Post by Joanna on Jan 22, 2015 3:25:32 GMT -5
For Sale: The Black Dahlia Murder House
Are you interested in owning a house that has been featured on Ghost Hunters, Paranormal America, in an American Express commercial and more? How about a house where one of the most gruesome murders in California history was allegedly committed? The home where some believe Elizabeth Short, the “Black Dahlia,” was tortured, murdered and cut in two, can be yours for $4,875 million. The original asking price was $6.9 million.
The John B. Storer House, was designed by Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright) and is one of his four Southern California textile block dwellings. The 5,600-square-foot, seven bedroom, four bath home on a .32-acre lot is back on the market – the first time since 2002. The house at 5121 Franklin Avenue, was built in 1923 for Storer, a Wisconsin doctor, "who turned to real estate after failing the California medical board examination.” Wright, supervised construction, designed the landscaping and his Mayanish textile block houses were built of concrete blocks, each imprinted with a pattern, but unlike the others, the Storer house has four different patterns. Storer sold the house in 1927 and it was briefly rented by Rudolph Schindler's wife Pauline. Wright made a few alterations in the 1930s.
Dr. George Hill Hodel, Jr., a Los Angeles physician, purchased the home in 1945 for $38,000 and lived there until 1951. In October 1949, Hodel was accused of molesting Tamar, his 14-year-old daughter, but was acquitted of the charges two months later. However, the molestation case led police to include Hodel, who specialized in public health and sexually-transmitted diseases, as a suspect in the gruesome murder and mutilation of Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, whose body was found January 15, 1947. He was placed under surveillance in February 1950 and for more than a month, his activities were monitored by numerous detectives and two microphones were installed in his home. The transcripts reveal Hodel made some incriminating statements, at one point saying: “Supposin' I did kill the Black Dahlia. They couldn't prove it now. They can't talk to my secretary anymore because she's dead .... They thought there was something fishy. Anyway, now they may have figured it out. Killed her. Maybe I did kill my secretary ....”
Courtyard in 1940s
Hodel’s secretary, Ruth Spaulding, died from an overdose in 1945. Hodel was present when she died and delayed calling police while he burned some of her papers. He was investigated, but the case was dropped for lack of evidence. Later, however, documents were discovered indicating Spaulding may have been about to reveal that Hodel was deliberately misdiagnosing patients and billing them for laboratory tests, treatment and prescriptions they did not need.
In 2003, Hodel’s son, Steve Hodel – a retired LAPD detective – wrote a book, Black Dahlia Avenger, in which he says he believes Elizabeth Short was one of his father’s patients and implicates him in her murder. He believes she was tortured, murdered and dissected inside the house at 1521 Franklin Avenue.
The residence was partially restored in the 1970s, but by the 1980s, the home had fallen into disrepair when Joel Silver, who produced such films as Lethal Weapon, Die Hard and The Matrix, purchased it for $800,000 and began a restoration project (supervised by Eric Wright, grandson of Frank Lloyd Wright), adding a pool that had been in the original plans. In 2002, Silver sold the home for $2.9 million.
Sources: The Storer House, Big Orange Landmarks and Crosby Doe Associates.
