The squalor stretches from wall to wall, floor to floor. Trash litters every inch of the house, plaster is peeling and falling from the ceilings, walls and doors are punctured with holes.
Very little exists from that interview twenty years ago, but here and there an original piece of furniture remains.
With all of the graffiti, damage, and decay, it’s safe to assume this property, for many years, has captured the imagination of every child in the vicinity.
It sits like a legend, a Hollywood haunted mansion. On a wall upstairs, “Judy Garland” is casually scrawled in large handwriting, as if in deference to her greatness. In fact, locally, the property has earned the nickname “The Hilton for Squatters.”
There is nothing natural about the level of disrepair inside of the home. Doors fall off hinges due to misuse rather than the passing of time, and everything in this house is damaged and falling apart.
Clearly, many squatters have been living in the old house, only accelerating the ruination. This house has also been often frequented by the curious. Its prominent address and abandoned visage invite interest.
Here you can see the house’s original mattresses, bare and filthy, and what’s left of a marble tub. An exercise bike in the background may be an original inhabitant of the house. An empty sleeve from an old LP lay discarded. A relic, no doubt, of Minnelli’s personal record collection that was displayed in a separate room.
A hanger from the formerly opulent closet of Hollywood royalty also lay unwanted. The ceiling-high mirrors towering over stacks of drawers fashioned a fancy vanity area at one time.
Many of these images are courtesy of a curious YouTuber tipster who checked out the property in 2014. The squalor he captured was worse than he thought it would be.
No running water and zero utilities seemed like a surprise until witnessing the wasted shell of a home from its gutted innards.