The problem of homelessness and squatters taking over buildings has made its way into the Hollywood Hills as another group of squatters have taken over an abandoned mansion on Mulholland Drive.
Neighbors living near the abandoned home, which sits on the corner of Mulholland and Multiview, say the house is a magnet for crime and an eyesore. Pictures of the property back up their assessment. It is covered on every side with graffiti, and the spraypainting continues throughout the property and all over the inside of the now-dry in-ground pool.
One neighbor who asked not to be identified told a local news crew that they continually call the police, who clear out the squatters, but by the next day “five more people are there and staying the night.”
The home is owned by John Powers Middleton, the son of the owner of the Philadelphia Phillies, John S. Middleton. The younger Middleton is a film producer known for working on the 2013 film “Oldboy” and the 2016 release “Manchester by the Sea.”
This property is the second mansion in Hollywood that has recently been taken over by squatters, who are merely house thieves with no claim to the properties they take over. Earlier, a large house on nearby Sunset Boulevard was similarly trashed by squatters with spray cans who put their “tags” all over the property.
Neighbors say the house on Mulholland has been empty for years, and some have claimed secondhand that the squatters have attacked people who legitimately live on the street with “rebar and a steel bottle.”
Nithya Raman told a local news outlet that the LA City Council on which she sits is keeping its eye on both abandoned houses and is talking to the Los Angeles Police Department to figure out what to do. Raman disclosed that both mansions, the one on Mulholland and the one on Sunset, are owned by the same person, who is “in egregious violation of the law.”
Raman said the council has pushed these two houses to the top of the priority list for the Department of Building and Safety. She said DBS has visited both houses to survey the situation and “erect security measures,” though it is unclear what that may mean. Squatting is a serious “public safety issue,” Raman added, and she said that “irresponsible property owners” have to take care of their homes or they will be confronted by legal action from the city.