A Visit to the Dunsmuir Hellman House
Photos by Me
Happy Halloween! Today I’m sharing some photos from a little trip I took to visit the Dunsmuir Hellman House and Gardens. The Mansion has been featured in numerous movies, such as Burnt Offerings (1976), Phantasm (1979), and So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) to name a few of my favorites. The home is a beautiful example of neo-classical revival architecture that was popular between 1893 -1940.
Sadly, the history of the mansion begins in tragedy. Alexander Dunsmuir built the estate for his new bride in 1899. Unfortunately they never got to share the home together because Alexander’s final fate took him while on their honeymoon. His bride returned to the home alone and died herself shortly after.
The home has only been owned by one other family - the Hellman family purchased the estate in 1906 and used the home as their vacation house. Nowadays the estate is open to the public, owned and run by a non-profit, and weddings and events are hosted on the property.
The inside of the home was closed when I visited, but I would love to take a tour one day.
I’m not sure how much of the exterior has been updated since the home was built, but the details are beautifully understated and a lot of it appears to be original - everything from the light fixtures to the pediments.
I spied a bird’s nest in this lighting fixture!
I walked around the estate for about 30 minutes and felt like there was still more to see. It’s safe to say I will be making another trip back to explore the grounds more extensively.
Stay spooky!
xo,
