7/10/2023 0 Comments Houdini estateYet, there are many tales and theories about his time in Laurel Canyon, because of his supposed close friendship with Ralf (or Ralph) M. Over the years, historians have struggled to prove Houdini even visited Laurel Canyon while he was in Los Angeles, let alone lived there. Sure, there was a glorious four-story mansion built in 1915 (known as the Walker Estate) at this address at one time, but it burnt down in the great Laurel Canyon Fire of 1959 when it was a run-down boarding house for unemployed actors, and despite a local movement to preserve the property and rebuild, the remaining ruins were removed weeks later, leaving only the stairs at the entrance, the decorative brick walkways, and the rock-work surrounding the gardens.Įven then, in 1959, when local papers covered the fire, they made reference to it as the “Houdini Mansion,” and even then no one was sure why it was called that. My circle of friends and I never questioned whether there was even a house atop that grand stone staircase beyond the overgrown brush, let alone whether Houdini actually ever lived there. I grew up in Laurel Canyon in the 1970’s, and “The Houdini Mansion” was part of our accepted landscape. Second of all, it seems it was never owned by Harry Houdini, the famous magician that for some mysterious reason is linked to this property. ![]() ![]() First of all, the “Houdini Mansion” is not actually a mansion. The “Houdini Mansion” in Laurel Canyon is one of the most persistent urban legends in Hollywood, despite having two strikes against it.
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