The former home of the late Dennis Wilson, member of the Beach Boys and once a friend of the Manson family, is still standing after its brush with L.A.’s Pacific Palisades fire.
14400 Sunset Boulevard, where in the late 1960s Wilson would regularly host cult leader Charles Manson and many of his female followers, was photographed seemingly unscathed by the wildfires that have torn across Southern California, prompting the evacuation of over 180,000 people.
Drummer Wilson was reportedly fascinated by Manson and his followers as the two struck up a friendship in 1968. Many women, all of whom members of the Manson family, were housed at the residence that summer and cost the star around $100,000 (equivalent to $900,000 in 2025).
In late 1968, Wilson told the Record Mirror magazine: “When I met [Manson] I found he had great musical ideas. We’re writing together now. He’s dumb, in some ways, but I accept his approach and have [learned] from him.”
He had told reporters at the time that he had been living with 17 women. When asked if he was supporting them, Wilson replied: “No, if anything, they’re supporting me. I had all the rich status symbols — Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, home after home. Then I woke up, gave away 50 to 60 percent of my money. Now I live in one small room, with one candle, and I’m happy, finding myself.”
It was reportedly at Wilson’s house parties where Manson, who died in 2017 at age 83, was able to meet Hollywood celebrities. In the summer of 1968, Manson recorded several tracks at Brian Wilson’s home studio, though the recordings remain unreleased to the public. The Beach Boys recorded one of Manson’s songs “Cease to Exist” (retitled “Never Learn Not to Love”) and released it as the B-side of their single “Bluebirds over the Mountain” in December 1968. Manson himself did not contribute to the recording.
Growing fearful of Manson, Wilson distanced himself from the family and moved out of the house around the same time. Following the 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski, Wilson was reportedly threatened by the group, agreeing to give Manson money. He did not testify against him when the latter was charged with numerous counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
In the 1978 biography The Beach Boys and the California Myth, Wilson acknowledged his relationship with Manson and said, “I know why [he] did what he did. Someday, I’ll tell the world. I’ll write a book and explain why he did it.” In 1983, Wilson drowned at Marina Del Rey.
Wildfires, fueled by the Santa Ana winds, initially broke out last Tuesday in the Palisades, before spreading to parts of Malibu and Santa Monica overnight. As of press time, the fires have killed at least 24 people. The Palisades Fire is now 17 percent contained, while the Eaton Fire is 35 percent contained amid warnings that the weather will be “particularly dangerous” on Tuesday.
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