The house at 2475 Glendower Place in the Los Feliz neighbourhood of Los Angeles has it all: four bedrooms, ample parking, and a hell of a history. In 1959, its owner killed his wife and critically injured his teenage daughter before committing suicide. The house has been unoccupied ever since — but that may soon change.
Photo: MLS
The 5,000-plus square foot house, which was built in 1925, is on the market for $US2.75 ($4) million. It’s also become a macabre local landmark, which isn’t exactly mentioned in the real estate listing:
First time on the market in over 50 years! Perched on a hill up a long drive way with sweeping views sits this 4 bedroom 3 bath Spanish Revival home on a large lot. Features include grand entrance with a step down living room with serene views, formal dining room, library/study, large kitchen, and a ballroom with bar on the third floor. Three car garage at street level and two car garage at the end of the driveway. Waiting for that special person looking for a wonderful opportunity to remodel or develop. This is a probate sale, subject to court confirmation.
It’s understandable that the brokers wouldn’t want to mention the home’s notoriety, but 30 seconds on Google yield plenty of juicy details. The property was the subject of a fascinating 2009 profile in the LA Times, recently republished with the news of the potentially impending sale. The article discusses not just the horrific details of the 1959 crime (“Dr. Harold Perelson bludgeoned his wife to death with a ball-peen hammer, savagely beat their 18-year-old daughter, and then fatally poisoned himself by gulping a glass of acid” — with a copy of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” by his side.) Though not as famous as the site of Sharon Tate’s mansion on Cielo Drive or the spot where the Black Dahlia’s severed corpse was discovered, the Los Feliz Murder House is one of LA’s must-see destinations for the morbidly curious.
The drive-by touring may continue, but the late-night trespassing that’s added so much to the home’s lore on the internet will likely cease if it’s snapped up by someone with no fear of fixer-uppers (or ghosts). The most recent owner passed away last year; he inherited the dwelling from his parents, who purchased it after the murder, according to Curbed Los Angeles. But nobody else has lived in the house since the Perelson’s two surviving children were rushed out by the police that grisly night in December 1959.
Current listing photos indicate that all of the dusty relics reported by secretive visitors over the years (like wrapped gifts left next to a long-forgotten Christmas tree, not pictured in any of the snaps in this article about the home’s “tourists”) have been cleared out. All that remains is a shell of the home — including vintage bathroom fixtures.
It’s a lovely spot, near Griffith Park, and the views are indeed “serene,” like the advertisement says. And even empty and prepped for sale, it’s killer social media fodder. Note the gruesomely perfect use of the hammer emoji here:
But given its dark history, would you want to move in?