Following their review of the iconic Grey Gardens estate, the co-hosts sit down with author and Washington Post columnist Sally Quinn—who purchased the East Hampton home from Little Edie Beale in 1979—to learn more about her experiences there, her belief in magic, and the other haunted homes she’s owned over the years. Quinn also discusses the impact astrology has had on her life and shares a few jaw-dropping anecdotes about her experiences dabbling with hexes. CREDITS Alyssa Fiorentino - Co-hos...
Aug 31, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 6
Hadley and Alyssa uncover the fascinating history of Grey Gardens, the grand East Hampton estate of Big Edie and Little Edie Beale—eccentric aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill—that was made famous in a 1975 documentary by Albert and David Maysles. After spotlighting the iconic women and their home, the co-hosts unpack its gradual downfall: Over time, the property fell into disrepair and was overrun by cats and raccoons (and perhaps something else not of this realm?)....
Aug 24, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Following their deep dive on 10050 Cielo Drive—the Beverly Hills home where Sharon Tate and four others were brutally murdered on August 9th, 1969—Alyssa and Hadley sit down with Scott Michaels, whose Dearly Departed Tours provided true crime fans with a one-of-a-kind look at the dark side of Hollywood for almost two decades. The conversation begins where the co-hosts left off: Is it possible that all of Benedict Canyon, where both 10050 Cielo Drive and the Harlow/Bern house were located, is cur...
Aug 17, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Alyssa and Hadley dive into the complicated history of 10050 Cielo Drive, the Beverly Hills home where Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent were brutally murdered by members of the Manson Family Cult on August 9th, 1969. The co-hosts discuss the home’s beautiful architecture and peaceful-but-isolated location, as well as Charles Manson, the Family’s history, and the events that lead up to the infamous Tate-LaBianca Murders. After reviewing the facts fro...
Aug 10, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Hadley and Alyssa uncover the true story behind the first house declared “legally haunted” in the United States. Nicknamed “Ackley House” after its one-time occupants, the Ackley family, this classic Queen Anne sits on the Hudson River across from Sleepy Hollow, New York. The many ghosts who roamed the home’s halls were nothing but friendly, until the 1990s when the Ackleys decided to sell the house and found themselves entangled in a legal battle with potential buyers over the home’s spooky rep...
Jul 27, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Dark House is officially back! Co-hosts Alyssa Fiorentino and Hadley Mendelsohn kick off season 2 of House Beautiful’s hit podcast with an exciting update on new episodes dropping every other Wednesday through the end of the year. After a brief reintroduction to the show and recap of season 1, the co-hosts tease some of their favorite moments from the upcoming season and share a few personal ghost stories that kept them up at night between recording sessions. CREDITS Alyssa Fiorentino - Co-host ...
Jul 13, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 1
On May 4, 2001, Bonny Lee Bakley was found fatally shot in a car on a dark North Hollywood street. The prime suspect was her husband, famed actor Robert Blake. But Bonny, a longtime con artist, had plenty of enemies. She left behind a trail of men she’d scammed, and she had a volatile relationship with Christian Brando, the troubled son of movie star Marlon Brando. Not since the O.J. Simpson case had the eyes of the nation been so fixated on a homicide. The search for Bonny’s killer took detecti...
Jun 20, 2022•6 min
In the finale of Dark House, Alyssa brings listeners to the last—and most haunted—stop on the tour: the S.K. Pierce Mansion in Gardner, Massachusetts. Built in 1875 for a wealthy furniture manufacturer and his family, the grand Victorian was inhabited for just two weeks before the first of five confirmed deaths in the house took place. According to countless visitors, the spirits of those who lived and died there never actually left. In fact, the ghosts are so active, the couple who owned the ho...
Oct 27, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 5
Hadley takes listeners to the Spanish moss-veiled city of Savannah, Georgia, as she details the storied past and present of the Mercer-Williams House. Designed in 1860 and restored in 1969 by preservationist Jim Williams after years of abandonment, the Italianate revival that inspired Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil played host to a world famous antiques collection, and, more notably, at least three untimely deaths. It’s also supposedly built right on top of unmarked graves, like much of...
Oct 20, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 4
Alyssa shares the story of Los Angeles’s infamous Harlow/Bern House, a 1930 Craftsman that was once home to Hollywood starlet Jean Harlow and her MGM executive husband, Paul Bern. Two short months after the couple tied the knot, Bern was found dead in their home at 9820 Easton Drive in Benedict Canyon. Though his death was ruled a suicide, rumors have been circulating Hollywood for years suggesting Bern was actually murdered and that studio executives covered it up to protect Harlow’s career. St...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 3
This week, Hadley shares the tale of the Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa, and unpacks the true crime event that turned the domestic symbol of the American dream into a nightmare. A quaint farmhouse built in 1868, the home is forever marked by tragedy after a family of six and their two young house guests were murdered on a June night in 1912. After reviewing the details of the unsolved case, the co-hosts discuss the current state of the home and the reports of strange occurrences fro...
Oct 06, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 2
In the premiere of House Beautiful’s new limited series Dark House, co-hosts (and editors) Alyssa Fiorentino and Hadley Mendelsohn introduce listeners to the show, and to themselves, sharing the personal ghost stories from their childhood homes that still keep them up at night. Hung up on questions about how and why certain homes become haunted, the co-hosts chat with their first guest, Tok Thompson, Ph.D., folklorist, and professor of anthropology at the University of Southern California (29:41...
Sep 29, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 1
At the crossroads of true crime, interior design, and the paranormal, Dark House explores beautiful homes that can’t seem to escape their dark histories. Hosts and House Beautiful editors Hadley Mendelsohn and Alyssa Fiorentino dig into the twisted backstories of four infamous homes, and uncover the strange stories suggesting some inhabitants never left—and that perhaps history isn't the only thing haunting them. Featuring guest interviews with authors, set designers, psychic mediums, and parano...
Sep 13, 2021•3 min
