HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
The 1902 Craftsman estate that became American Horror Story's Murder House — and its owners say it's genuinely haunted
1120 Westchester Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90019
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Drive-by only. The mansion is private property; do not trespass or disturb residents.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Residential street, curbside viewing only.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1902 · LA Historic-Cultural Landmark No. 751 (1999) · Designed by architect Alfred Rosenheim · Former Catholic convent (Sisters of the Holy Cross) · American Horror Story Season 1 filming location (2011)
Alfred Rosenheim arrived in Los Angeles in the 1890s and became one of the city's most prolific early architects, designing projects including the Tajo Building and the St. Vibiana Cathedral renovation. The mansion he built at 1120 Westchester Place in 1902 is a Craftsman-Shingle hybrid in the then-fashionable West Adams neighborhood — a district that in the first decade of the 20th century was home to some of the city's wealthiest residents, a reputation that earned it the informal designation 'Millionaire's Row.'
Rosenheim sold the property in 1906. Over the following decades, the mansion passed through several owners. At some point in the mid-20th century it became the property of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, who operated it as a convent. The nuns' occupancy left the building in private hands after the order's tenure ended.
The mansion's transformation into a cultural touchstone came in 2011, when it served as the primary filming location for the first season of American Horror Story on FX. The show called it simply the Murder House — a Victorian-era home where decades of violent deaths had trapped the spirits of each victim. The casting of an actual 1902 historic mansion added visual authenticity that the production design of a studio set could not replicate.
Los Angeles designated the building Historic-Cultural Landmark No. 751 in 1999, more than a decade before the AHS filming, on the basis of its architectural significance and Rosenheim's role in the city's early development. The property has remained in private ownership and is an active residence.
Sources
The owners of the Rosenheim Mansion, in interviews with media following the American Horror Story publicity surge, stated that they believed the house to be genuinely haunted independent of any fictional association. The two figures they describe most specifically are a butler apparition seen on the main staircase — no historical basis for a particular butler has been publicly identified — and a rocking nun, which maps plausibly onto the building's decades as a Catholic convent.
The convent connection gives the nun figure a degree of historical specificity that separates it from generic haunting claims. The Sisters of the Holy Cross occupied the building during the mid-20th century; any of the sisters who died there during that period could theoretically anchor such a tradition, though no documented case has been publicly identified.
Paranormal interest in the mansion intensified significantly after the 2011 AHS season, which depicted dozens of violent deaths at the property. The show's fictional history has become entangled with the building's actual record in ways that are difficult to parse — online ghost tourism accounts frequently conflate the show's storylines with actual reported phenomena.
What can be verified: the owners themselves have described paranormal experiences in the house in mainstream media interviews, placing this in a distinct category from purely fan-generated haunting claims. The mansion is a private residence; no organized paranormal tours operate there, and access is not available to the public.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
The Rosenheim Mansion exterior is visible from Westchester Place. The 1902 Craftsman-Shingle hybrid, designated LA Historic-Cultural Landmark No. 751 in 1999, is recognizable to American Horror Story fans as the Murder House from Season 1. The mansion is a private residence; viewing is from the street only.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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