John Sowden House

Los Angeles, CA · Historical Buildings

The John Sowden House was the site of the murder of Black Dahlia, aka Elizabeth Short, found surgically cut in half and dumped on a lot. Suspect Dr. George Hill Hodel fled the country. Subsequent residents of the home have heard voices, footsteps, and the sound of heavy chains dragging, and seen apparitions that appear to be Hodel. TV's Ghost Hunters featured the house on an episode, and they caught the apparition on video as well as an EVP that said "It's George."

Geographic Information

Address
5121 Franklin Ave.
Los Angeles, CA
Get Directions »
GPS
34.1055181, -118.3011975
County
Los Angeles County County, California
Nearest Towns

Contact Information

Website

Quick Answers

Is John Sowden House really haunted?
Visitors rate John Sowden House at 88.5 out of 100 on our EHP (Estimated Haunted Probability) scale. So far 1 person has shared firsthand experiences from this location in the comments.
Where is John Sowden House located?
The address is 5121 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles, CA. GPS coordinates: 34.1055181, -118.3011975.
What kind of haunted place is John Sowden House?
John Sowden House is listed under Historical Buildings in our California section.
What is the nearest town to John Sowden House?
Hollywood, CA is the closest town, about 1.5 miles away, with West Hollywood (3.6 mi.) and Glendale (3.7 mi.) also nearby.

Please note: It is your responsibility to acquire appropriate permissions before investigating any location listed on this site. Private property should be respected at all times, as should all posted signs concerning trespassing, hours of operation and other regulations.

Share Your Experiences

Comments (1)

  • Sarah Tipton |

    In 1945, Dr. George Hodel purchased the already iconic house. George frequently beat his sons in the basement. He also threw drug-infused, hedonistic parties and orgies in his gold bedroom. In 1949, Hodel’s beautiful teenage daughter Tamar ran away from the house. When questioned by the police, she said she had left because “her home life was too depressing,” on account of “all the sex parties at the Franklin House.” Tamar then accused her father and other adults of raping her during a party at the house. When questioned by police, George responded bizarrely, stating that he had recently been “delving into the mystery of love and the universe,” and that the acts of which he was accused were “unclear, like a dream. I can't figure out whether someone is hypnotizing me,” he insisted, “or I am hypnotizing someone.” When police raided the home, they seized pornography and questionable objects. George was acquitted after launching a smear campaign directed at his daughter. He soon sold the Sowden House and left the country. For decades, the house was quiet—the home of the upstanding Mazur family. George Hodel died in 1999. But this was not the end of the story of George Hodel and the Sowden House. Not by a long shot. After George died, his son Steve, a retired LAPD detective, was going through some of his father's possessions when he found two pictures of a lovely dark-haired girl. He soon became convinced that the photos were of Elizabeth Short, aka the Black Dahlia, whose unsolved 1947 murder and mutilation had long been the stuff of Hollywood legend. Over the next few years, he became convinced that not only had his sadistic father murdered the Dahlia, he had also been responsible for a number of unsolved, brutal murders that had taken place in Los Angeles in the 1940s. And he believed that some of these murders had taken place in the Sowden House’s basement. In 2003, Steve made these allegations public in the book Black Dahlia Avenger. “Supposin’ I did kill the Black Dahlia,” the good doctor said. “They couldn't prove it now. They can't talk to my secretary anymore because she's dead.”

Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the truest sense, ghost stories. Haunted Places makes no claims that any of these stories are factually accurate or scientifically provable.