The Mansion is a four-bedroom mansion owned by music producer Rick Rubin located in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Originally built in 1918, the house is famous for the successful bands who have recorded music there. Although many say that Harry Houdini lived at the mansion, no one has ever lived in the Mansion under the name "Houdini". There is confusion between The Mansion, at 2451 Laurel Canyon Blvd., and The Houdini Estate, at 2400 Laurel Canyon Blvd.
After recording Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik with considerable ease and comfort, Rubin decided to use the mansion to record many of the albums he has produced, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium, Audioslave's Out of Exile, The Mars Volta's De-Loused in the Comatorium, Slipknot's Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight and the Strokes' Reality Awaits.
Since 1991, Red Hot Chili Peppers have returned to the mansion on numerous occasions; the tracks "Fortune Faded" and "Save the Population" on 2003's Greatest Hits compilation, and more recently the group's 2006 album Stadium Arcadium were recorded there. The mansion can also be seen on the Chili Peppers' 1991 documentary Funky Monks, Linkin Park's DVD The Making of Minutes to Midnight, and in a series of eight clips uploaded to LCD Soundsystem's official YouTube channel documenting the creation of This Is Happening.
Houdini connection In 1919, Houdini rented the cottage at 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Los Angeles, while making movies for Lasky Pictures. His wife occupied it for a time after his death. It is said that Houdini did practice his tricks in the pool at 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard.
As of 2011 the site of the cottage was a vacant lot and up for sale. The main mansion building itself was rebuilt after it was destroyed in the 1959 Laurel Canyon fire, and is now a historic venue called The Mansion. While Houdini did not likely live at the "mansion", there is some probability that his widow did.
Recordings at the Mansion Band or artist Album(s) and/or song(s) Year(s) of recording Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik 1991 Guns N' Roses November Rain 1991 Marilyn Manson Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) 1999 – 2000 American Head Charge The War of Art 2000 – 2001 The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium 2002 – 2003 Jay-Z "99 Problems" 2003 Red Hot Chili Peppers "Fortune Faded" and "Save the Population" from Greatest Hits 2003 Slipknot Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) 2003 System of a Down Mezmerize & Hypnotize 2004 Ours Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy 2005 AudioslaveOut of Exile 2005 Red Hot Chili Peppers Stadium Arcadium 2005 Linkin Park Minutes to Midnight 2006 – 2007 Maroon 5 It Won't Be Soon Before Long 2006 – 2007 LCD Soundsystem This Is Happening 2009 – 2010 Lorde iHeart Radio Secret Sessions 2017 Major Lazer feat. Tove Lo "Blow That Smoke" 2018 Aluna & KAYTRANADA feat. Rema "The Recipe" 2020 Masego & Don Toliver "Mystery Lady" 2020 Young Thug feat. Travis Barker NPR tiny desk (home) concert 2021 Dua Lipa "Houdini" 2023 Turnstile Never Enough 2024 – 2025 The Strokes Reality Awaits 2022 – 2026
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