Fresh tragedy plagues 'cursed' Loz Feliz Murder Mansion in LA

A “cursed” mansion that has been empty for more than 60 years was set for auction, but its fate remains a mystery.

Dubbed the Los Feliz Murder Mansion, the property has been vacant for generations because of the perceived hex. Misfortune, trauma and tragedy has plagued various owners over the decades. A murder-suicide at the estate in 1959 was the darkest chapter of all.

The Los Angeles home, which last sold for $US2.4 million ($3.64 million), is under risk of foreclosure. The proceeds of the sale will go to the bank, who are chasing a balance of $3,471,286, the listing discloses. It was due to go under the hammer in April, but the listing advises that because foreclosure auction dates can move, “it is unknown” if the sale went ahead, and it remains listed in pre-foreclosure status.

At 2475 Glendower Place in the upmarket Los Feliz neigbhourhood, it was built in 1925 and after a string of horrors, leading to American press calling it cursed, modern-day owners have acquired the keys but never moved in.

The seller requires cash only. The huge, five-bedroom Spanish Revival-style house, in a postcode of the city where Hollywood actors and musicians live, will not qualify for bank finance, the listing outlines, because it is a foreclosure.

In 1959, cardiologist Dr. Harold Perelson, 50, murdered his 43-year-old wife Lillian there, and then took his own life. The crime is the subject of a podcast, but another enigma surrounds the estate. Will, or won’t, it ever be demolished? Nobody wants to live in it and the inside has been stripped.

The first owners were a couple named Harold and Florence Schumacher. Within three years, they had died, and within weeks of each other.

More tragedy blighted the next owner – magazine editor Welford Beaton. His son passed away at the home, just shy of his 21st birthday. A year later, Beaton plunged into bankruptcy.

When the Perelsons moved in, one of the crimes of the century in Hollywood took place at the estate. An early horror movie – 1959’s House on Haunted Hill – was filmed behind the home, starring screen legend Vincent Price.

The New York Post reported that it last traded in 2020, for $US2.4 million ($3.64 million). Civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom, who has advised Harvey Weinstein and specialises in harassment and abuse cases, bought the estate in 2016 and sold it in 2020.

Listings when it previously transacted advised the interior had been “taken down to the studs”.