Around Halloween, the inhabitants of all those cozily, carefully-shrouded McMansions in Beverly Hills turn their eyes to the scariest thing in town: The Witch House, which looks like something like a cross between the Gingerbread House in Hansel and Gretel, and a hobbit home in Rivendell. It was built in the 1920s for a bunch of silent, and presumably creepy, films — hey, it was used in the Alicia Silverstone movie Clueless! — before finally being relocated to Beverly Hills. Unfortunately it’s not something open to public view, so the best you can hope for is a drive-by, or, for the particularly brave, a nosy peek through the windows.

But getting out to walk (or possibly trip) around the old stone driveway (which looks almost like a moat) that surrounds it, and viewing the old thatched roof,or the house’s maple-crisscrossed windows, really helps one admire the house’s venerable and strange architecture. Rumor has it that there’s a black cat which likes to perch on the roof at night, too. Even the stains and wear and tear from years of rain adds to the charm of it all. One interesting story behind the Witch House is how the real estate agent trying to sell it in the late nineties couldn’t find a buyer who didn’t want to demolish it. In the end he decided to purchase it– for 1.3 million– and live there himself. Located at 516 Walden Dr, in Beverly Hills, the house makes for an entertaining drive-by, and on Halloween, a must-see (in addition to higher-quality candy you get from rich people).

Words by Jeff Nau