knows that I absolutely love me some MJ, but even so, I normally would not be interested in visiting a residence where he only lived for a short stint. When I saw photographs of Hacienda Palomino a couple of years ago, though, I practically started foaming at the mouth and immediately added the site to my Las Vegas To-Stalk list. In person, it did not disappoint!

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Shortly before Christmas 2006, Michael and his children left Ireland and returned to the U.S. The pop star had been living abroad since 2005 in an effort to escape the constant media attention that surrounded him following his child molestation trial. Jackson was in need of money, though, and when an opportunity arose to headline a Las Vegas show thanks to his friend, local businessman Jack Wishna, he flew back to America to start the endeavor. The show ultimately fell through due to MJ’s erratic behavior, but the singer wound up living in Sin City through 2008. He leased two houses during his stay. The first was at 2785 South Monte Cristo Way in the Spring Valley neighborhood and the second was at 2710 Palomino Lane in the Pinto Palomino area. According to this Las Vegas Review-Journal article, Jackson leased the Palomino house from 2007 until his death in 2009, though he had moved to L.A. by late 2008.

The sprawling 24,276-square-foot Hacienda Palomino compound is situated on 1.7 acres and boasts 7 bedrooms, 12 baths, an art gallery, a 7,394-square-foot chapel with seating for 74 guests, a grand salon, a cigar bar, an enclosed courtyard large enough to accommodate 300 people, a recording studio, parking for up to 50 cars, elevators, 3 kitchens, a conference room with seating for 60, and a 3,900-square-foot guest house with an underground tunnel leading to main residence. During his tenure at the property, Jackson and his three children lived in the guest house. MJ also housed his vast art collection, which was insured for $600 million, in the estate’s subterranean vault. You can see some photographs of the uh-ma-zing property here.

Hacienda Palomino was originally constructed in 1952 and, at the time, consisted of a small Spanish-style residence. The property was then redesigned and expanded into the massive compound that it is today by an eccentric theatre developer named Horst Schmidt in the ‘90s. When Schmidt passed away in 2004, Aner Iglesias, the honorary consular of El Salvador, purchased it. It was Iglesias who leased the residence to Jackson. After the King of Pop passed away, the house sat vacant until 2011 at which time Iglesias began renovating the site. He still owns the manse today, though it has gone on the market four times since Jackson’s death. It is currently used as Aner’s second home and as a special events venue. You can read a more in-depth history of the unique dwelling here.

Strange events seemed to follow Michael Jackson around throughout his life and a few happened during his time at Hacienda Palomino. One occurred on the evening of Elizabeth Taylor’s 75th birthday party. While Jackson was getting ready for the soiree, his brother Randy crashed his Mercedes through the front gate of the home and was almost shot by security. Randy then demanded to see the singer, claiming that the King of Pop owed him money. Michael refused, but was so distraught over the event that he bailed on Taylor’s birthday party and proceeded to hole up inside of the house for the next three days.

The most bizarre occurrence happened on the two-year anniversary of Jackson’s death, though, when Iglesias opened Hacienda Palomino to the public for a special tour. Apparently, while fans were waiting in line that morning, a random man arrived, opened up the doors to the estate and began leading groups through the residence. As it turns out, though, he had no authority to do so, nor did he have any sort of affiliation with the home, though he seemed to know quite a bit about it. He even offered attendees water! The police were soon called by the property’s caretaker and it was learned that the wannabe tour guide had a warrant out for his arrest. When cops arrived on the scene, he fled, though, and there was an ensuing chase throughout the neighborhood. It seems that even in death the King of Pop cannot escape the obscure events that surrounded him in life.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Hacienda Palomino, Michael Jackson’s former Las Vegas house, is located at 2710 Palomino Lane in Las Vegas. You can visit the property’s official website here.

December 17, 2014December 16, 2014

Nat King Cole’s Former House

My good friend Lavonna is all about Christmas. So when she came out to SoCal for a visit, along with Kim, Melissa and Maria, last month, she had a few suggestions of holiday-themed locations for me to stalk. One of the locales was the former Hancock Park home of Nat King Cole, the African American crooner who was the very first artist to record Bob Wells and Mel Tormé’s immensely popular carol “The Christmas Song” in 1946. So we ran right over to stalk the place on the ladies’ last day in L.A.

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Cole and his wife, Maria, purchased the sprawling 6,831-square-foot home in 1948. Reports vary as to what the couple paid for the property – some say $65,000, others say $75,000, and still others claim $85,000. Whatever the case, the Coles’ new neighbors were not happy about the sale. The Hancock Park Property Owners Association even stepped in, at one point offering Nat $25,000 plus the purchase price of the residence to walk away from the deal. Nat declined, causing one homeowner to approach the singer and inform him that he didn’t want “undesirables” living in the area. Cole responded, “Neither do I. If I see any, I’ll let you know.” Despite the opposition, Maria and Nat and their adopted daughter, Carole, moved into the Tudor-style residence on August 13th.

The massive 1924 property, which sits on a 0.7-acre corner plot of land, boasts five bedrooms, five baths, maids’ quarters, a library with a fireplace, a master suite with a fireplace, a tennis court, a guest house, a pool house, a pool and two patios.

In a May 2014 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Nat and Maria’s second oldest daughter, singer Natalie Cole, recounts growing up in the home as an idyllic experience. The holidays were an especially magical time. She says, “Christmas was a big holiday in our house. My dad was always home for the holiday and would have the fireplace going and music playing. We had a huge tree on the front lawn that must have been 40 feet tall. We’d decorate it and the lawn with lights and a Santa Claus that waved, and reindeer that rocked back and forth to simulate running.” You can see a photo of the Coles in front of the dwelling during the time that they lived there here. Today, much more foliage surrounds the property.

In 1951, federal agents seized the home from Nat for non-payment of $146,000 in back income taxes. He quickly paid the amount owed and reclaimed the property. The singer passed away in 1965, and Maria continued to live at the residence until 1972, at which time she sold it to a family friend and moved to the east coast. Of the home’s sale, Natalie says, “My sister and I were so upset. It was all we had left of our childhood and our dad. From time to time, I drive past the house today, but I’ve never stopped to surprise the owners with, ‘Hi, sorry to bother you. I used to live here.’ Seeing it is so bittersweet. From what I can tell, it’s still a beautiful home. Only black families have lived there since we left, and all have taken wonderful care of it. I would love to buy it someday. I’m curious to know what it’s even worth at this point.” Well, Natalie, here you go – according to Zillow, the pad is currently valued at a whopping $5,228,372!

You can watch a video of Nat King Cole singing “The Christmas Song” by clicking below. An interesting bit of holiday trivia for you – apparently Bob Wells and Mel Tormé had not set out to write a classic carol when penning “The Christmas Song.” Instead, during one particularly hot day in the summer of 1944, the two were simply trying to keep cool by jotting down terms having to do with cold weather. Forty-five minutes later and one of the most popular Christmas songs in history was born, boasting those classic lyrics we all know and love like “Jack Frost nipping at your nose.”

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Big THANK YOU to my good friend Lavonna for telling me about this location and suggesting that I blog it! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Nat King Cole’s former house is located at 401 South Muirfield Road in Hancock Park.