In 1919, when Houdini was making the two movies for Lasky Pictures, he and Bess rented a cottage at 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard. The home is valued at $675,000 as of fall 2011. There is a plaque on the building honoring Harry Houdini, but there is also a fence preventing unwanted visitors from bothering the residents. Today, the building has been partially restored, and is still rented as apartments. Bess sold the house in 1927, and in the years since then, it has been both a private residence as well as an apartment house for nearby Columbia University students. Houdini lived in this home until his death in 1926. (Much of his collection now belongs to the Library of Congress.) Houdini enjoyed his library so much that he operated his office right in the center of it, seated at an ornate carved desk that was fitted with secret compartments. Houdini's library was his pride and joy, eventually, his collection would have an estimated worth of $500,000. The home was lavishly furnished, and stocked with a library of thousands of books. He also had his initials installed as part of the floor tile design in the bathroom the tiles are still there today. Reportedly, Houdini had a large sunken bathtub installed so that he could practice his underwater escapes. The 6008 square foot home gave Houdini a lot of room for both a living space and a huge upstairs office. The house was built in 1895, but for some reason never completely finished an occupied until Houdini purchased it. At the time, the neighborhood was predominantly occupied by newly-prosperous German Jews, and Houdini fit right in. For $25,000, he purchased a large brownstone at 278 West 113th Street, in what is now called Morningside Heights. In 1904, Harry Houdini was successful enough to be able to afford a home in New York City. Please CLICK HERE before copying this information Houdini owned homes in New York and California
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