Featured image credit: Amé Kali
With its boutique shops, chic eateries, and gorgeous homes, Los Feliz is one of the most desirable neighborhoods east of Hollywood. But the demand has its limits. This was perhaps best illustrated in 2017 when horror punk and metal luminary Glenn Danzig listed his Los Feliz Craftsman home on the market for $1.2 million (a steal for the neighborhood). It found no takers. But a single look is all one needs to dispel the mystery as to why.
That Creepy Craftsman on Franklin Avenue
It seems that every neighborhood has its “haunted” house… typically a dilapidated, ancient abode occupied by a barely-seen recluse who could terrify passing children with a look. In Los Feliz, that home can be found at 4544 Franklin Avenue, wasting away on an unwelcoming overgrown lot wreathed in a menacing iron gate. It’s a paint-peeled nightmare; a horror movie set that came untethered from the silver screen, bleeding tainted grey blood that stains its otherwise pristine and picture-perfect neighborhood.
When this home was built in 1907, its designers couldn’t have imagined the strange infamy that would grip it 100 years later. And it wouldn’t have hit those heights if it hadn’t been purchased by Glenn Danzig in 1989, hot off the success of his legendary Misfits and underrated Samhain projects, and in the early days of his career as a solo artist with a fervent cult fanbase. In those days, the quality Craftsman home only set him back $275,000.
Trying to Let Go of the Old Danzig House
On paper, it’s a four-bedroom, two-bathroom, 2,168 square foot home with a two-bedroom detached ADU that needs a little (read: a lot) of love. But if a picture is worth a thousand words, one snap of the Danzig house when it hit the market in 2017 with its million-dollar price tag would give you at least 950 profanities. To be fair, Danzig was using the home as little more than a crash pad at that point. His actual home was across the city in Cheviot Hills, a vaguely storybook-style Cape Cod formerly owned by Lucille Ball.
By 2017, the Danzig house was frequented by touring bands who had struck up a friendship with the iconic frontman. Likewise, the ADU had been repurposed to serve as storage for official Danzig-branded merchandise. Occasionally, the man himself would make a fleeting appearance. Google Street View once famously caught him in the midst of washing his black Jaguar in the weed-flanked driveway. But with the vast majority of his time spent in Cheviot Hills, he decided to list the home with Sotheby’s for just under $1.2 million.
Judging a (Comic) Book by Its Cover
But it was through this listing that a lot of the hidden eccentricities of the Danzig house came to light, aided by a raw video tour published by Death and Taxes that gave new meaning to the concept of home staging. It might even have appeared as a genius move in viral marketing had the home not been taken off the market shortly afterward.
Much of the oddity came down to decor, which likely wouldn’t have been included in the sale. Imagine a Craftsman haunted by the ghosts of Saturday morning cartoon programming circa 1976. Take, for example, the life-sized Tasmanian Devil and Marvin the Martian Looney Tunes statues standing sentinel at the entry. Or the conspicuously-positioned boxes of Count Chocula and Franken Berry proudly perched in the kitchen.
Most of the video is too low-quality to reveal much other than haphazardly scattered boxes of collectibles, magazines, and comic books, a sparsely decorated bookshelf, or the bare mattress unceremoniously deposited against a wall. To the average house-buying public, it revealed an eyesore. But at the same time, it reinforced Danzig’s reputation as someone who didn’t care what you thought. Ultimately, the unkempt, black-carpeted abode seemed wedged somewhere between sinister lair, secret clubhouse, and recent-divorcé dive.
But the majority of the public still only knew the Danzig house from its California Chainsaw Massacre exterior, seeming to glare at passersby from behind the spiteful spires of its black wrought-iron fence. Ivy creeps across its sagging roof, creating the impression that nature is reclaiming it. Yet, the very sight of the house seems to repel nature, from the dingy siding to the perpetually askew window blinds of the upper level.
Hitting the Bricks
While fans of the Misfits or Danzig’s solo career can often be seen posing for photos in front of the padlocked gate, rumors indicate the surrounding neighbors are less enthusiastic about the decaying Danzig house. This was emphasized in 2011 when writer Justin Halpern, who lived up the street from the Danzig house, claimed that he’d seen the singer get into a confrontation with a neighbor over an infamous pile of bricks that had punctuated the overgrown lawn of the home for years.
According to an earlier televised interview, Danzig confirmed that the 1994 Northridge earthquake had shaken his home three inches off its foundation. The bricks were alleged to be what remained of the home’s chimney after it had toppled over in the disaster. If true, they sat where they had fallen for over two decades. Danzig eventually buckled under the pressure and began hurling the bricks into a dumpster while cursing profusely, all of which was witnessed by Halpern.
Though Danzig seems to still own the property today, it seems he’s completely withdrawn from it. Perhaps it’s because the Danzig house is so well-known among fans. On any given day, you can see punk rockers, metal fans, goths, and hipsters paying homage to the former residence of the brooding artist. On Halloween night, a security guard is often posted in a car out front, ensuring no tricks are played and no treats are lifted from the old Danzig place.
People Standing in Front of Danzig’s House
The phenomenon of taking photos in front of the Danzig house was so wide-reaching that it inspired writer Dan Ozzi to curate a zine dedicated to it. Fittingly, it’s titled People Standing in Front of Danzig’s House. No false advertising there. During the Los Angeles wildfires of January 2025, Ozzi was donating the proceeds from zine sales to MusiCares, a non-profit that was aiding fire victims. While Danzig doesn’t endorse the zine, it’s touching that, in at least some small way, the Danzig house is giving back to the community. His neighbors likely don’t see it that way.
This Too Shall Pass
For now, the old Danzig house continues to settle in a sort of yard-sized limbo. But time is as much a creator as a destroyer. While the crumbling Craftsman may seem like a fixture of its Los Feliz community, we doubt the lot will look the same a decade from now. So take your pictures while you can. Or count the days with anticipation. Someday, we’ll be looking back at this neighborhood oddity as nothing more than a memory of a certain time in LA’s history.
With a brand that says as much as JohnHart’s, Senior Copywriter Seth Styles never finds himself at a loss for words. Responsible for maintaining the voice of the company, he spends each day drafting marketing materials, blogs, bios, and agent resources that speak from the company’s collective mind and Hart… errr, heart.
Having spent over a decade in creative roles across a variety of industries, Seth brings with him vast experience in SEO practices, digital marketing, and all manner of professional writing with particular strength in blogging, content creation, and brand building. Gratitude, passion, and sincerity remain core tenets of his unwavering work ethic. The landscape of the industry changes daily, paralleling JohnHart’s efforts to {re}define real estate, but Seth works to maintain the company’s consistent message while offering both agents and clients a new echelon of service.
When not preserving the JohnHart essence in stirring copy, Seth puts his efforts into writing and illustrating an ongoing series entitled The Death of Romance. In addition, he adores spending quality time with his girlfriend and Romeo (his long-haired chihuahua mix), watching ‘70s and ‘80s horror movies, and reading (with a particular penchant for Victorian horror novels and authors Yukio Mishima and Bret Easton Ellis). He also occasionally records music as the vocalist and songwriter for his glam rock band, Peppermint Pumpkin.
