10050 Cielo Drive

The original home at 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, California is infamous for being the scene of the Manson "family" murders. It was designed by Robert Byrd in 1944 for French actress Michèle Morgan [.cite web | title = Tate/Polanski Residence, 10050 Cielo Drive | url = http://www.cielodrive.com/location/tate/index.html | accessdate = 2007-11-19 ]

The French country style structure was located on three acres (12,000 m²) at the end of a cul-de-sac on Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, an area west of Hollywood in the Santa Monica Mountains that overlooks Beverly Hills and Bel Air. The hillside structure faced east and featured stone fireplaces, beamed ceilings, paned windows, a loft above the living room, a swimming pool, and a guest house. [cite web | title = 10050 Cielo Drive - Estate Layout | url = http://www.cielodrive.com/location/tate/aa/2.jpg| accessdate = 2007-11-19 ]

Past residents include Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon, Henry Fonda, Mark Lindsay, Paul Revere & The Raiders Manager Roger Hart (lease in Hart's name) with roommate Terry Melcher and Melcher's girlfriend Candice Bergen.

In February 1969, Roman Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate rented the home from owner Rudi Altobelli. Six months later the home became the scene of the murders of Tate, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring and Steven Parent at the hands of the Charles Manson "Family" on August 9, 1969. William Garretson, Altobelli's caretaker and an acquaintance of Parent, lived in the guest house behind the main house and was unaware of the murders until the next morning, when he was taken into custody by police officers who had arrived at the scene.

The final resident of the original house was the musician Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Reznor moved into the house in the early 1990s and had a recording studio built inside it. This studio, dubbed Pig (sometimes called Le Pig) in a reference to the fact that one of the murderers had written "Pig" in Tate's blood on the front door of the house during the murders, was the site of recording sessions for Nine Inch Nails' 1992 EP "Broken" and 1994 album "The Downward Spiral" as well as Marilyn Manson's 1994 Reznor-produced debut album "Portrait of an American Family". Reznor moved out of the house in December 1993, later explaining that "there was too much history in that house for me to handle." [Citation |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,301460,00.html |title=Making Records: Where Manson Murdered Helter Shelter |publisher=Entertainment Weekly |date=1994-03-18 |issue=214 |accessdate=2007-11-01]

Reznor made a statement about working in the Tate house during a 1997 interview with Rolling Stone:Reznor took the front door of the house with him when he moved out, installing it at Nothing Studios, his new recording studio/record label headquarters in New Orleans. [cite web | title = Trent Reznor - Nine Inch Nails - Rolling Stone | url = http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/nineinchnails/articles/story/5920817/trent_reznor | accessdate = 2007-11-19 ] In 1994, the owner demolished the house and replaced it with a new mansion called Villa Bella with a new street address of 10066 Cielo Drive. The new owner of the house is Hollywood producer Jeff Franklin. He has reported nothing out of the ordinary while living at the property. [ [http://sarasota.housefront.com/PropertyDetail.aspx?propertyID=1993381 10066 Cielo Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 | HouseFront ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/a_m_f/tags/cielo/ 10066 Cielo Dr at Flickr.com]
* [http://www.charliemanson.com/places/cielo_drive.htm Cielo Drive at charliemanson.com]