Article Surfing Archive

In the UK if a house has a name there's usually a story of intrigue attached to it. In the aristocratic halls and manors of medieval times, ghostly tales abound. History was made between many of their walls. But in America where naming homes isn't so common unless you are Elvis or Michael Jackson, street names are perhaps just as notorious.

Nightmare on Elm Street

722 N. Elm, Beverly Hills was where the real Nightmare on Elm Street happened. Film executive Jose Menendez and his wife Kitty were gunned down in 1989 and their sons Lyle and Eric were later arrested and convicted of their murders.

Fame is the name of the game in the States and coach tours take tourists on guides around the homes of Hollywood's finest. And, as in any good Hollywood movie, there's no shortage of homes associated with death, murder, suicide and scandal.

Viva Las Vegas

Bugsy Siegel lived at Linden Drive, Beverly Hills. Siegel was the man who is said to have made Las Vegas when he built his hotel The Flamingo on a dirt track that is now its famous strip. But in 1947 he was gunned down in a hail of bullets at his home, apparently for skimming money from the Mob. His life was suitably turned into the movie, Bugsy, starring Warren Beatty.

Murder Most Horrid

Beverly Hills may be about glamour and money, but it seems with fame, tragedy isn't far behind. At Bedford Drive, Lana Turner's daughter Cheryl Crane, stabbed to death her mother's boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato. But how did a 14 year-old girl overpower a 175 pound man? Some believe the scandal is even deeper ' that Lana killed Johnny herself and Cheryl took the blame for her mother.

Marilyn Monroe

Anywhere that Marilyn Monroe lived is bound to be on the map. She died at 12305 Fifth Helena Brentwood, and even the house where she allegedly had an affair with John F Kennedy is well-known ' 625 Beach Road, Santa Monica.

Horror story

Back in Beverly Hills, Cielo Drive became known as the site for one of the country's most shocking murders. Four followers of Charles Manson broke into the home and killed six occupants, the most famous being film star Sharon Tate.

Not all Hollywood homes are so plagued. Some of the famous homes have taken on nicknames for being so eccentric and bizarre.

Think Pink

Jayne Mansfield's home at 10100 Sunset Boulevard became known as The Pink Palace. It was originally painted pink in the 1960s by the Hollywood sex symbol and later owned by singer Englebert Humperdinck. Rather poetic that a singer with such a fantastical name lived in such a bizarre home. Sadly, the pink mansion was demolished in 2002.

Playboy's Playground

Another more notorious address is Charing Cross Road in Beverly Hills ' the building where Hugh Hefner famously lives and runs his Playboy empire, apparently in his dressing girl surrounded by bunny girls! His house has been dubbed The Playboy Mansion.

You don't have to be famous to have a memorable home, but by the sounds of the horrors of Hollywood, that's no bad thing! British homes may not have the high drama of Beverly Hills, but cosy, quaint homes such as Rose Cottage or Orchard House suddenly sound more alluring than any celebrity mansion!