Saturday, June 1, 2013

The Haunted Restaurant





Los Angeles is a haunted city.  Beneath the metropolis the earth’s crust is stratified with history—the pueblo years, old movie sets, blood and assassinations, murders, riots, bottles, glass and buildings—a hodgepodge of broken promises and missed opportunities.

And of course, there are ghosts.

We tear down almost as soon as we have finished building.  The past is a mirage in L.A., but even though the physical evidence has been bulldozed, the detritus swept away, the ghosts linger.  If you listen, you will hear them wailing down the canyons during a bout of Santa Ana winds.

Those canyons are mythical in Los Angeles:  Laurel Canyon, Coldwater Canyon, Benedict Canyon, Beverly Glen, the Sepulveda Pass, Topanga Canyon.  This is because in the unique topography of L.A., the Santa Monica Mountains and the Hollywood Hills separate downtown and the city proper from the San Fernando Valley.  To drive from the north end of L.A. to the south requires passage over a freeway or through a winding canyon road along asphalt streets that cover old wagon trails.  The history gives these canyons the creepy feelings.  Charles Manson and his “family” murdered in these canyons.  Eddie Nash and his gang committed the Wonderland Murders up in Laurel Canyon.  Bodies are buried in partially-dug graves.  Mountain lions and coyotes roam the hills snatching up smaller game like Pekinese puppies and house cats.  There are ghosts and there is a darkness.

For years, I traveled over Beverly Glen to get to work, and every day I would pass by the Four Oaks Restaurant, a charming little place deep in the canyons.  Often, when it was lit up on a warm spring night, I would make a mental note to go there someday and have dinner.  But I never did.  My wife and I wanted to throw a party to celebrate our 20 year wedding anniversary at Four Oaks, but when we went to the place one day, we found the door locked and the restaurant shuttered.  It has remained closed for the last eight years, according to what I could find about the site in the Los Angeles Times.  Evidently, the last meal came out of the kitchen in 2005.



Doing some research about the history of the area, I stumbled upon two accounts of Four Oaks’ unique and haunted past.  The site of the restaurant was a stopping point for travelers moving over the hills to Los Angeles proper.  The drive that now takes 30 minutes depending on traffic was once a grueling trip requiring most of the day.  Legend has it that the Four Oaks name came as a result of a massive tree nearby formed from the trunks of four separate trees.  As time and civilization progressed, roads were paved and the journey became less arduous, and that is when the trouble started.  The restaurant became a speakeasy in the 1920s with illegal hooch and prostitutes.  Given the clientele, a number of bad things could have happened on that piece of real estate.  The one documented case was a doozy.  Down a bit from the current Four Oaks site, a man stormed into a roadhouse and confronted his wife in bed with her lover.  In a rage, he hacked off the male adulterer’s head with a scythe, bathing the room in blood.  The locals captured the murderer and hanged him, and the wandering wife inherited all of the man’s money and property.  According to legend, the husband and his victim still wander the area at night, one of them dressed “in his favorite yellow opera cape,” says Jeff Dwyer in his book, Ghost Hunter’s Guide to Los Angeles (Pelican, 2007).  A second apparition has been seen inside the Four Oaks Restaurant and is described by Dwyer as “a large, glowing apparition that hovers near the fireplace in the dining room or in the bar.  It has been seen by many but no one can give a clear description of the ghost’s features or determine if it is a man or woman.”

In a second book, Haunted Places:  The National Directory (Penguin, 2002) by Dennis William Hauck, the figure in yellow relates to the woman involved in the crime.  She supposedly loved the color yellow, so her headless, yellow-clad lover haunts the road looking for her, and probably his head, too.




I did not see any yellow headless ghosts when I went to the site recently.  It was just another abandoned restaurant or place of business like so many others around the city after the recession.  However, the canyons of L.A. often give me a shiver.  The houses are old, the trees whisper in the wind, and especially at night, strange figures often walk the streets.  But on my trip to Four Oaks on a recent warm day, I walked around the property unmolested.  The only interesting thing were the pictures I took.  I kept getting the double-exposure like reflections in the glass as I snapped shots through the windows.  Normally, I would edit them out or try a different angle, but in this case, I kind of liked them.  History is a layered effect, and I liked the ghost images reflected back in the glass and superimposed on the shot.










The Four Oaks Restaurant is located at 2181 North Beverly Glen Boulevard in Bel Air.  The old roadhouse is in the 1400 block of North Beverly Glen.  According to Jeff Dwyer, it is no longer occupied.







12 comments:

Claudia K. said...

Just found out it's reopening later this year, and will have an onsite garden where you can watch your food go from plant to plate...pretty exciting!

Paul L. Martin said...

Excellent! It's a beautiful location with some history behind it. Hopefully there will be many more years of dining with some decent food. The location is already a winner.

Thanks for commenting.

Anonymous said...

I worked there as a secretary in the chef Rolant years. My desk was next to the third floor bathroom. The Madame room. I often felt a little girl was peaking around the corner. As there is no door to that bathroom I often got up to look around the corner. She never scared me but it did make me a believer. Now downstairs in the wine cellar that used to be the way out when raided creaped me out. I always felt like I should cover my head. Like something was going to fall on me. Could be living with earthquakes or it could be why the nice little girl states upstairs.

Barry E. Taff, Ph.D. said...

Even though I've been a parapsychologist for the last 46 years here in Los Angeles, and have investigated more than 4,000 cases of hauntings and poltergeists, my fondest memories of The Four Oaks restaurant was not it's ghosts, but it's incredible menu and food once served there. While I would have certainly enjoyed a first-hand paranormal encounter while at the restaurant, what truly haunts me about it's passing is the absence of it's magnificent food. I hope to see you rise from the dead as soon as possible, as both my stomach and my mind miss your presence. Barry E. Taff, Ph.D.

ItsSmashingMikaela said...

My mom and step dad live in beverly glen canyon. Right down the street from Four Oaks. I always have felt like the street where my mom lives(corfu lane) is haunted. Its always full of shadows and weird noises. I lived there for a few years a while back and I know crazy things go bump in the night in the Glen. So beautiful, mysterious, and creepy. Love it!

Rob Wlodarski said...

As a paranormal investigator, historian and archaeologist for over 45 years, and co-author of 20+ books on the paranormal, Anne I featured the Four Oaks in several of our ghost books including Dinner and Spirits; California Hauntspitality; California Ghosts and Bottle's of Boos. We were fortunate enough to have been brought in by the prior owner to investigate the ghost stories. We had a lot happen during our visits that we featured in our books... an amazing place! Rob and Anne Wlodarski (www.ghostpublishingco.com)! Thanks

Unknown said...

I lived directly across the street from four oaks, and it's absolutely haunted! I became friends with the restaurant workers by bonding over the odd things that happened in our buildings. My furniture would shift around my apartment while I was sleeping, including large chairs that would travel up and down two flights of stairs. They had problems with all of their pots and pans being removed after closing, and spread across the floor filled with random amounts of water. Beautiful area, but absolutely haunted!

Unknown said...

I myself had quite the experience one evening on my 40th birthday my then-boyfriend took me there for the evening, I loved everything about it, it was beautiful the night was perfect, dinner was great, and then came dessert along with an apparition (smoky white) in which scared the heck out of me because my then BF got up to use the restroom. I was sitting there alone and felt something around me I could see a smoky white figure going past the window and by the fireplace in which I was sitting in the big main room which was beautiful...it's just something you
never forget, that was my experience at the four oaks it was certainly a birthday surprise. 😊
Cindy Fair

Thomas said...

I spent a week there in 2013. Pressure washing, moving stuff, etc. Brought the guitar for the off hours. The gH2osts love tunes. and the locals did also.
Of the six nights I slept there, the room with the fireplace off the patio (where Marilyn Monroe broke her ankle, and Steve McQueen played pool) is where I slept for two nights, the third floor room two nights, and the dining room the final two nights.
yeah, it's haunted.
And, Steve always has dibs on the pool table. Even though the table is long gone, the sound of balls breaking is nerve wrecking when you're there alone. Six nights was long enough to know for sure it definitely is haunted. George Thourogood (Bad to the Bone) lives in the neighborhood, too. But, he's still kicking!

Unknown said...

My late husband and I got married at the Four Oaks on August 6 1989. It was a beautiful evening and, with about 80 guests, we had most of our tables on the outside patio under the trees but also some inside in the Oak Room. At the time of our marriage I was working for a man who was (and still is!) married to an iconic French singer. The owners and staff were absolutely star struck by her, to the degree that my father had to remind them the most important people in the room were the bride and groom! I occasionally drive past and it's so sad to see the place abandoned and in disrepair. I do hope someone has the heart to re-open the space. Lisa Wilson Deitell

Unknown said...

I worked at the 4 Oaks as a waiter for approx 2 years, the period was 83-84. At that time it was owned by a lovely guy named Jack, an actor turned restaurant owner. Jack lived in the house behind the restaurant. He like a drink or two and only got sweeter as he did. Some great folks worked there at the time, the chefs were a couple, husband and wife but I cannot remember their names. The clientele was pure Hollywood old school and a mix of the new. To name a few who come to mind, Dolly Parton, Al Pacino, Debbie Reynolds, Rock Hudson, the list goes on. Very private place, perfect to bring a 'date' if you did not want to be seen. Almost no paparazzi at all. The restaurant could be busy but never crowded, with only one turnover in an evening. Those who dined took their time. The veranda was popular, esp at Sunday brunch, the busiest period of the week.

Re haunting, I never saw or felt anything ghostly, just a great old building with creaky stairs and fine kitchen.

I also lived on Corfu Lane just down the street.

The Glen has always been a favorite canyon of mine, great memories!

doug lewis

zazzz said...

I moved to beverly Glen canyon in 1969 or 70 after attending Parsons school of
design in NYC. I got to know and love the restraunt as well as the owner, Jack Allen. I spent a lot of time there and never felt or saw any ghost. Jack was as the post before this stated, a lovely guy. Entertaining, funny, smart and ran a wonderful place making sure every one felt they weren the most valued people at the restrant. He would wander thru the place, making sure everyone was happy, the food as well as the service were impecable. That is until one night, Jack called me and asked if I could help him out, one of his servers was not going to be there. I had never waited on tables dso i was jusy setting up, seeing water glasses were full and coffee was hot. I was about to fill coffee cups when I saw HIM...Steve McQueen dining with Ali Magraw! We were on the enclosed patio with brick floors. I had a tray with the glass coffee pot when I saw him. Yeah you guessed it. I dropped the coffre pot! Glass hitting the bricks and breaking was quite loud. I was so enbarrassed and not quite sure what to do when Steve stood up and started clapping. I know, my face was red. I bent to pick up the pieces when I felt a hand lifting me up. It was Jack. He guided me pver to the table, introduced me to Steve and Ali.
Sat me own and served me dinner. what an experience! My one and only watress job. Rozanne