A stately mansion in a cozy Los Angeles suburb has come on the market repeatedly over the past few decades, and even the buyers don’t want to live in it because of its sordid history.
At first glance, 2475 Glendower Place seems like nothing more than another expensive home in the hilly community of Los Feliz. It features five bedrooms and four bedrooms spread over more than 5,000 square feet.
The estate has changed hands several times in recent decades. Every time a new buyer bought it, they left it empty before finally deciding to sell it again.
Having been vacant for more than sixty years, the house began to fall into disrepair. The yellowed wooden staircase, visible through a curved glass window, is just one testament to its decay. Even today, the current owner does not occupy the property, after a failed attempt to sell it in 2022.
And all because it was the site of a 1959 grizzly murder in which a man beat his wife to death with a ball peen hammer.
2475 Glendower Place in Los Angeles has changed hands several times over the decades and remains vacant even after sale
The estate features five bedrooms and four bedrooms on over 5,000 square feet
It was the site of a 1959 grizzly murder in which a man beat his wife to death with a ball peen hammer
Despite the property being presented as a bargain amid skyrocketing house prices, the property’s nearly century-long history is steeped in blood. Built in 1925, the mansion was located deep in Los Feliz Heights, an emerging development that catered to the wealthy.
The first owners were a couple named Harold and Florence Schumacher. The estate served as their family home until the couple’s deaths within weeks of each other in 1928.
Two years later, magazine editor Welford Beaton and his son Donald moved into the house.
But Donald soon succumbed to an infection and died at just 21 years old. Welford left home and filed for bankruptcy the following year.
The story took a grim turn in 1956, when physician Harold Perelson, his wife Lillian, and their three children, Judy, Joel, and Debbie, moved in.
Despite the extravagant purchase, Harold’s medical practice was drowning in debt. In a letter to a relative, 18-year-old Judy alluded to the family’s financial problems that had caused problems between her parents.
These tensions came to a head on the morning of December 6, 1959, when Harold struck Lillian with a ball hammer as she slept, killing her.
The house was built in 1925 as part of Los Feliz Heights, an emerging development marketed to the wealthy.
Physician Harold Perelson, his wife Lillian and the couple’s three children moved into the house in 1956, marking the beginning of its dark history.
In December 1959, Harold beat his wife to death before attempting to kill his 18-year-old daughter, Judy.
Judy (who also spelled her name ‘Judye’), center, screamed and woke her younger sister. Harold allegedly told the little girl, “Go back to bed, honey, this is just a nightmare.”
He then went into Judy’s bedroom and attacked her. Judy’s screams woke her younger sister Debbie, who later told police her father assured her, “Go back to bed, baby, this is just a nightmare.”
Thirteen-year-old Joel was the next to wake up. Judy seized the distraction and fled to a neighbor’s house across the street.
That neighbor, Marshal Ross, tended to Judy’s wounds before calling the police and walking to the Perelsons’ property. He found Debbie and Joel “dazed” but not injured, and urged them to join their sister at his home.
Ross met Harold on the second floor and told him to lie down before going to Lillian’s room.
By the time the police arrived, Harold was dead. He had swallowed 31 pentobarbital tablets and overdosed.
Medical records show that the father of three had spent a week in a psychiatric hospital a year earlier. There he was given chlorpromazine, an antipsychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia.
Newspaper clippings from the time claim that the doctor killed his wife and himself in a “frenzy of ‘nightmare'” and blamed the murderous rampage on his problems with money.
Just a year later, the house was purchased by Emily and Julian Enriquez, who owned it for decades.
Julian died in 1973 and Emily passed away in 1994. The house was then passed on to their son Rudy. However, it appears that none of the family members ever lived in the property.
The estate became the subject of media attention in 2009, when the LA Times dubbed it the “Los Feliz Murder Mansion,” a name still used today.
It became a popular feature among YouTubers and ghost hunters in the decades that followed. Hundreds of people entered the house illegally while Rudy still owned it, and some even took souvenirs: vintage magazines, an army jacket and the like.
The house was purchased by Emily and Julian Enriquez just a year after Harold killed his wife and then himself. After their death, the building went to their son Rudy, but remained empty
The LA Times dubbed the house the “Los Feliz Murder Mansion” in 2009, sparking renewed interest and sending hundreds of intruders to the property
Lawyer Lisa Bloom, who is best known for representing Harvey Weinstein, bought the mansion in 2016 with her husband. The couple started renovating the house but never finished it
It was last sold in 2020 to property developer Ephi Zlotnitsky, who apparently never lived in the house himself. He tried to sell it in 2022 to no avail
The house was put up for sale again and officially changed hands in 2016, when attorney Lisa Bloom and her husband closed on it for $2.3 million.
Bloom, who is best known as a representative of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, promised to renovate the building. The interior was stripped to the bare bones, but due to permitting problems the couple were unable to carry out their plans.
In 2020, the estate was sold to real estate developer Ephi Zlotnitsky for $2.35. Zlotnitsky never spoke to the press and seems to have left the house empty himself.
There has been renewed interest in 2475 Glendower Place in recent years, including a 2022 feature film in the Netflix series “Buying Beverly Hills.”
In that episode, broker Jon Grauman of The Agency and agent Brandon Graves met with architect Richard Landry to discuss their plans to remodel the house.
“It’s going to take a lot of work to scrub that stain off and turn it into something new,” Grauman said of the home’s “notorious past.”
He promised that the renovated home would be “one of the most spectacular homes not only in Los Feliz but on the East Side of Los Angeles.”
However, these grand promises did not materialize: after listing for $5.5 million and failing to attract a buyer, the mansion was taken off the market in November.
Shockingly, it’s not the only “murder house” in the area.
It was at 3311 Waverly Drive, about a mile away, that Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered in the early hours of August 10, 1969.
The couple was sleeping when members of the Manson family entered their home and murdered them both.
Property records show the home last sold in July 2021 for $1,875,000.