Hollywood hitmaker Ryan Murphy is back with a new true crime miniseries. The second installment in his Monster Netflix franchise, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, recounts the events of an infamous 1989 double homicide in which José Menendez and his wife, Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, were found shot multiple times at close range in the den of their Beverly Hills mansion. After initially suspecting Mafia involvement, investigators turned to the couple’s sons, Lyle, 21, and Erik, 18, as perpetrators of the murders. The Menendez brothers were convicted and sentenced to life without parole in 1996.
Since the release of the nine-episode series this month, the 35-year-old case is making headlines for the controversies around the dramatization; viewers (which number in the millions, as the show rocketed to number 1 on the platform this week), Murphy, and Erik himself have all sounded off on the storytelling.
Today, the siblings remain in custody—but what happened to the crime scene, the Menendez family mansion? Read on for everything you need to know about the Beverly Hills dwelling.
When did the Menendez family move into the mansion?
The Menendez family bought their Beverly Hills abode in 1988. The manse on North Elm Drive was originally built in 1927. It was redesigned in 1984 by real estate mogul Mark Slotkin and his wife, actor Robin Greer, who revamped the home to feature six bedrooms and eight bathrooms for a total of 9,063 square feet of living space. Following the couple’s divorce, Slotkin sold the home for $4 million in 1988 to José Menendez, a successful businessman and family friend.
What does the Menendez mansion look like?
The former Menendez family mansion’s exteriors remain mostly unchanged to this day. Located in the coveted 90210 zip code, it sports a Mediterranean-style villa design. Per a now-closed Realtor.com listing, the home currently has seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms. It reportedly features high ceilings and a spiral staircase at the grand entry, a two-story foyer with imported Italian limestone flooring, a living room with large Palladian windows, and a renovated kitchen complete with high-end appliances and a walk-in pantry. The primary suite hosts two baths, while the rest of the home is outfitted with a range of amenities: a pool, an outdoor terrace, a two-story guesthouse, a private tennis court, and a wine cellar.
At the time of the murders, the mansion had soundproof walls, per the LA Times. At Lyle and Erik’s trial, Slotkin testified for the defense that “soundproofing made it unlikely that the maid could have heard loud voices [of the family’s screaming fights] from an upstairs bedroom.”
What happened to the Menendez mansion after the murders?
The house was left unoccupied for years following the murders. In 1994, the LA Times reported that it sold for $3.6 million at a loss of $1.2 million.
After it was used to pay off the remaining mortgage and closing costs for both the family’s Beverly Hills mansion and Calabasas home, Jwhat was left from the Menendez family’s $14.5 million family estate went directly to legal fees, miscellaneous expenses, and the Internal Revenue Service, according to José and Kitty’s attorneys. The family’s lawyers expressed in official court filings that “it was widely believed by the home-buying public and the real estate brokers and agents that this house had bad ‘karma,’ and was one to be avoided.”
