Megan FriendBuilt in 1922, Jim Morrison's house sits nestled in the Laurel Canyon hills. It's located on Rothdell Trail, and is more commonly known as his house on Love Street. Across the way from the Canyon Country Store and just moments from the Sunset Strip, it's full of Doors history.
After Morrison, the house went through a number of different owners before landing in the hands of a guy named Matt King, who is a model and a huge Doors fan. Unfortunately, the estate was set ablaze during the 2011 Hollywood arson fires. But since then King has been busy fighting with insurance companies and working with contractors, and it's finally restored. He was kind enough to give us an exclusive look.
See also: L.A. Woman Was the Doors' Bluesy Masterpiece, and Jim Morrison's Kiss-Off to L.A.
Credit: Megan Friend
The house is a quaint bungalow in the hills, and legend has it that the eccentric Doors frontman would run up and down these staircases, reciting poetry and singing at the top of his lungs at all hours of the night.
Where Pam's garden used to be; Credit: Megan Friend
Morrison is said to have spent some of his most peaceful years on Love Street, recording the Doors' Waiting for the Sun and living with his muse, Pam Courson. “Morrison's time on Love Street was his only attempt to domesticate himself,” says King. Courson had a garden, where King found the stone below.
Credit: Megan Friend
Bar railing from the Cat & the Fiddle; Credit: Megan Friend
Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix all loved visiting the Cat & the Fiddle pub on Sunset during their respective times in Laurel Canyon, and King acquired a bar railing that was taken out of the Cat & the Fiddle. It now hangs in the dining room of the house.
Jim Morrison's secret bathroom; Credit: Megan Friend
Writings in the secret bathroom; Credit: Megan Friend
On the bottom level of the house, King has preserved the “secret bathroom,” littered, supposedly, with poetry and lyrics Morrison wrote himself. The bathroom is only visible through a small hole in the wall, behind a mirror.
A tile signed by Ray Manzarek; Credit: Megan Friend
A tile signed by the Doors' second manager Danny Sugarman; Credit: Megan Friend
The closet; Credit: Megan Friend
As depicted in Oliver Stone's The Doors, Morrison once purportedly lit Courson's closet of clothes on fire, and then fled the house. The above photo marks the spot where the closet used to be. Morrison is also rumored to have composed some of his most famous songs off of Waiting for the Sun, sitting on the closet's floor. He liked to write in confined spaces.
Credit: Megan Friend
In the house hangs the original set list from Waiting for the Sun, with Morrison's handwriting on it.
Credit: Megan Friend