Tucked behind hedges and gates on Sunset Blvd. in the Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles was once a huge 40 room Spanish style mansion. The house was once the home of Rudy Vallee but in 1957 it was sold to Jayne Mansfield. Ms Mansfield loved the color pink ( it was her signature color) so she decided that her dream home should be painted a light pink. The Pink Palace was then born. Jayne Mansfield had her own ideas as to what was right for her dream home and naturally the interiors were also mainly in shades of pink. Carpeting in the living room as well as the walls. The master bathroom was cover in pink fur and included a heart shaped tub. Mansfield's husband Mr. Universe aka Mickey Hargitay was handy around the house and built her a heart shaped swimming pool as well as a heart shaped fireplace. Jayne mansfield also being the queen of publicity stunts was also able to arrange to get over $150,000 (1950's dollars) worth of free furniture by writing to furniture companies and decorating firms asking for free samples in exchange for publicity.
This was her dream home and she loved it! She loved to show it off and have it photographed for magazines. This was her home until her tragic death 1967. Hargitay lived in the home with their children for many years after her death but did in time sell it. The house had several famous owners after the sale including Ringo Starr, Cass Elliot and finally Englebert Humperdinck. Humperdinck sold the home in 2002 and it was sadly raised.
Do you remember Claus and Sunny von Bulow? She was an American socialite and he ersatz European nobility. They lived in Clarendon Court a Newport, Rhode Island summer cottage/mansion until the fateful day when Sunny's son, from a previous marriage, Alexander von Auersperg discovered her in a coma. A dramatic and sensational trial and re-trail then followed as Claus had been charged and eventually aquitted with attempted murder. Perhaps you have seen the movie "Reversal of Fortune" starring Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons. Sunny survived in a vegetative coma from 1980 until her death in 2008.
The house where all this drama happened Clarendon Court was built in 1904 by rail tycoon Edward Knight and his wife Clara. In 1956 the house was used as a movie set for the film "High Society" as musical starring Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. Clarendon Court is 7 acre estate located on Bellevue Ave in Newport and has sea frontage overlooking the famous Cliff Walk. Sunny von Bulow's children from her first marriage to Prince von Auersperg Alexander and Ala along with their estranged step-sister Cosmia von Bulow through a legal agreement that excluded Claus sold the house in 1988.
Clarendon Court has just been sold again for slightly over 13 million dollars. What shall become of the grande dame now? The possibilities are endless.
Like Charles Dickens' Haversham mansion in "Great Expectations" there is an empty house in the hills of Los Feliz looking down upon the city of Los Angeles. Unoffically known as the Los Feliz Murder Mansion, 2475 Glendower Place is the site of a murder that took place on December 6, 1959. The house at the time was occupied by a Dr. Harold Perelson and his family. On that night Dr. Perelson beat his wife to death with a hammer. In the house were his three children. The eldest Perelson daughter escaped the house and ran to a neighbor's home for help. The younger children awoke but were convinced by their father that it was just a bad dream. Dr. Perelson then commited suicide by drinking a glass of acid.
Standing empty today the house has been unoccupied since the time of the murder. The Perelson family sold the house a year later to Emily and Julian Enriquez who never spent a night in the house. Neighbors reported seeing them bring boxes in and out of the house but never spend time there. The house is fabled to have been left in the state it was the night of the murder. The rumour has it the family christmas tree is still in place but it has never been proved or disproved as no one is allowed in. In 1994 Rudy Enriquez inherited the house from his parents and has follwed in their footsteps by not living there. He has been seen by neighbors feeding cats.
The Los Feliz Mansion still sits behind its walls slowly decomposing still uninhabited surrounded by multi-million dollar mansions and celebrites. Dark and ominous in the LA sunshine the Los Feliz Murder Mansion is a real life Scooby-doo mystery!
