The Greystone Mansion
905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills
Built in 1928
55 rooms
46,000 sq. ft.
Value: N/A
In 1926, oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny gave his son, Edward “Ned†Doheny, 12 acres of land in Beverly Hills before the town was developed. It cost Doheny more than three million dollars to build the mansion. Four months after he moved in his new home with his family, Doheny and his secretary, Hugh Plunkett, were found dead in the mansion in what seemed to be a murder-suicide. Doheny’s family stayed in the mansion until 1955 when it was sold to a Chicago industrialist, Henry Crown. Crown rented the estate to movie studios until 1965 when the City of Beverly Hills purchased it to prevent Crown from demolishing it. In 1971, the Greystone estate became a city park and was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The city leased the mansion to the American Film Institute from 1965 to 1982 for $1 per year. Greystone is now a public park and is also used as a location for special events. The estate is popular as a filming location due to its beauty and Beverly Hills location. Popular movies filmed at the mansion include Batman, The Bodyguard, Rush Hour, There Will Be Blood, X-Men and more.
Marilyn Monroe’s Hacienda
12305 Fifth Helena Drive, Brentwood
Built in 1949
2 bedrooms, 2 baths
2,097 sq. ft.
Value: $1.6 million
In 1961, Norma Jeane Mortenson, also known as the famous Marilyn Monroe, was looking for the perfect Spanish colonial hacienda. Monroe and her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, found what would become the star’s last home. In the few months she spent there, Marilyn renovated the home, planted a garden and even traveled to Mexico to purchase native furniture and art, and hand-painted tiles. A few months later she was found dead at age 36 in her home from acute barbiturate poisoning. The case ruled it a “probable suicide†but didn’t have enough evidence to classify her death as suicide or homicide. The tile on the front door said “Cursum Perificio,†Latin for: My journey ends here. The day of Monroe’s death, the Nunez family placed a bid on the house, along with six others. They finally became the owners in 1963. Other known owner is film director Michael Ritchie who purchased the house in 1994. The current owner is Cynthia Rust.
The “Tate Murder Houseâ€
10050/ 10066 Cielo Drive, Beverly hills
Built in 1944. Rebuilt in 1994.
7 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms
16,300 sq. ft.
Value: $7.5 million
In 1969, Roman Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate rented the home from owner Rudi Altobelli. The film director and his pregnant wife had been living in the house for six months when the infamous Manson murders occurred. Manson directed members of “the Family†to go to the house and kill its occupants which included the popular actress Sharon Tate who was eight and a half months pregnant. Other famous occupants had stayed in the home including Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Terry Melcher and his girlfriend Candice Bergen. In the early 1990s, Nine Inch Nail’s Trent Reznor rented the house and converted it into a mini recording studio. He moved out of the house in 1993 because “there was too much history for him to handle†. He took with him the infamous door on which the “Family†had written “Pig†which Tate’s blood. In 1994, the house was completely torn down and replaced by a large Mediterranean-style mansion named Villa Bella, changing the number of the house from 10050 to 10066. A Los Angeles store sold pieces of sheetrock from the old house for $2 to benefit an AIDS charity. Villa Bella was originally listed at 12 million, but lack of interest brought the price down. The current owner is Hollywood producer Jeff Franklin.
The Playboy Mansion
10236 Charing Cross Road, Bel-Air
Built in 1927
22 rooms
21,900 sq. ft
Value: $50 million
This famous Gothic Tudor house was built by architect Arthur Kelly in 1927 and bought in 1971 by Playboy from an engineer, Louis Statham. It is sometimes referred to as Mansion West because of the original mansion which was located at 1340 North State Parkway in Chicago. Hugh Hefner moved to his ‘new’ Playboy Mansion in 1974. Over the years, the house has been used for many events and parties and has undergone major renovation and expansion, including the addition of the popular “grotto†. The Mansion is also the only private property in LA County to have a zoo permit. It’s been featured in numerous music videos and movies, and life inside the Mansion can still be experienced by watching the E! Entertainment reality show The Girls Next Door.
