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This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

Arts & Entertainment

Video: Inside The Abandoned Minnelli Mansion Of Beverly Hills

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A video provides a tour through the abandoned Minnelli mansion in Beverly Hills, once occupied by Liza Minnelli's father, Vincent Minnelli.

The 5,800-square-foot house sits on Crescent Drive in Beverly Hills. It was built in 1925 and redesigned by John Elgin Woolf, a well-known Hollywood architect, Curbed LA reports. As the story goes, director Vincent Minnelli moved into the home after his divorce from Judy Garland, who he met directing 1944's Meet Me In St. Louis. Minnelli and Garland didn't have a particularly long marriage: they married in 1945 and divorced only six years later in 1951. Their only child, Liza, was born in 1946.

Minnelli died in July of 1986 when he was 83 after struggling with emphysema and pneumonia. At the time of his death, he was married to his fourth wife, Lee Minnelli. It was to her that he willed use of the property, but it was daughter Liza that he left in charge of the estate. Liza attempted to sell the house in 2000, saying she'd buy a condo for Lee to live in, but Lee refused. Eventually, Liza ended up paying the people she sold the house to rent so that Lee could live there until she died. However, by the time this happened in 2009, the new owners couldn't make up their minds about whether they should tear it down or restore it. So, it's basically been a place for squatters—and urban explorers.

The video comes from 'Adam the Woo,' a "zany" urban explorer who does what urban explorers do: he finagles, climbs or sneaks his way into abandoned or interesting locations and gives us a tour of them. (And if you're into that sort of thing, you should check out his channel because it's full of fascinating and creepy tours.)

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As you can see in the video, it doesn't look good for this vintage home. It's pretty dilapidated with no real signs of improvement. Some of the old furniture is still there, and there's even an ancient relic from the past on one of the counters: an AOL CD-ROM.

Related: Four Abandoned SoCal Amusement Parks With Creepy Pasts

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