Canfield-Moreno Estate
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Canfield-Moreno Estate, also known as The Paramour Mansion, or The Crestmount is a recording studio/estate located in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California. Named after its original owners, it is considered an historic cultural monument.
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[edit] Origin
The mansion is a 22,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style country villa. It was constructed in 1923 by architect Robert Farquhar. As the opulent former residence of silent film star Antonio Moreno and his wife and oil heiress, Daisy Canfield Danziger, it was the scene for lavish Sunday afternoon parties for members of high society and silent screen notables.[1]
[edit] Haunting
In 1933, Daisy Canfield died when her car plunged off Mulholland Drive. Some believed it was a murder and not an accident. Some people believe that the ghost of Paramour is Daisy, trying to make peace.
My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way describes in the song Sleep a "night terror" he experienced while recording at the Paramour Mansion. He describes a feeling of being strangled, and says he couldn't wake up or move. He has also claimed in interviews that in his night terrors he saw Joan of Arc burning as well as his loved ones dying. During the band's stay at the house, they came across a painting of an angel above a fireplace. When a band member moved something, the painting was revealed to have a demon reaching for the angel's feet. Another incident involved the bassist, Mikey Way, also Gerard Way's brother. He became depressed. The band decided to get him out of the house. Bob Bryar also claimed that in the middle of the night, the bathtub in his bathroom would fill itself with water.
The guesthouse was previously a horse stable and the occasional guest will sometimes smell and hear horses even before knowing the background.
Papa Roach has also stayed at the Paramour Mansion to record their 2006 album The Paramour Sessions. Jacoby Shaddix has said that he went down to Daisy's gravesite to sit and write the band's popular single Forever and had help and inspiration from Daisy's ghost. Their drummer David Buckner also had some experiences there as well. "The whole property was completely fucking haunted, and I saw it as a sanctioned opportunity for me to lose my mind—And I did exactly that. I was visited by inter-dimensional beings, had out-of-body sex with spirits from old Hollywood, learned how to see specters, and now know what it feels like to have a ghost walk through me. It’s a very enlightening and inspiring experience, and something to check off the list." he said. While recording the track Crash off the album, every time they'd get to the lines "I'm going to crash" the power went out and all their equipment went out the first time and when they tried again it happened two more times.
[edit] Other uses
The 22-room estate has seen many incarnations. It would soon be the Chloe P. Canfield School for Girls. In 1950, it became a convent for Franciscan nuns, who sold the property in 1987 after it was damaged by the Whittier Narrows earthquake. In 1998, Dana Hollister, a philanthropist and civic patron, bought the property for $2.25 million.
[edit] Current life
Renowned artists like My Chemical Romance, HIM, Gwen Stefani, Lucinda Williams, Fiona Apple, Sarah McLachlan, Colin James and Vic Chesnutt have recorded here. Sting, Elton John, John Mayer, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck, and the Adaskin String Trio have played benefits on the grounds. The alternative rock band Papa Roach lived there from October 2005 to May 2006 while recording their fourth major album, The Paramour Sessions inspired by and entitled after the house. Papa Roach has gone back to the Paramour to record their fifth major album.
It has also been the set for the reality shows Rock Star: INXS, Rock Star: Supernova and MTV's The X Effect. It has been host to the 2000 Silver Lake Film Festival. It has been a set location for Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and Scream 3 as well as the set for Britney Spears' "My Prerogative" music video.
