The Mansion is a four-bedroom mansion owned by music producer
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records.
Rubin helped popula ...
in the
Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles. Originally built in 1918, the house is famous for the successful bands who have recorded music there. The house was owned by
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...
in the late 1930s. Although many say
that
Harry Houdini lived at the mansion, no one has ever lived in the Mansion under the name "Houdini". There is confusion between The Mansion, at 2451 Laurel Canyon Blvd. and The Houdini Estate, at 2400 Laurel Canyon Blvd.
After recording the
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...
' ''
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
''Blood Sugar Sex Magik'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released September 24, 1991, by Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Rick Rubin, its musical style differed notably from the band's previous album ''M ...
'' with considerable ease and comfort, Rubin decided to use the mansion to record many of the albums he has produced, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers' ''
Stadium Arcadium'',
Audioslave
Audioslave was an American rock supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello (lead guitar) ...
's ''
Out of Exile
''Out of Exile'' is the second studio album by American rock supergroup Audioslave, released on May 23, 2005, internationally, and a day later in the United States, through Epic Records and Interscope Records. It is the band's only album to char ...
'',
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership for ...
's ''
De-Loused in the Comatorium
''De-Loused in the Comatorium'' (commonly referred to as ''De-Loused'') is the debut studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on June 24, 2003, on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records. Based on a short st ...
'',
Slipknot's ''
Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)'', and
Linkin Park's ''
Minutes to Midnight
The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe, in the opinion of the members of the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists''. Maintained since 1947, the clock is a metaphor for threats to humanity ...
''.
Since 1991, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have returned to the mansion on numerous occasions; the tracks "
Fortune Faded
"Fortune Faded" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was released in 2003 as a single, to coincide with the release of their ''Greatest Hits'' album. The song, along with "Save the Population" (another song from their ''Greatest Hits''), w ...
" and "
Save the Population" on 2003's ''
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
'' compilation, and more recently the group's 2006 album ''Stadium Arcadium'' were recorded there. The mansion can also be seen on the Chili Peppers' 1991 DVD ''
Funky Monks'', Linkin Park's DVD ''
The Making of Minutes to Midnight
''The Making of Minutes to Midnight'' is the sixth DVD by Linkin Park, released on May 14, 2007 through Warner Bros. Records and Machine Shop Records.
The release documented the band while recording their third studio album, ''Minutes to Midnigh ...
'', and in a series of eight clips uploaded to
LCD Soundsystem's official YouTube channel documenting the creation of ''
This Is Happening''.
Houdini connection
In 1919, Houdini rented the cottage at 2435
Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Los Angeles, while making movies for
Lasky Pictures. His wife occupied it for a time after his death. It is said that Houdini did practice his tricks in the pool at 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard.
As of 2011 the site of the cottage was a vacant lot and up for sale.
The main mansion building itself was rebuilt after it was destroyed in the 1959 Laurel Canyon fire, and is now a historic venue called The Mansion.
While Houdini did not likely live at the "mansion," there is some probability that his widow did.
This "house" should not be confused with the "House of Houdini" which was a former Houdini home, purchased in 1908, at 278 West 113th Street,
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
, now called
Morningside Heights,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
that also displays artifacts.
Haunting rumors
The nine-piece
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
band
Slipknot reported experiencing a number of unusual events while living there during the recording of their album ''
Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)''. Drummer
Joey Jordison claimed to have had an unsettling experience where every night around 4:00 A.M. his bedroom door would open by itself. Also, singer
Corey Taylor took pictures of two
orbs hovering near the
thermostat in his room that changed the temperature.
System of a Down
System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...
guitarist,
Daron Malakian
Daron Malakian (born July 18, 1975) is an Armenian-American musician. He is best known as the guitarist, songwriter, and second vocalist of metal band System of a Down, and as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwrit ...
, said that every day around four o'clock, his amp tubes would act strange.
Though it is rumored that the house has been haunted since 1918, when the son of a furniture store owner pushed his lover from the balcony, the present mansion is actually built on the grounds of the old mansion, which burned down in the late 1950s and wasn't rebuilt until years later to be used as a recording arts studio. Nevertheless, during the recording of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' ''Blood Sugar Sex Magik'', more unusual things occurred. Consequently,
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...
drummer
Chad Smith
Chad Gaylord Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who has been the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith is also the drummer of the ...
chose to not live in the house during the recording, while guitarist
John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante (; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers across three stints since 1988. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic guitar to e ...
considered the ghosts friendly.
[Winwood, Ian. ''ABC, easy as RHCP''. Kerrang! Magazine, issue no. 1379, 2011, p. 38.] The BSSM album art also features a photograph of a strange orb captured during a group photograph, which the band suggests might have been a spirit at the mansion.
Recordings at the Mansion
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansion, The
Houses in Los Angeles
Recording studios in California
Hollywood Hills
Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles
Reportedly haunted locations in Los Angeles
Rick Rubin