Dearly Departed Newsletter – Death Houses For Sale and a Housewife

11/26/2019

Death Houses For Sale and a Housewife

There must be something in the air because two more death houses have hit the market. If you’re the type of person who follows these things, and no one is pointing fingers so don’t worry if that means you, it’s a busy time for Death Hag real estate.

First up is Robin Williams house in the fancy schmancy area of the Tiburon Peninsula (translation: no one I know can afford it) and yes, it’s THAT house. You can see why someone would like living (or dying) there. On the water. Has a pool. Six bedrooms. Lots of closet space with doors to die for. It’s also large—6,500 square feet—so there’s plenty of room to hang around. Details are here.

The second is here in Los Angeles. And there’s a long history behind it. (deep breath) OK, I’ll try to make a long story short. O nce upon a time, in the L.A. neighborhood of Los Feliz, there was a doctor named Harold Perelson. He bought a sweet Spanish-style house in the hills that most people would kill for. And that is exactly what he did. On the morning of December 6, 1959, Dr. Perelson beat his wife in the head with a hammer and she drowned in her blood. Then he tried to kill one of his daughters, who escaped and ran screaming to a neighbor’s house for help. Serious drama. Before police arrived, the good doctor had already topped himself by sucking down a mouthful of poison. Why make another mess? Tidiness is next to godliness.

This is one of those stories that would probably have been easily forgotten with all the other murders that happen in Los Angeles on the regular. But then something special happened. For decades—DECADES—the house sat untouched. As in, all the furniture was still there. The family’s belongings were all there. Even the Christmas tree and wrapped presents sat exactly where they were on that morning 60 years ago. Needless to say, people were fascinated. How could anyone NOT be? And so, it sat and sat and sat and sat, like a shrine to murder. Naturally, stories of hauntings started. Are they true? No one cares.

Here’s where the story gets gross. A few years ago, the semi-empty-dilapidated house went up for auction and sold for $2.3 million. Location, location, location. The buyer? Lisa Bloom, an attorney and the daughter of Gloria Allred (ugh). Lisa made a name for herself appearing on television (sound familiar?) and suing people for sexual misconduct. Oh, except she then went on to help Harvey Weinstein by serving as “an advisor.” Harvey. Weinstein. It should also be noted that she had a development deal with the Weinstein Company. Conflict of interest much? Nah!

As with most homes that don’t fit into the standard Home Depot/HGTV generic dream home look, Lisa Bloom totally and completely gutted the 1920s-era house. We will cut her some slack in one area: A house that sits empty for nearly six decades might need some refreshing. So, yes, some work would be necessary. But girlfriend turned the house into a shell, which means all of the historic architecture and design is gone. Why don’t people like this just buy a new house? Preferably somewhere else and nowhere near us?

What’s grosser than gross? After literally demolishing the entire inside, Lisa Bloom then decides she doesn’t want to live there now. Why? Dunno. So she puts the house back on the market … for $3.5 million. THAT’S AN INCREASE OF $800,000. She is charging more for a gutted-out house. I’m a bit speechless and having trouble seeing the logic. I thought you were supposed to, like, fix the house up before selling it for an unreasonably high profit. That’s no longer the case? At any rate, this is a great example of what we’re dealing with in Los Angeles and why normal people can’t even think of buying a home. (I know. I know. I just called myself normal. It applies here, though.) Remarkably, people aren’t exactly lining up to buy a gutted murder house that has just gone up in price. Gee, why? Here is the listing.

This Friday the 29th at 6pm Brian Donnelly is hosting our last walking tour of the season and combining ALL of his walking tours into one. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Behind the Boulevard and Hollywood History and Haunts. This isn’t to be missed! Tickets are available here.

Last Sunday I appeared on the live Hollyweird 101 panel, which was held at the Upright Citizen Brigade in L.A. The other guests were comedian Betsy Sodaro and Real Wives of Beverly Hills “star” Brandi Glandville.

Angelyne showed up for about three seconds. I’m not kidding. Her self appointed cue – if she decided to show – was to throw a set of keys on the stage first. So that’s what she did. Keys, open fan covering her face, wave to the audience and buh bye. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Angelyne, she’s famous for putting up billboards with her own photo and driving around town in a pink car and selling merch out of the trunk of her car. Seriously. That’s what she’s famous for. Organizer Jess and Betsy were fabulous, but someone suggested I get a flea-dip after the show.

I will also be appearing on an episode of The Doctors TV show this coming Wednesday (hey that’s tomorrow), so tune in! I’m interviewed about people’s fascination with true crime. It’s an odd interview because I was asked a lot of questions about myself, not just my job. I’m not sure how it’ll come off (heh). I had wardrobe and makeup and everything. “This is the big time, girly. This is Rock and Roll.”