Frank Zappa's Laurel Canyon Cabin, Part 2

You can see the property in a few of Bonnie’s driving tour videos. It is now a vacant lot with trees, but you can make out a driveway, etc. It is located at the Corner of Laurel Canyon Blvd and Lookout Mountain. Go to the link at the bottom for more photos of the property.

In my previous Frank Zappa blog post, we learned that after the Tate/LaBianca murders, FZ moved the hell out of here. It was too high profile and not a very secure residence for his young family. The world had changed, overnight. Stars like David Bowie and Jagger were very frightened and would not even stay up in the Hills.

1968 – Jagger, Captain Beefheart and Marianne Faithful hanging out.

What’s left of “Mick’s fireplace”.

The building was built in the early 1900’s by silent movie cowboy star Tom Mix who reputedly entertained Wyatt Earp there after the latter had moved to California. Before Zappa took over the place for $700/month it was occupied by (Mothers Auxiliary) Carl Franzoni’s commune, renting from an African-American widow who owned it.

The famous basement, circa 2000.

The Log Cabin was destroyed in a (reputedly drug related) fire around 1970 long after FZ had moved elsewhere in Laurel Canyon, leaving only the basement and a few other structures to be seen. On the adjacent hillside one can still see an artificial grotto inhabited in Zappa’s days by members of the GTO’s, an all-girl group produced by FZ which included the later Pamela Des Barres.

Both this band and the Mothers themselves used to practice in the basement seen in the pictures below. The old-time picture of the Log Cabin reproduced below is the only one I have ever seen of the intact building. The property was sold for $1.5 million in 2003 and the basement was filled in as shown below.

The photos are at the link below. Enjoy.

Source & Credit

http://members.shaw.ca/mitb2/petermackay/logcabin.html

The Laurel Tavern, Canyon Store & Frank Zappa

The building which now houses the Canyon Store was built in 1929.

1983. Man, that is a sweet Rabbit convertible.

The Laurel Tavern

The log cabin road house was first called the Laurel Tavern. It had a bowling alley in the basement, and was later bought by silent film star Tom Mix. One of the last residents to occupy the cabin before it burned in the 1970’s was Frank Zappa.

Allegedly, Larry “Wild Man” Fischer met Frank Zappa by simply walking up to his front door and asking if he could play Frank a song. It is said that Frank did not even have locks on his doors.

Would you let this guy in? … could he be at the Canyon Store??

In the end, Fischer would be banned from the house by Frank’s wife, Gail. After one drug-fueled episode, Larry had a fit and threw a glass bottle narrowly missing their toddler daughter, Moon Unit. The Tate/LaBianca Murders however, got Frank to pick up and move for good. Reality check! The Summer of Love and all that stuff was over and done.

The tavern and Frank Zappa’s old house. Photo is from mid 1910s.

The tavern was located at the Red “A” marker. Yellow circle is Wonderland house. The Canyon Store is just south on Laurel Canyon Blvd.

Source:  Laurel Canyon Association