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The Spadena House, also known as The Witch House, is a storybook house in Beverly Hills, California (Photo by Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images) Getty Images Witch Tara Maclay’s specialized in defensive spells during her three seasons on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Actress, writer and director Amber Benson, who portrayed the character, has continued her interest in the occult, penning a novel series about a coven in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood. Now, Benson has conjured new magic spells, far different from her Buffy days. The incantations have been used to enchant architecturally significant homes in Los Angeles. Amber Benson says she’s always been interested in the occult. LINDSEY BYRNES / Photo courtesy of FORT:LA “Los Angeles has such a rich history of spooky and unsettling things that have happened here,” says Benson, who created “Witch House Trail,” a self-guided tour of Los Angeles homes that have various associations with the occult. “It’s pretty easy to find supernatural stories to inspire me for the Witch House Trail each year.” ‘Hearth Magic’ Is Featured In Benson’s New Series Benson’s “Witch Houses 6: Spells and Magic” is the sixth in a free series published by Friends of Residential Treasures (LA (FORT:LA). The online house tours have covered covens associated with properties, storybook architecture, buildings with towers and turrets, and classic homes that look exactly like what a witch would inhabit. Other FORT:LA Trails cover various architectural styles, civil rights movements connect to homes and numerous other themes. The Wiggins House in Tujunga, California, was built in 1941. Russell Brown / Courtesy of FORT:LA FORT:LA advises those who tour the properties and photograph the exteriors to respect homeowners and not ask to see inside the residences. The organization is a nonprofit architectural advocacy group in Los Angeles. The spells associated with homes in Benson’s “Witch Houses 6: Spells and Magic” center around what she terms “hearth magic,” or magic for the home. For example, the owners of Farnam House in Santa Monica cast a “Prosperitas Spell” on their home to attract prosperity—which Benson notes has apparently lasted nearly a century. What’s required? In her tour guide, Benson writes: “On the seventh night of an odd-numbered month, bury a silver dollar beneath each entry point of the home while intoning at each burial site: Through my door comes only riches Through my window comes only wealth Infuse my home with good health And infinite wellness.” Benson’s other tours have been equally inventive. “In a previous year, we created an accompanying audio track of passages from Grimm’s Fairy Tales that reference various abodes,” Benson says. Users can download and listen to it while they follow the trail. 'Buffy" star Amber Benson has created six Witch House guided tours. Courtesy of FORT:LA Benson was asked to create the self-guided Trail tours by Russell Brown, founder and board chair of FORT:LA. “I was lucky enough to star in his first feature film, Race You to the Bottom, and not only did the movie turn out wonderfully, but I got an incredible friend in the bargain,” Benson says. “He was a big fan of my Witches of Echo Park book series, and saw another chance for us to collaborate.” Witches Get A PR Makeover Benson says she’s always been interested in the occult and is encouraged that the view of witches has evolved. Once a classic villain trope—portrayed with pointy hats casting curses on unsuspecting victims—witches are increasingly pictured in a positive light, she notes. But that freshened depiction, she says, was always the reality for witches who have suffered distortion through the centuries. “Historically, witches were women who bucked the system and stood up for themselves,” Benson says. They were figures who “made the powers that be angry. And what better way is there to put a powerful woman in her place than to demonize her.” The Egasse-Braasch House, from the first Trail Benson created, is where Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote the Academy Award-winning film Good Will Hunting. Michael Locke / Courtesy of FORT:LA Among Benson’s favorite witch houses is the Egasse-Braasch House from the first Trail she created. The 1922 home at 2327 Hill Drive is where Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote the Academy Award-winning film Good Will Hunting. The Columbia Ranch Dwarf Houses on Hollywood Way in Burbank. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Another favorite: the Columbia Ranch Dwarf Houses at 313 N. Hollywood Way in Burbank. Benson describes the 1946 structures as “four little Storybook cottages lined up in a charming row.” Each cottage has terracotta and brick chimneys and two have windows that abut the roof, “giving them the sleepy-eyed countenance of giant cyclops just waking from their naps,” she writes in the tour description. Actress Amber Benson signs copies of her book "The Golden Age Of Death" at Dark Delicacies Bookstore on March 2, 2013 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/WireImage) Los Angeles’ Whimsical Storybook Architecture Benson drove by the cottages daily while working on a project in Burbank. “Every time I passed them, I wanted to park my car and go knock on one of their doors,” she says. “I just knew a whole old school Disney universe was hiding inside them.” She adds that the homes are representations of Los Angeles’ classic storybook architecture. The style blends rustic English cottage elements with medieval European aesthetics. Details include steep, wavy roofs; turrets and towers; leaded-glass windows; decorative chimneys; and asymmetrical designs. The 1924 Hlaffer-Courcier Residence in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz is a good example of the fanciful storybook style. MIchael Locke / Courtesy of FORT:LA “Storybook architecture became popular in Los Angeles because the city was filled with people in the creative industry—Hollywood folks who wanted their homes to match the whimsy of their work,” Benson says. A close-up view of the Spadena House in Beverly Hills. The Spadena House in Beverly Hills is Los Angeles’ standout witch house, given its haggard, authentic appearance. Two pointy peaks rise from the structure, towering over warped shingles and shutters placed at skewed angles. To reach the front door, visitors must first cross the property’s front yard moat. The landscaping continues the theme with a spread of thorny plants. Art director Harry Oliver, master of storybook architecture, designed the 1921 house. Originally built as offices for a film studio in Culver City, the building was moved to Beverly Hills in 1928. The 3,500-square-foot home has made cameos in films such as the 1995 comedy Clueless, in which the character Cher (Alicia Silverstone) strolls past the striking home. Editorial StandardsReprints & Permissions
