The property was also practical - being relatively close to the Lasky studio (which sat at Sunset and Vine), and scenes from The Grim Game were shot in Laurel Canyon. The house at 2435 did indeed sit on a bluff above Laurel Canyon Blvd where, yes, one would have been able to see a solitary light burning in the window while driving to and from parties in the Hollywood Hills. In Harold Kellock's Houdini His Life Story (page 271), it says that Houdini spent "his leisurely evenings at home in the modest bungalow he had rented in Hollywood" and that "fellow players returning from late parties, who might have been moved to investigate the solitary light burning in the Houdini bungalow, would have seen the Handcuff king and escape artist scratching busily with his pen at a table littered with manuscripts and old volumes." Now, it needs to be said that we don't (yet) have smoking gun evidence that puts Houdini and Bess in the Walker guesthouse in 1919 ( update). That house is now long gone, but here the great Patrick Culliton, author of Houdini The Key and life-long Laurel Canyon resident, shows us exactly where the real Houdini house once stood. and when the magician came to California in 1919 to film his two features for Famous Players-Lasky, The Grim Game and Terror Island, he and Bess are said to have stayed at Walker's guesthouse at 2435 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Walker and Houdini were friends - Houdini might have even invested in Walker's Laurel Canyon Land Co. He also built a four bedroom guest house across the street at 2435 Laurel Canyon Blvd, and this is where Houdini comes in. The house was three stories with 11 bedrooms, nine baths, a ballroom, a 15-foot stage for musicians and a ballet room big enough for 10 dancers. Walker, who in 1915 built a Mediterranean style villa at what was then 2398 Laurel Canyon Blvd (the address became 2400 later). The truth is the property at 2400 Laurel Canyon Blvd was never owned by Houdini.
Some identify a larger house up the street as the real "Houdini mansion." So I thought I'd use this blog to clear up the mystery and history of the Houdini house.as much as I can. Some say "he never set foot" on the property. There is a lot of confusion over this property and whether or not Houdini ever actually lived here. Last month Patrick Culliton and I had the great pleasure of touring the "Houdini Estate" in Laurel Canyon, CA with the current owner, José Luis Nazar.
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