Across the valley from the former 10050 Cielo estate is the former estate of Rudolph Valentino.
This spot affords a beautiful view of Cielo Drive
The Valentino house
We were joined by two lovely young ladies (Lyle & Rebecca on the left) who are film makers.
Their current project is Claire Vaye Watkins' "Battleborn."
ColScott paints a picture of the scene we are about to experience at Cielo Dr.
On the right is Max Frost - a friend of the blog who is very knowledgeable about all things Manson. He drove our "Black Bus" - no left turn unstoned.
Awww.
In the center is the monstrosity of a building that now occupies
the location of the Tate house as seen from the Valentino estate.
Miss Patty
The base of Cielo Drive
Where Billy Garrettson stopped earlier the night of August 9, 1969
Almost (but not quite) tresspassing!
Moments later a lady with an ugly rear-end chastised us.
Moments later a lady with an ugly rear-end chastised us.
My iPhone stuck over the gate...
Liz at current Tate house gate
"Tex's pole"
UPDATE
UPDATE
As requested, this is the current house.
It totally doesn't fit into the landscape. Hideous if you ask me...
49 comments:
I think the building that stands on Valentino's property now was not actually there when Valentino owned it. From what I understand the buildings that were original were torn down in the mid 2000s.
Summer and I went over the guard rail on Bella Drive and took a cactus plant with us. We both planted part of it. I named mine Rudolph and it just recently died...
I am sorry asking this, but Fiona's still a member here?
I wish i could talk to her.
Sorry my bad english.
Wow I am jealous! Looks like an adventure. Thanks for sharing the pics! Is Spahn's next?
Matt, you should of been wearing shorts, and black socks with those sandals..........hahaha...
I am so jealous. Sounds awfully fun and interesting.
Do you have to salute the Col? Does he let you call him by his proper name? Was he holding a gun to your heads in order to get you to kiss him?
It's the inside stories that I am interested in.
"Monstrosity" is right. It has none of the charm of Sharon's house. Are the two structures on the sides of the new house also houses? I mean...I didn't know the homes were so close. Thanks for the pics.
Starship, Patty & Liz had that kiss planned for a week. Totally caught him by surprise.
Col rented the bus and introduced us to Max Frost our driver who will be joining the blog as an author. He's been a researcher for many years and has met a ton of people of interest. Stay tuned for that.
Matt, do we have a photo of the new house that's being built on Cielo? Patty is not sure if many people know about it yet.
Hello everyone
First of all, i'm sorry for my bad english..
Now, i am portuguese guy really interested in the Familly stories. And of course, that nights.
I wish i could read everything i can about it, but i don't know where download the ebooks for free.
Please help me, and send me (if possible) the links with the susan, squeaky, hendrickson books. I have some books by now, but i want more.
Thanks in advance.
João
Patty, I'll look through my pics & see what I have. Hold on...
Welcome Joao, try Googling "Tobann International" or "Exclusive Film Network." That should take you to Robert's site. Ebay and Amazon.com are also good resources.
Thanks Patty . But the books are too expensive for me, thats why im looking for free pdf's. :)
Well, i'll contiue reading your posts and searching some files !
It is interesting to vicariously travel and see these various historical points of interest. I really don’t understand why people feel the need to ‘run’ someone off of a property with such notoriety. Sort of like buying Graceland then expecting some privacy, and completely futile. I simply wouldn’t invest the energy or expect any of my ‘help’ to do it either. That’s probably because I’m such an utter prince of a human being, who happens to be terribly humble too.
That new house on Cielo has all the allure and charm of a La Quinta Motel, but without the glitter. But if there was no demand…. there would be no supply of such monstrosities shoehorned into every sliver of a lot in Benedict Canyon. I believe it was Mencken who penned: “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.” It sure looks like the contractor for the new Cielo home made a few bucks off his speculation.
VillaBella is not new per se, but there's a brand new foundation being dug right next to the existing four houses on the side of the hill. thats that's what Patty is referring to.
Being on site helped to understand why screaming was not heard that night. As Patty said a new house was in the beginning stages of being built. There were two bobcats working the hillside and a 10 yard dump truck hauling away the excess dirt. We could not hear them working, only see them, from our vantage point which was directly across from where they were working not far from the scene.
Totally with ya Starship. I am much more interested in the Col and his interactions than silly ugly houses.
Here's a left field question. How does Cali handle prisoners with Alzheimers. Would we even know if Charlie was showing symptoms. Wouldn't that be ironic, if Charlie lived long enough to not be Charlie.
The Colonel, despite his occasionally rough demeanor, is a generous and kind man. And he knows shit.
lots and lots of it...GOOD shit.
True dat Patty. That is what is fascinating to those of us watching from afar. It is always interesting when knowledgable folk get together. A conversation between Deb and the Col and Robert H would be gold.
I am surprised that "Tex's Pole" hasn't been chipped away like the Plymouth Rock.
I would have bet the ranch Col had a good heart inside there somewhere...
You all look excellent and it looks like another great time was had!!
great pics and terrific stuff...
Very pretty ladies you got to travel with Matt- good for you!
Wait, how the hell do you film Battleborn??? It is a collection of short stories. Are they filming one in particular?
The book remains my least favorite read of the past decade. I know there are fans here of it and that it was nominated for an award but I just found it mind-numbingly blah - like a January hangover.
I still can't find a site that documents book sales. I would love to know how Battleborn sold.
Anyone can help me to get the books? :\
Joao, we don't know of any for free download. You can buy most used on eBay.
Tex's book is available to be read on his site:
http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/sen-007.php
And you can read Paul Watkins on ColScott's site:
http://tatelabianca.blogspot.com/
Sadie's books are listed here:
http://www.susanatkins.org/03-Stories.html
"I am surprised that "Tex's Pole" hasn't been chipped away like the Plymouth Rock."
Tex's pole is long gone. That ain't it
Cielo, you are correct. I was informed off-blog by another trusted expert that the original gate was set further back and the pole was on the opposite side of the gate. Good catch...
I hate on that house just as much as anyone, but that's a pretty sweet underground garage.
New to the blog and excited to be here! Wow some great photos. I'm surprised to see another home going up next to David Oman. I wonder if this particular home will be haunted too? Or maybe this will be the sequel to the "house at the end of the drive" lol.
Welcome, Coffee! Yeah? What will they think of next, lol
David Oman's house is actually the one nearest our hero property.
By the way, the mega-rich developer (I think his name was Alvin Weintraub) did NOT make a few bucks off his speculation. At least not for many, many years. I remember something like 10 or 15 years went by after the HIDEOUS structure was erected, and it still was not finished. Some walls were still void of drywall or paint, etc.
I first went on the property in early 1994 right after Rudi's old house was demolished - the foundation was still there. So I actually watched the ugly castle being built. Month by month. It really is disgusting what weintraub did to the property. The original house was simple. And the guesthouse was far removed from the main house. Amazing property and this greed hog just completely desecrated it AND the entire hillside.
My guess is he actually lost a lot of money over the years. Good for him:)
who is who in these pics Ive been here so long I know liz patty matt the col who else is who?
I keep checking the Col's site hoping to see some commentary on the tour but zip nada nothing to date. Actually, he hasn't posted anything in just about two months. Any insight on that Matt or Patty?
also, I am most curious if you guys contemplated connecting with Grey Wolf or Star while you were in the area. Does the new guy, Max Frost, know them or any of the players?
Leary we did not contemplate trying to see Greywolf and Star. It would have been a 3 hour drive one way from LA. Really not worth burning up an entire day for as our three days of actual "sight seeing" and elbow rubbing was jam packed.
As for the two women working on a movie project for Claire Watkins book Battleborn I can say that they are taking a couple of the short stories in the book and bringing them to life. They are very passionate about Claire's work which strongly appeals to a younger age group.
Well...that kind of clears up the rumor about who the Col actually is.
Deb, with respect can you document that Watkin's work "strongly appeals to a younger age group" with sales data or such. I know she got nominated for an award but that often is a connection thing.
Lots of books and movies that I think suck end up being highly successful. But again, I don't think Battleborn's appeal is generational. To me it is just another work that equates angst with art and as such will appeal to that segment of the literary world that likes to ponder the lack of meaning and substance in our world. I just think other writers, such as Emily Donaghue in Astray, have done it ten times better. The stories in Astray have much more historical relevance for example, and the characters are drawn much more vividly.
NOthing personal, I'd love to see the book be a success for her. But it would surprise me. And for the life of me I can't imagine which of the stories the filmakers believe will translate to the screen.
Leary, I'm beginning to think you love Battleborn
yeah, I am sorta beating a dead horse here, Cielo. But no, I really really disliked the book. I am just passionate about good writing. And I am curious by nature so it is going to bug me which of the stories these filmmakers think are transferable to the screen.
Leary, the way I remember it, Rebecca and Lyle said it is the first story in Battleborn - the one about Razor Blade Baby.
They also detailed why they so enjoyed the book. It involved the way Claire weaves how a young woman learns about life and who she is into her stories. That helped me to understand why the book appeals to younger people, especially younger women - and also why it didn't particularly appeal to you...
thanks Matt. that helps. Razor Blade Baby was the only story that involved Manson lore, am I right?
The premise for that story is actually fascinating. Two children of the Family, possibly even blood related, catch up with each other later in life and try to find emotional common ground.
It reminds me of how Junie Oswald and the daughter of Officer Tippet (killed by Oswald an hour after the assassination) ended up on the same basketball team. Strange vibes.
They were/are fascinating young ladies with bright futures in Hollywood. I for one will keep an eye on them & follow their careers. Eviliz & Co. are rooting for them.
Crap, I really have to learn to shut up.
But seriously, how does a short story about a French guy who goes hiking in the desert with a pal and the pal gets lost and the French guy ends up at a brothel and falls in love with a hooker who takes him for everything and then kicks him to the side of the road...how the hell does a story like that help young women to learn about life and discover themselves?
I just found most of the stories in Battleborn bleak and pointless. But as you say, I am not a young woman, so I will try very hard to shut up.
Opposite side?
Yes. Opposite side.
It was definitely on the right as you look at the gate from outside the property, so you must mean inside/outside the property?
Correct. The old gate was further inside the property.
Wonder how bad the tourists are now since the Tarantino flick came out. Probably unbearable.
Hello. I heard Tex's pole was originally on the left side of the gate as you enter. I see there's a pole on the right side. Do you know if that is true or not? Thanks
Hello. I heard the pole was originally on the left side of the gate as you enter. I see now there is a pole on the right side of the gate. Do you know if there's any truth to that? Thank you
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