Could You Live Here, Knowing Its History?

family, happiness, lessons learned, music, Wall Street Journal 1 Minute

The house shown above is owned by Jeff Franklin, creator of the 1980s television sitcom “Full House”. Franklin is putting his Beverly Hills estate on the market for $85 million. The roughly 21,000-square-foot, Andalusian-style estate, recognizable for its distinctive blue dome, sits on about 3.6 acres near Benedict Canyon and has nine bedrooms and 18 bathrooms.

Here are some of the amenities:

  • a shark tank
  • a movie theater
  • a spa
  • a bedroom with a  giant TV that comes out of the ceiling and then disappears when not in use
  • an indoor Jacuzzi in the bathroom that’s like a swimming pool
  • a gym
  • a hair salon
  • a billiards room
  • six aquariums
  • a bar
  • a pool with three waterfalls, two hot tubs, a 35-foot waterslide, a swim-up bar, a private grotto, a koi pond, and a lazy river

Let’s assume you’ve got the $85 million to buy the house, and you love everything about it, from the architectural details, to the setting, to the amenities.

Now let’s throw in one additional piece of information.

The property is located on Cielo Drive, on land that once contained the house where the actress Sharon Tate and others were murdered by the Manson Family in 1969. The house where the murders occurred was demolished by a previous owner in the 1990s.

So the house where the murders took place is gone, but it’s the same property.

Could you do it? Could you live there knowing such a gruesome event took place on the property?

I couldn’t do it.

I think I’d be a little freaked out every time I heard a noise in the house or heard a car pull up in the driveway.

If I’ve got $85 million to spend on a house, I think there are plenty of other places I could find that would satisfy my needs, and wouldn’t constantly remind me of Helter Skelter…

*image and story source: Wall Street Journal

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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101 thoughts on “Could You Live Here, Knowing Its History?”

  2. I like secondhand weatherboard houses to be honest. Something like that is too big to contemplate. I have my front and back yards, good neighbours, and a nice veggie patch. The house is 90 years old and definately not fancy but comfortable and easy to take care of.

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  3. If I had 85 million to spend on a house, I would buy a house that was a lot cheaper and donate to rest to some worthy causes. The history of the property probably wouldn’t bother me unless the human criminals came with the sale.

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  5. The Manson murders wouldn’t dissuade me, but the size of the house would. I’m getting old. I’d need a GPS tracker just in case I got lost in some distant room, and someone had to locate me. And think of how long it would take to vacuum the floors.

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  9. When my wife and I were looking to buy our first home, most homes were out of our price range. The realtor kept showing us tiny homes or needing a complete remodel. It was almost hysterical how awful the places were. Then, she finally showed us an old house, but it had a little promise. It was the first home that we would consider making an offer until she told us the last owner was murdered inside the house. Needless to say, it was a hard no.

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  13. I wouldn’t buy it, not for the history but because it is a grossly obscene display of privilege and poor taste. I’d like to think I could do a lot of good for other people with $85m, and that wouldn’t include buying any politicians…

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  14. Wow, that’s quite a house (and very pretty), but I wouldn’t want all those amenities at home. I’m too much of a recluse already. Plus imagine having to clean 18 bathrooms. I hate cleaning the bathroom. In the earlyish eighties, my friends and I drove by the property in college park maryland where the real events of the exorcist supposedly took place. It was overgrown and abandoned. Probably available for a really good price. I don’t think I could live in that house either. Evil lingers.

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    1. I’m thinking if yo could afford that house, you could afford to hir someone to clean the bathrooms…

      I wouldn’t mind staying at place like this for a week, to see how the other half, or 1%, lives…

      in college, a few of us took a drive past the Amityville Horror house on Long Island… it was creepy…

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      1. Hmmm…I am pretty sure that if I had just won the lottery I would not be buying an 85 mil house, and if I was, the change would have already started and in that case, it is possible that I would have been blinded by the need for excess and would have ignored the history. On the other hand, if it was me today buying a regular house, I would probably skip this one. Does that make sense?

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      2. Manson lived with Dennis Wilson, who was the Beach Boys Drummer, and brother to lead singer Brian Wilson and guitarist Carl Wilson. Dennis and Charles had a lot in common, namely their enthusiasm for sex, drugs and rock and roll.

        On the latter front, Dennis and Charles wrote this smash hit wonder together.

        If you’re interesting in digging into the Manson story a bit more I highly recommend the book “Chaos” by Tom O’Neill.

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  17. The Land part doesn’t bother me on this one. Now, if it were property where bodies were found outside, it would be a Pass! It’s still a Pass, though because it’s way to large unless I could totally redo it and make most of it into a Cat Adoption Center!

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  18. I always wanted a pool for animals like orcas to swim in so the shark tank just works perfectly. No, I don’t think I’d really care since it’s a totally different house. Plus, lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place, right?

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  19. I’m curious: if (assuming you had the $85m to buy it 🙂 ) you had bought the house, before you knew its history, lived there happily for a couple of years, and then found out its history, what would you do then?

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  21. No I definitely couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t be able to sleep, every noise in the middle of the night would probably freak me out. For that kind of money I’m sure I could find something without a horrible background.

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    1. but what if this were a beachfront?

      and I may not know what happened on my property before I owned it, if I did, and it was something terrible, I might be a bit concerned…

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  29. HI Jim, I read Helter Skelter or Child of Satan, Child of God, by Susan Atkins when I was 11. It was given to me by my teacher, Sister Agatha [my mom was horrified when I let this slip last year after purchasing the book to re-read]. The story wouldn’t put me off buying a house, but I wouldn’t want a huge house like this anyway. I am a conservative person and am only interested in the library and the kitchen [tee hee]. My house is supposed to be haunted by the spirits of a gang of outlaws who were killed in a shoot out with the police here. I’ve never seen or heard from them.

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    1. I guess reading that book at such an age may have had an influence on the kinds of stories you like. It is a big house; I’d like to go there on vacation for a week, but it would be too much all the time. And as far as I know, my house has no such secrets…

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