[Last updated 8/2/26 2:06 PM PT—Added updated photos of the Beckett Residence at the bottom of this post showing some restoration that's been done and the condition of the house now that The Willows haunt is exiting.]
From the sidewalk or the street, you see all the indications of an impressive manse...
...including turrets...
...gardens...
...arches...
...and even fancy cars, making you wonder where and when you are, exactly.
But right down the street, or right around the corner, are signs of dereliction...
...foreboding dwellings of doom...
...fenced to ward off intruders, but contradictorily attracting them.
The most intriguing part of West Adams, however, are the formerly glorious mansions that are neither privately occupied, nor abandoned, nor open to the public.
The Wesley W. Beckett Residence on South Harvard Boulevard had operated as a film set and an interactive stage for the Delusion Halloween haunt in recent years...
...rendering it nearly uninhabitable by the time the current owner purchased it in late 2014.
But this once-great Victorian mansion started losing its grandeur back in the 1950s, when the 10 freeway sliced through the fanciest part of West Adams with the biggest, nicest homes.
The 10 is now spitting distance from the Beckett Residence.
The new owners have promised to restore the historic landmark, and have already begun work.
They have torn through drop ceilings to reveal hidden ornaments...
...and have rescued other disembodied elements from the basement.
They still have to patch holes in the walls, and remove some graffiti.
The outdoor sun porch was closed in at some point...
...but it's not clear whether this additional room outside the office will remain...
...or will be opened up again.
The house is full of incredible bay windows, including one on the upstairs landing with leaded glass, by an expansive window seat.
The upstairs is currently off-limits, but you can sense the ghosts of the little children that once ran the halls here when it operated as a boarding house.
Once grand, the mansion was built in 1905 as the home of one of LA's most prominent doctors, and now at 110 years old, will (hopefully) be returned to its former glory.
Extensive photos of more areas can be seen here and here and here.
And then there are the homes that are already restored, modernized, and inhabited...
...like the Charles I.D. Moore Residence.
Original features like built-in furniture, wood carvings, and two large fireplaces are still visible...
...but it's hard to admire all the Arts & Crafts architectural features when it's full of somebody's stuff, reminding you that you are very much in 2015, and not 1907.
At the Kenworthy Residence, you can marvel at the achievement of this traditional home, which was built with Streamline / Art Deco touches in 1935, in the middle of The Great Depression.
Looking up at the barrel vaulted ceiling in the living room, and taking a peek into the current residents' private living quarters...
...it's hard to imagine that the Caribbean American Credit Union operated out of this house for several decades of the second half of the 20th century.
As common as these home tours are, it's very weird for me to invade a strangers' personal space. I'm not really interested in how people live now. Visiting their houses feels like an intrusion to me. I'd rather see the places after they're gone, or before they move in. Their contemporary amenities and accommodations distract me from absorbing the spirit of the space.
Maybe in 30 years, I'll care about these people who live there now. But at the moment, I don't.
Here's a particularly moody view of the Beckett Residence from a few years ago [added 6/27/15 at the suggestion of a reader]:
Update 2026: The Beckett House is looking better, although work is not yet done and productions continue to use it for Halloween haunts and filming locations. Here are photos from this year, taken at an "estate sale" (mostly props, set pieces, and costumes from the exiting production company).
The façade is painted and properly white now. Fortunately it no longer looks abandoned.
The false ceiling above the foyer has been removed, revealing the recessed dome where a chandelier now hangs.
Other ceilings have been repainted, walls papers, wood finishes refinished...
...while the satanic markings of a haunted house have been scrubbed off the window glass.
The house was so full of stuff, it was hard to see a lot of the architectural details...
...and not everyone who attended the estate sale realized that none of the furnishings or other appointments were original to the house.
This second visit, over 11 years later, allowed me to wander into areas I hadn't yet explored, like the kitchen...
...and the full extent of the upstairs, and all of its bedrooms.
A new production company is moving in, and the money coming in from each production helps fund the continuing restoration of the house. For more interior and extensive exterior photos, visit the Beckett Properties website.
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