By Ann Brenoff
Long before we were a nation obsessed with the sexy young vampires of "Twilight," only one such creature ruled our nightmares: Count Dracula, as portrayed by the actor Béla Lugosi. During the 1940s, Lugosi lived in a place called the "Castle La Paloma." The property just came on the market at $2,367,000; it hasn't been listed for sale for more than 40 years.
The 1924 Norman Brick Tudor in the Beachwood Canyon area of Los Angeles still has all the classic detailing of the period. It's easy to imagine the Hungarian-accented Lugosi spending his nights here, wandering the halls and mumbling "I vant to suck your blood" to those asleep in one of the five bedrooms. (Just for the record, Lugosi's character never actually said that line. Someone doing an impersonation of Lugosi said it.)
The 5,000-square-foot home has spectacular views that include the Hollywood sign and the city below. It has a ballroom-sized living room, a formal dining room with iron bay windows, a library, large-scale kitchen, butler's pantry and service wing. There are two master bedroom suites and plenty of original tile work, inlaid floors, interior archways and handmade iron work details. The home has copper gutters, a slate roof, Italian slate flooring and mahogany doors. There is also more natural sunlight than any vampire would want.
Lugosi, a star of films and Broadway, died in 1956 at age 73 and chose to be buried in his Dracula cape. He played other villains as well, in "White Zombie" in 1932 and "Bride of the Monster" in 1955.
Konstantine Valissarakos of Sotheby's International Realty, Los Feliz, is the listing agent.
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