The Houdini Estate +
Laurel Canyon Tunnel
  
  ORIGINAL "HOUDINI ESTATE" RUINS

    The Houdini Estate
    {photo views from 2401 L.C.}

 RE: The Rock & Roll Treehouse
"The House is rumored to have been used by Harry Houdini for secret rendezvous and is connected by a secret tunnel that connects it to the "Houdini House" located directly across Laurel Canyon."

Many of the popular myths & ghost stories concerning the intersection of Laurel Canyon & Lookout Mountain derive from Harry Houdini's ownership of the estate across the street from the Log Cabin/Treehouse Estate.

I believe that the "Houdini Estate" and "Houdini's Tunnel" are, by far, the most popular of the hundreds of myths associated with any of the famed Laurel Canyon properties.  

First off, let me say that I had the good fortune to befriend Patrick Williams, the owner of "The Houdini Estate" back in 1999,
At that time, Bob Crosby had moved with his lovely wife, Patty, and their two kids, back to the house where Patty had grown up, in Warren, Ohio. For years, Patty had managed Hollywood's #1 comedy club, Mitzy Shore's Comedy Store (formerly "CIRO'S") just down the street on Sunset. She had been forced to abandon her dreams of a career in Hollywood film production (working with Roger Corman, etc.) to raise her family. She was determined that her kids would
"grow up like normal kids, not in a "Hollywood Haunted House". with trees in the living room, and a dungeon downstairs, and weird noises all night long..."

I'll save details for a later story,  as well as the details for the following:
Bob Crosby had lived in the R&R TreeHouse for over fourteen years and was always discussing purchase details with the landlord, Fonya Pearson. When Bob was faced with -
 "Move with us, or come visit your family in Ohio on Holidays", he wanted to maintain some form of ownership, or equity, in his beloved TreeHouse home and the 3.5 acre, historical Laurel Canyon estate.
In short, when forced to move [NOTE: I both helped him to move in, and to move out, 14 yrs. later], Crosby wanted to maintain possession of the property while he was brokering a deal with our old friend & ex-partner, Mike Slarve. to purchase the property from the estate of Miss Pearson's teenaged grandson, who, with his mother, had moved from Beverly Hills to Texas a year, or two, prior. To complicate the matter further, Mike had married our wonderful office administrator, "Nikki" and they moved to Nashville, Tenn. to expand his very successful Tour Bus Company].
Oh yeah, in short, - Although I owned a home in Topanga Canyon and was the single father of a young daughter, I was left with the responsibility of watching over the place, as well as finance & manage a Christmas Tree Lot for Tommy Pina, down at the Canyon Country Store. I found myself spending even more time at 2401 Laurel Canyon than I had when producing projects with Crosby.

It was during this time that I first me Patrick Williams. By then he had renovated the rebuilt main house, cleaned up the entrance/driveway, plus, the expansive grounds, and also was finishing construction of a new guest/caretaker's house.
Patrick was totally enthralled with the Houdini mythology and the accompanying aura surrounding the legendary estate, and I'm sure he realized that it all added to the property's value. Whatever the motivation, we shared hours of conversation on his ideas, my experiences across the street, a possible screenplay, a book cover design, etc.
I was given free run of the entire estate for research. Obviously, I had also  enjoyed the same luxury across the street for almost 20 years.

"I would like to take this opportunity to state that at least the "tall tales" in reference to 2401 Laurel Canyon are based on actual residents, many of their guests, and indeed, documented incidents.
 Maybe not quite as reported, but hey, we all love a good story." 
"The "Houdini Estate" stories are another matter entirely."

The Houdini Tunnel:
One of the first things I did after Bob Crosby finally took possession of the property, was to search for this infamous bit of Hollywood Folklore - the mysterious, fabled tunnel! 

Whether Houdini's or not - I had to know!

Bob and I first searched together, and I would spend many more hours on my own, searching both the upper & lower grounds for this clandestine passage to untold mystery & discovery, a link to Houdini's greatest Magical Secrets.
I might add that, although skeptical, I had witnessed multiple discoveries on the 2401 grounds - overgrown stairways, stone benches, meditation areas, intricately constructed walls & artifacts, etc. {see right}

I can emphatically state that there is no sign of any tunnel near the Treehouse and adjoining area, The only possibility is down in the lower lot corner next to the two streets. Crosby excitedly proclaimed that we had located Houdini's subterranean passage to his Treehouse Trysts. I felt it was perhaps a very old municipal water meter casing, crushed by the roots of what was now at least a 6 ft. diameter palm tree stump, next to our discovery.

My research since beginning this website has shown that, much like 'Mix's Horse Burial Myth', this 'Laurel Legend' is commonly accepted, & second: "Those in the know", agree on the aforementioned location on the corner lot at 2401.

LINKS TO FOLLOW...

Even if there's agreement on what -  "I felt it was perhaps a very old municipal water meter casing, crushed by the roots of what was now at least a 6 ft. diameter palm tree stump, next to our discovery". was, in fact, one end of Houdini's Tunnel, -
What about the other end?
I took advantage of Patrick's generous invitation to his property, and spent MANY hours exploring the grounds of this expansive legendary estate. Of course, this usually occurred when he wasn't home.

I am fascinated by what can be uncovered on these estates, and the stories behind each hidden discovery.
"Contemporary Archeology"

I confess to 'exploring' {trespassing} next door, on the "Clara Bow" estate, but again, that's for another-future  LAUREL CANYON STORY.
Back to Houdini's Tunnel - In all my hours of Houdini exploration, I NEVER found anything that could be construed as a tunnel opening. It must be emphasized that the grounds have undergone MANY alterations, including grading revisions and drastic changes in landscaping, SEE: Ruins of original estate

 To summarize:
 I found no sign of anything that could be closely related to a secret tunnel,
anywhere on the "Houdini" lot.

I use quotation marks with the name "Houdini" because my research on the "Houdini" Estate has unearthed some startling revelations. Back in 1999, while considering a participation in a "Houdini Estate" screenplay, I tried to find some authentication of the famed estate ever belonging to Harry Houdini. Not only could I not find any documentation of ownership, I failed to find anything, beyond stories, about Harry Houdini ever visiting. I located several references to Harry's wife, Bess, who was a guest of the mansion's owner, R. J. Walker (visits ranged from "one" to "often").
UPDATE: OK for confirmed VISITS                

 
About six months ago, (Monday, October 13, 2008 01:13 AM) I purchased a copy of Michael Walker's excellent book:

LAUREL CANYON

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a music fan, or interested in the social history of California, Los Angeles, Hollywood, the film business, the '60s, hippies, you name it. Required reading for Baby Boomers and their children! The subject matter, expressed in the author's most readable style, is reminiscent of the lyrical, flowing musical styles of the finest artists from Laurel Canyon. As a result, the well documented book flows through the chapters with ease.
So, pop in Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young's 'Deja Vu' CD, and kick back with a book that is sure to inform, impress, even surprise, the most knowledgeable Rock Music Fan.
 

Because the author, Michael Walker, didn't arrive in Laurel Canyon until 1991, he was forced to rely on interviews instead of personal experience. He was able to round up an impressive list of big name Laurel Canyon celebrities, and 'local legends', to recount their stories of 'the good old Canyon days'. Personally, I take issue with a few of his sources, but I wouldn't dare question the opinions of such Canyon stalwarts as Kim Fowley and Michael Des Barres. 

I had planned on enclosing a few quotes from Walker's informative and quite accurate record of  Laurel Canyon's history and its rightful place in Rock & Roll History. The author discusses the "Canyon Myths", and includes his own opinion on many... FOR EXAMPLE -

"Everybody in the canyon, it seems, has a version of Houdini-house reality—but the real reality is that Houdini himself probably never lived there".

*- "there’s supposedly a secret tunnel beneath Laurel Canyon Boulevard that connects the properties —”I never found out if that was true,” Zappa said.

Then I happened upon his equally informative, but lengthy, website, and discovered this fascinating update:   http://www.laurelcanyonthebook.com/?cat=38 . THIS IS ONE I CAN BELIEVE!

* In addition to the above quotes, I have liberally used quite a bit of information from Michael Walker's pre-eminent work, including many of Henry Diltz's fine photos from the era.

Harry Houdini has been credited with the famous line about his biography:
 "When the legend is greater than the truth -- print the legend!"

I enclosed the above quote to emphasize that whether or not Harry Houdini had "even heard of" the Laurel Canyon Tunnel, he wouldn't have debunked the myth. Whatever the case, I've copied the following excerpts from another website about Houdini and this one goes way beyond the simple claim of Houdini's ownership of the property.

Author - Troy Taylor  -  http://www.prairieghosts.com/hollywood6.html
Bess Houdini continued to hold séances in hopes of communicating with her late husband but as the years went by, she began to lose hope that she would ever hear from him. The last "official" Houdini séance was held on Halloween night of 1936, 10 years after Houdini had died. A group of friends, fellow magicians, occultists, scientists and Bess Houdini herself gathered in Hollywood, on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel. Eddy Saint, a former carnival and vaudeville showman who had also worked as a magician had arranged the gathering. He had been recommended to Bess a few years before in New York to act as her manager, although concerned friends had actually hired him to watch over her and to protect her from being taken advantage of. A genuine affection developed between then and eventually they began sharing a bungalow together in Hollywood, a place where Bess had enjoyed living during her husband’s brief movie career.
http://www.prairieghosts.com/houdini.html   

On a dark night around 1918, a full moon was gazing down upon the Hollywood hills. On a rugged hillside stood a gothic, castle-like mansion that had been built several years before by the wealthy owner of one of the city’s largest furniture stores.
 This was the first tragedy to occur that could be connected to the gothic mansion, but it would not be the last. In fact, it has been said that the place is cursed and that all those who occupied the house were plagued by bad luck and disaster. In addition to the murder, other strange events have taken place here over the years and many of those have involved the man who purchased the house from the furniture store owner. His name was Harry Houdini and he lived in the mansion during his short career with the fledging movie industry in the 1920’s. While he lived in the house, it became a frequent host to séances, strange experiments and more, some say this cursed castle may have finally cost the famous magician his life!

Houdini continued to attend séances and hosted many of his own in his new home in Hollywood.
Houdini became involved with the new film industry in California. He believed that he would earn a fortune in this new aspect of his career and invested over $100,000 in the business. The venture was launched by one of his friends, Arnold deBiere, and Houdini starred in a number of the company’s own productions. He appeared in the films as an escape artist with a flair for the supernatural. The films included, The Man from Beyond, Terror Island, The Master Mystery and several short serials. Unlike his stage career, the movies never showed a profit and one of them, Haldane of the Secret Service, was a total disaster. After losing most of his investment, Houdini and his friend deBiere got into a violent argument at the Laurel Canyon mansion. They never again spoke of or to each other. As far as Houdini was concerned, deBiere was dead to him.
Houdini’s Hollywood investments had him spending a lot of time in southern California and he soon purchased a house here. He bought a looming castle from the estate of a local furniture magnate and soon moved in. The house certainly fit his theatrical personality with its parapets, battlements and spooky towers. The foundation of the mansion was honeycombed with tunnels, secret passages and chambers.

* One tunnel even ran beneath what is now Laurel Canyon Road. *
In one of the castle’s lower chambers was a deep pool in which Houdini practiced his underwater escapes.
For years, it's rumored that in these subterranean passages was a hidden chest containing Houdini’s greatest secrets.
If it’s here, it has never been found.
Séances were conducted regularly in Houdini’s home, mostly in an attempt to communicate with his mother
 

More Debunking To Follow....   Stay Tuned