The last home you'll ever own

You thought selling the typical family home was tough? Try finding a buyer for this plot.

Sure, the Glendale location is great, and there are stars galore in the vicinity: Nat King Cole, Clara Bow, Jeanette MacDonald, George Burns and Gracie Allen, and Allan Ladd and his wife, Sue Carol.

The structure is ample -- 200 square feet -- and Big-Sleeps six. Amenities include lots of marble built-ins, great views, serenity, and the place is move-in ready.

The catch: This final place to lay your head is $750,000, and there's not even a remodeled kitchen. Want to finance it? No way. "It may be hard to collect on a 30-year mortgage," said Ray Schuldenfrei, the Hollywood real estate agent who got the listing last March from sellers who bought the mausoleum in the '70s, planning at that time to end their days in Los Angeles. That scenario changed.

There have been several interested buyers, including a recent prospect who wondered about the plumbing and asked if he could transform the place into an artist's loft. Another, a European, inquired about the immigration status of family members they might ship to the site. A Midwestern couple asked about the view at Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Glendale (it's excellent, actually).

Alas, no serious buyer yet, Schuldenfrei said. But with plenty of Hollywood egos as large as this cavernous crypt, someone's bound to come calling. Rest assured.

-- Diane Wedner

Your thoughts? Comments?

Photo: Walt and Lillian Disney are among the family members memorialized at Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Glendale. Credit:  Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Bryan Morris]

You know, I hate to stereotype ethinic groups. But my last two houses have been next to cemetaries, and I've got to say that Dead-Americans are some of the best neighbors you could ever want to have. You never see for sale signs in their neighborhoods, they don't throw wild parties, they mostly stick to themselves, and they really keep their landscaping up. From now on, I will only look at houses that are graveyard adjacent.

[Nelcisco]

you forgot Lon Chaney Sr., he's in a unmarked mausoleum dressed in his Phantom of the Opera costume, no make-up.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

Schuldenfrei, the Hollywood real estate agent, is that his real name, because in German, it means 'debt free?'

[Ray Schuldenfrei]

Yes, that is our real name. We are almost "Schuldenfrei"; as soon as we sell the mausoleum, we can drop the "almost".