The Ghost of Karen Carpenter
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| Listen to “Superstar” by The Carpenters [download] |
Someone had posted a Myspace bulletin announcing an estate sale at The Carpenters‘ house in Downey, just south of L.A. So Saturday morning, Rudy and I joined our friend (and long-time Downey resident) Andrea for an excursion to their unassuming suburban home, a place that still carries the silent Weight of so many long-forgotten memories and broken dreams.
A Mexican-American family has been living there since the mid-90s, but many sad artifacts from the Carpenters legacy still haunt the house. Much of the estate is in shambles. The back yard, which was once a lush, landscaped paradise in the style of a Japanese garden, is now a dried-up wasteland. Several of the wooden bridges have collapsed, and the piles of wood planks were being sold for $500. The words “Superstar” and “Carpenters” were engraved on the wood in Japanese.
The daughter of the current residents, who was running the whole show, gave us a tour of the main house– except for the room where Karen died. Her sister, she said, was sleeping in there.
Karen Carpenter’s Carpet.
These records were left behind.
Richard Carpenter’s wallpaper.
Downey is also home to the world’s oldest standing McDonald’s. It’s a historical landmark.
I’ve got to say, you’ve added a new dimension to shitty, bland pop music.
See also: Todd Haynes’ amazing film, Superstar.
I used to live in Downey.
The cool thing about that McDonald’s (when i lived there) was that is wasn’t a franchise. So it sold all different kinds of mc-burgers that were nothing like normal McDonalds.
There also used to be another arch on that sign but the Pep Boys made the owners take it down because it was blocking their sign… at least thats what I heard.
Downey was also home to johnnies broiler before it got torn down.
http://www.johniesbroiler.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnie's_Broiler
I love spending the day with you
This is just amazing, srsly!
the carpenters were before my time and karen died before i was born, it wasn’t until recently i discovered the carpenters, yes when i was younger i heard them but never realized who they were. karen and richard were both great singers, it’s such a shame women starve themselves, i could only imagine what karen would be like if she were still alive
This is just so sad… not only what happened to Karen, but to see what happened to the house (sort of a Graceland for Carpenters fans).
Wow, what awful photographs. It’s too bad we can’t really see much in any of them. Put down the zoom lens and quit trying to be an “artist,” because you obviously don’t have the talent for it.
Yeah, the photos are really bad. If you’re going to underexpose your shots, at least correct for that in Photoshop after the fact.
By the way, in American English, it’s “backyard,” not “back yard.”
why are so many people so rude! Thanks for posting. I am not in California, so any shots put me closer to the location than I woul dbe otherwise. Sad state of affairs over there on Newville. Hope they keep the house standing though. It really should be preserved.
I also attended the Newville house estate sale in 2007. I purchased many things that day, including Karen’s bedroom desk. The daughter you speak of was trying to raise money to pay for law school. The family is Cuban, not Mexican.
It’s very sad to see how the current owners absolutely destroyed that house. The music room was torn down completely and a large tacky house was built in it’s place. It’s really sad because it should have been converted to a C’s shrine or mueseum. I’m surprised that Richard didn’t try to do this, he seems like a very sentimental and nostalgic man.
I was looking at real estate in the north east downey area and drove past the Carpenter home. It looked in good condition to me. A side note, The Carpenters owned around 10 properties in Downey and 5 of them were homes in the North East Section of the City. When did the Carpenter Family leave this house?
Really? You are going to blast the blogger’s photo taking skills? Why? It’s not like they are expected to be a professional photographer, or get paid to post this stuff. So shut-up. Mocking them and assuming they think they are an artist and that’s why they took the photos that certain way just shows you are a condescending ass. Can you do any better? Do you have time to do things like this? I’m with the non-Californian resident who is happy for the slightest glimpse into the former home of someone I admired. If he got some of the details a little fuzzy too, that’s ok. I don’t really care about the current residents anyways. I’m only reading the article because I like the Carpenters.