Abandoned Homes and the Homeless: Is there a solution?

Those old mansions sitting empty on a hillside in the ritzy, glitzy side of Los Angeles, the crumpled down homes where families once laughed and played, and the strange behavior of people with too much money once fascinated me to no end. Just imagine what it would be like to have enough money to buy one of those homes and refurbish it. It is still a fascinating topic to me, but for different reasons these days.

The fascination recently changed to amazement that there are so many vacant homes that are falling apart for lack of care, yet a sea of people call the streets their homes. I am not the first one to ask the question and probably won’t be the last, but I have to ask anyway. Why are there so many homeless people when there are so many vacant homes?

Major City Homeless Rate:

Detroit- 20,000 homeless people in 2013

Los Angeles- 57,737 homeless people in 2013

New York- Approximately 64,000 people homeless in 2013

Baltimore- 2638 people homeless in 2013

Nashville- 3,000 to 4,000 people homeless in 2013

Houston- 8,768 people homeless as of 2012

Major City Abandoned Homes Rate:

Detroit- An estimated 78,000 homes were left abandoned and decaying in 2013

Los Angeles- No information currently available

New York- No solid number available, but it is reported there are more than enough abandoned homes that it would completely eradicate homelessness in the city.

Baltimore- More than 16,000 homes were left abandoned and decaying as of 2011

Nashville- No information currently available

Houston- Hundreds of homes are reported abandoned and decaying in 2014, but a solid number is not available.

Then there are the “what a waste” mansions that seem to spring up all over the ritzy sides of Los Angeles. Here are a few and oh the things that could be done with these buildings, if the rich neighbors didn’t put up such a fuss about social barriers.

Before and after photo of bedroom in abandoned Minnelli Mansion

Minnelli Mansion- Liza Minnelli’s father died and his widow was living in the house. Liza wanted to sell the house but the step-mother didn’t want to move. A compromise was finally reached after a lot of hoo-ha and the step-mother stayed until she died. The house was sold prior to her death, but the new owners have not moved to repair the property or to move in.

Long ago emptied swimming pool at the abandoned Nicolosi Estate

Nicolosi Estate- A mansion that housed people such as Johnny Weissmuller, John Phillips, Mackenzie Phillips, and Mick Jagger now sits empty and rotting on one of the nicest streets in Bel Air. It is unclear why the house has not been refurbished, though there was a fire there some time back. It is also unclear why it has not been sold. It has been deemed a historic property and cannot be torn down. So, what happens now? Apparently nothing because it continues to deteriorate as we speak.

Los Feliz House abandoned since 1959

Perelson Home in Los Feliz- The strangest of strange stories. Perelson hits his daughter in the head with a hammer and the daughter runs to a neighbor’s house. Meantime, Perelson bashes his wife in the head with a hammer, killing her and then kills himself. Two younger children remained safe. The house was auctioned off the following year with all the family’s belongings inside. The couple who purchased the house left it sitting on the hillside and only used it for storage. When they died, their son took ownership and it remains in the same unkempt condition, although he does feed the cats every now and again. The neighbors have taken care of what they could over the years. The house is not for sale.

Runyon Canyon Mansion remains unfinished

Runyon Canyon Park Mansion- There’s nothing quite like a huge mansion where construction stops dead in the middle. That’s what happened with this mansion and it doesn’t look like anyone wants to bother with completion. It’s in a good location with fantastic views of the city. It has been the victim of gang related activity and many rumors have spread that the land is haunted. Wouldn’t everyone like to be so rich that they could just begin to build properties and then leave them abandoned long before it is completed?

Are the abandoned properties a good solution for the homeless? That is possible. There are plenty of solutions to the abandoned buildings including razing them and selling the property and putting the money back into the tax coffers, selling for a dollar to people who can afford to refurbish them, and razing them and leaving the empty lot empty. There are so many possibilities and yet little seems to ultimately be done about it. Other solutions, by some include squatting or refurbishing to house homeless people.

Is it a good idea to squat? It is probably not a good recommendation, though many people attempt to do it. The biggest problem with that is that someone does own the property and they can ignore it if they choose to. Squatting means that you have to break into the home or building and that is against the law, in case you haven’t noticed. In short, you could end up in jail for it.

These two problems could easily be solved, but it would take a lot of effort from the communities and from people in general. Each person would have to start caring about others enough to say that they don’t want anyone living on the street no matter what the circumstance is. The homeless would have to take a stand on behalf of themselves and be willing to accept responsibility in order to make it work. Business people would have to be willing to hire people who have found themselves in a homeless situation so that those people would have hope of making a better life for themselves.

It doesn’t call for a ‘spread the wealth’ mentality. People who earn their money have the right to spend it in any way they choose and they are not obligated to help anyone with anything, ever. Maybe that’s why people with so much money they can’t possibly spend it all have gotten so rich to start with. Who knows? I choose to believe that most people with a lot of money are willing to help others in one fashion or another and it is the few who simply toss money out the window because they can.

And so this ends my day of homeless blogs.

                                                                                                                                    

414 St. Pierre Road- Abandoned and Decaying for Decades- Nicolosi Estate

The Nicolosi Estate stands at 414 St. Pierre Rd. in Bel Air, California. Rumors are rampant on the internet about the broken down building including the idea that it was once owned and occupied by William Randolph Hearst’s long-time love interest, Marion Davies. Other rumors say that John F. and Jaqueline Kennedy stayed at this location on their honeymoon. Then there are the Tarzan stories about Johnny Weissmuller having owned the home, although a few reports say that he only rented the home from Marion Davies.

I started my research on this house after reading Mackenzie Phillips’ book, High on Arrival. It happened to be near another mansion that was recently built toward the back of 414 and across the street. I found that house while goofing around on the internet. This roused my interest even further considering the close proximity of the homes. The information I found does not establish any connection to the house with Marion Davies or William Randolph Hearst. It is believed that the tale was spun to make it more interesting for the tourist guides. The Kennedy's did not honeymoon at this home either. It was a property of Marion Davies that they stayed at, but this is not the one.

There is a great deal of information that does lead us to believe that Weissmuller indeed lived in the home. In fact, the home was commissioned for him and famed architect, Paul Williams was the designer. This is the story that makes the most sense considering the size of the pool and Johnny’s great love of swimming. He was a swim competitor who was accustomed to winning. The pool, as described by Mackenzie in the book, is extremely long. It stretches out and bends around the house in a moat like pattern. It is a very narrow pool and there were built in fountains that kept the water at the right level. Construction on the house was completed in 1931. There was no indication that he ever rented the home from Davies or that Davies actually lived in the home.

The next inhabitants are definitive because there is substantial information from newspaper clippings from the time. In 1961, Joseph Nicolosi died of a heart attack in the home. He had a wife and three daughters. His wife’s name was Lucy; however, the daughter’s names were not listed in the obituary. Lucy continued to live in the house for several years because there is another newspaper clipping stating that she was giving a tea for a college introduction for high school girls at the residence. That was in March of 1965. Yet another newspaper clipping shows that a Marie Nicolosi called police just months after Mr. Nicolosi passed away. She stated that she was on the roof of the home attempting to stave off fire (there was a huge wildfire in the area that destroyed many homes in the hills that year). She said that a portable television was stolen from inside the residence at that time.

If that does not cement the fact that the Nicolosi’s owned the residence for many years, a recent finding shows that a LillianNicolosi-Nall purchased the home in 1999. Permits were issued for electrical repairs to the house as well as structural repairs in the same year. A comment by someone in a forum discussing the house stated that family members were in dispute over repairing the house. One wanted to make the repairs and the other did not because of the high cost. Lillian is the only person listed as the owner of the home for the 1999 sale; therefore, it can be surmised that she bought out whoever it was that was attempting to stop renovations. As many already know, the house has yet to be repaired and continues to sit in decay, although it was put on the registry of monuments for the city. This information can be reasonably established because people such as Lindsey (I’m No Stalker), have visited the home an reported it is still abandoned and decaying. Her blog post about that visit is dated in 2012.

As we can reasonably ascertain that the Nicolosi Estate is and has been in Nicolosi hands for several decades, it is also reasonable to accept that Mick Jagger and John Phillips did rent the home. Mick Jagger is said to have rented it from late 1971 to 1972. There is at least one photo of him standing on the balcony of the house. The information was also published in a book by one of Jagger’s employees at the time.

After Jagger pulled up stakes, John Phillips and his new wife, Genevieve moved in. They may or may not have been surprised that Mackenzie showed up at their doorstep one day and said she was moving in. Regardless, it seems like a dark and dismal place when you hear some of her descriptions, not so much of the house, but of her feeling in the house when her father did not return. He left the young girl in the house to fend for herself, basically. There was no food and the rent was not paid. She talked about how they would ride the Big Wheels inside the empty pool, but she also talked about the empty, scared feeling she had when her father literally abandoned her there.

Little is known about who has inhabited the home since the Phillips left it. If I remember correctly, it was in a state of disrepair at that time, possibly from John’s penchant for throwing wild parties and his incessant drug habit. The next story is unsubstantiated. There was a fire in the house sometime in the 1980’s. The exact date and nature of the fire is unknown and finding any reports on it is nearly impossible. Anyone who has found information on that fire is welcome to fill me in on it. There is a legend to go with it though. It also pays to note that Mackenzie said that the house came furnished, but that her father added his own personal touches to it.

Someone posted that they heard that a man set the house on fire, starting in the master bedroom. His family was in the home at the time. He fled and that is all the information that was given. Whether anyone was supposed to have died during that fire was not revealed. It is believed that this is one of the reasons that the house has remained empty for so long. Some reports say that the house was gutted at the time of the fire. Other reports state that there was only minor damage. None of the reports are based on anything other than speculation and lore.

Any new information on this estate would be greatly appreciated. I will not be continuing my search for facts about this estate because the internet has already been turned upside down for the information that I have shared here. Tour guides should probably stop using the Marion Davies story since there is absolutely no substantial information to back it up.

Los Feliz Murder House: Perelson, La Bianca, Johnny Lewis

Curious becomes curiouser until the curiosity is satisfied. Unfortunately, that can go on for decades when strange murders occur and people want to add their own spin to the tale. I am one of the curiouser. It is not necessarily the murders that keep me intrigued, but the places that the murderers took place. Los Feliz in Los Angeles is one such place.

What is so fascinating about the area is the number of “strange” murders that have taken place through the decades. The first was at the home of the Perelson’s. The family, by all descriptions, was a normal family who lived in an upscale neighborhood. That apparently was not the case when you consider what occurred at their home in December of 1959. Mr. Perelson lost his cool in a big way and used a hammer to bludgeon his wife to death. In the process, and for unknown reasons, he also attacked his 18-year-old daughter. She escaped the home and ran to a neighbor’s for help. It appears that after the eldest daughter left the house, the two younger children got out of their bed to find out what was happening. Their father told them it was a nightmare and sent them back to bed.

When police arrived at the scene, they found the doctor dead, hammer still in hand. He consumed a bottle of acid as his wife lay dead and bleeding on the floor. It is no small wonder that family members from the east coast, according to reports, would shuffle the children away from California and keep their identities hidden for so many decades. The house draws great attention and has not been lived in since the Perelson’s. A couple purchased the house and used it for storage. After both parents died, their son inherited it and has refused to sell it to people who would take care of it. Instead, the house remains empty to this day, except for the eerie reminders of 1959. Nothing has been removed from the house although the new owners did move boxes in, according to neighbors who witnessed it.

It is one of those cases where the public will never be satisfied. It might help if the day ever comes that someone has the opportunity to purchase the home. It is said to be in very bad condition and unsalvageable, however, the contents of the house could help alleviate the great curiosity. Perhaps a museum is a better place for the relics left in the home. The roof is in disrepair and the local government forced the owner to paint the house and make some other repairs. There is no grass left on the slopes leading up to the house. Cats and rats alike occupy the home and have likely done a great deal of damage. The property, as it stands, is said to be valued at more than $2 million. Neighbors have done what they can to keep curious onlookers from entering the property, including adding a security system to the home. It looms on the hill as a dark reminder to people in the neighborhood that all is not always well.

Two murders were to occur nearly a decade later in August of 1969 when Charles Manson and his crew were out riding around looking for the right place to make their next attack. A couple who had just returned home was stabbed to death after Manson and the family members broke in and terrorized them. The house, in this particular case, has been bought and sold several times over since the murders and the address has even changed. The curious are not welcome there, and who could blame anyone who owned that home for wanting a little added security above their neighbors.

Although the stories vary as to why these murders took place, it boils down to the fact that Charles Manson was jealous of people who were successful and he wanted to kill them all. He even expected and wanted to incite a race war. He had the “family” to back him up and they willingly murdered for Manson because they were too weak to say “no”. You would think that these brutal crimes would be enough to scare anyone away from living in the neighborhood, but the truth is, people do.

The next murder happened in this decade. September of 2012, an actor was found dead outside of the home of a Los Feliz woman. Police found the woman murdered inside the home. The actor was said to have been released from jail just days prior to the murder. It was reported that he had PCP in his bloodstream when he died. Autopsy reports later refuted those reports. The woman was strangled and her autopsy revealed that she suffered from blunt force trauma. She was the actor’s landlord and the only suspect in her murder. The actor died after jumping onto the roof of the home and taking a fall. Suicide is not suspected.

What is my point? It must be obvious at this point. Be careful about choosing a home to live in when you seek out real estate in Los Feliz. At least three of the homes have very serious histories that make the blood of the most avid thrill seeker curdle. It makes you wonder what secrets are hiding in some of the other homes. Oh, and heinous crimes are not reserved for low-income areas. This neighborhood is quite affluent, and yet, you never know what or who might pop out at you in the middle of the night. This is definitely not Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.