The infamous Menendez family mansion in Beverly Hills, where brothers Lyle and Erik fatally shot their parents in 1989, has become the site of extensive renovations. This comes as the siblings begin the resentencing hearings that could potentially lead to their freedom.
The 9,063-square-foot Mediterranean-style villa, originally built in 1927 and redesigned in 1974, was purchased in March 2024 for $17 million by an LLC called LAHA ELM. The LLC reportedly belongs to a prominent Iranian-American family with a significant presence in the Los Angeles real estate market. Despite the home’s notorious history, the new owners haven’t let the property’s macabre reputation—or a steady stream of true crime tourists—deter them from reimagining the space.
Workers have erected wire fencing with black screens around the property in an attempt to shield the renovation from prying eyes, though it hasn’t stopped curious onlookers from documenting the transformation on social media. One TikTok showed the inside of the gutted home, and other videos reveal wooden beams through cracked-open doors, suggesting the property is being completely gutted, though public permit records for the property are not currently available.
After the murders, the property sat on the market for years, its value diminished by what court filings described as “bad karma.” Despite being appraised at $4.8 million in 1991, it sold that same year for just $3.6 million.
The mansion was later purchased by William Link, co-creator of the hit TV series Murder, She Wrote, who owned it for eight years before selling to telecommunications executive Sam Delug in 2001 for $3.7 million. Delug held onto the property for 23 years before listing it at nearly $20 million in December 2023.
The property’s sale coincided with renewed public interest in the Menendez case, fueled by Ryan Murphy’s Netflix production, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. The media attention reignited the debate about the brothers’ life sentences and transformed the mansion into something of a macabre tourist attraction.
Local residents have grown increasingly frustrated with the influx of visitors. The Beverly Hills Police Department responded to more than a dozen calls for noise complaints and trespassing in October alone, TMZ reported.
Meanwhile, Lyle and Erik Menendez, now 57 and 54 respectively, began their resentencing hearings on April 17, where their lawyers are arguing for reduced sentences that would make them immediately eligible for parole. The brothers have been serving life sentences without the possibility of parole since their 1996 conviction.
Before the renovation, the mansion itself included seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a two-story foyer with limestone floors, a wood-paneled billiard room, and a living room with Palladian windows. The property’s amenities included a private tennis court, a pool, a two-story guesthouse, backyard rose gardens, and a wine cellar with a tasting room.
Julia Cancilla is the engagement editor (and resident witch) at ELLE Decor, where she manages the brand’s social media presence and covers trends, lifestyle, and culture in the design world. Julia built her background at Inked magazine, where she grew their social media audiences by two million, conducted interviews with A-list celebrities, and penned feature articles focusing on pop culture, art and lifestyle. Over her five years of digital media experience, Julia has written about numerous topics, from fashion to astrology.
