Mickey Cohen House on Moreno Avenue in Brentwood, Los Angeles, that looks, at first glance, like every other upscale residence on the block. Tree-shaded, well-kept, quiet. But the walls of 513 Moreno Avenue absorbed things that most buildings never will — bomb blasts, surveillance wires, the paranoia of one of mid-century America’s most notorious crime bosses.
Mickey Cohen’s house at 513 Moreno Avenue in Brentwood is more than just a residential property — it’s a piece of Los Angeles history, a testament to a bygone era of organized crime and larger-than-life personalities. For anyone drawn to the intersection of true crime, architectural history, and Los Angeles real estate, this address carries a weight that no amount of fresh paint can fully erase.
Who Was Mickey Cohen — And Why Did He Choose Brentwood?
Meyer Harris “Mickey” Cohen was an American mobster based in Los Angeles and boss of the Cohen crime family during the mid-20th century, born on September 4, 1913, in New York City to Jewish immigrant parents. He grew up in Boyle Heights, became a professional boxer, and eventually fell into the orbit of the Chicago Outfit before landing permanently in Los Angeles.
Cohen, a known associate of Meyer Lansky and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, became the boss of the LA crime syndicate following the shooting death of Ben Siegel in 1947. With Siegel gone and no clear succession plan, Cohen stepped in — not quietly, but with the full force of a man who understood that visibility was its own form of protection.
Brentwood was a deliberate choice. When Cohen opened his home in Brentwood by the Brentwood Country Club, he meant people to take notice — that this was a showplace. Placing himself in a respectable, affluent neighborhood was a calculated act of social camouflage and status signaling simultaneously.
What Made 513 Moreno Avenue a Gangster’s Fortress
The Security Architecture Behind an Ordinary Facade
From the street, the property projected normalcy. That was the point. The home’s architecture masked its true purpose. From the street, it appeared as a typical upscale residence, but inside, Cohen had created a gangster’s stronghold. Security features included reinforced walls, bulletproof windows, and an elaborate alarm system.
Cohen’s paranoia and need for security led him to make significant modifications to the property. He installed floodlights to illuminate the grounds at night, making it difficult for potential attackers to approach unseen. Every dollar spent on fortification told the story of a man who knew, with certainty, that people were trying to kill him.
His home contained an armory with weapons ready for potential attacks. Secret rooms provided places to hide contraband, money, or people when needed.
The Night the House Was Bombed
The defining moment in the property’s history came on the night of February 6, 1950. Cohen and his wife were in their Brentwood house when a bomb went off, but both survived. The blast blew out all the windows in the house, with a hole visible in the wall on the far side of the bed. All told, there was $50,000 worth of damage.
Around 1950, Mickey Cohen’s home in Brentwood was bombed by a rival, despite the fact that he’d spent a small fortune to “gang-proof” it. The image that followed became one of the most iconic in Los Angeles crime history. The photo that stuck became pure noir — Cohen in a bathrobe, cigarette in hand, calmly surveying the wreckage.
The attack was believed to have come from Jack Dragna’s faction, his long-running rival for control of West Coast operations. Not long after the shotgun ambush at Sherry’s, Cohen’s home in Brentwood was bombed several times. No one was ever arrested in connection with any of the attacks on Mickey Cohen.
The LAPD’s Failed Attempt to Bug the House
The LAPD Gangster Squad targeted this location for surveillance, even attempting a bugging operation in the 1950s that ultimately failed. The failure wasn’t entirely surprising. Cohen operated in a climate of deep institutional corruption, and he had made enemies not only among rival local gangsters but also inside the LAPD, a few of whom were corrupt and had been shaking him down for years.
Cohen’s Other Los Angeles Properties
The Brentwood house dominates the public imagination, but it wasn’t his only base of operations.
Cohen owned other notable properties as well. His mansion at 9100 Hazen Drive in Coldwater Canyon served as a high-stakes casino and party house during the 1940s. These homes became physical manifestations of his criminal success — proof that he could operate in plain sight.
Beyond his Brentwood residence, Cohen occupied several properties, including a childhood home in Boyle Heights and a rental home in Van Nuys in the late 1950s. The Van Nuys house, photographed extensively, shows Cohen posing out front with a confidence that bordered on provocation — a man daring the world to do something about him.
Mickey Cohen’s World: Hollywood, Politics, and the Celebrity Mob Boss
Few American gangsters navigated the worlds of crime, politics, and celebrity with Cohen’s particular ease. Taking after his flashy predecessor Bugsy Siegel, who hobnobbed with Hollywood celebrities, Cohen became Los Angeles’ best-known mobster by embracing the media spotlight. He met publicly with evangelical leader Billy Graham, cooperated with biographers, and in 1957 appeared on ABC’s “The Mike Wallace Interview.”
He had connections with Hollywood stars and influential figures, including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., often mingling with celebrities and using these relationships to bolster his status.
His political reach was equally brazen. For his 1950 senate campaign, Nixon, through Murray Chotiner, sought Cohen’s help in raising campaign funds. It was a relationship neither side was eager to advertise — but it illustrated just how deeply Cohen’s network had penetrated the legitimate power structure of postwar California.
The Fall: Tax Evasion and Alcatraz
Like Al Capone before him, Cohen’s undoing came not from a rival’s bullet but from a federal accountant’s spreadsheet. Cohen was convicted of tax evasion twice — first in 1951 and again in 1961. He served time in Alcatraz and later at a federal prison in Atlanta, where he suffered a brutal attack that left him partially paralyzed.
What eventually drove him out of business was an investigation by the IRS, which forced him to sell his legitimate businesses and resulted in conviction and sentencing to a lengthy term in federal prison. The Brentwood house — that expensive, painstakingly fortified stronghold — ultimately couldn’t protect him from the tool that brought down the most powerful gangsters of his generation.
Mickey Cohen died on July 29, 1976, from stomach cancer at the age of 62, and is interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
The Mickey Cohen House Today: What Is It Worth?
A Property Inside One of LA’s Most Valuable ZIP Codes
The house at 513 Moreno Avenue sits in one of the most coveted real estate markets in America. The median listing price for homes in Brentwood Los Angeles is holding steady at around $3.5 million, with the median price per square foot at $1,200. Luxury single-family homes have seen significant appreciation, with the median price reaching $5.1 million.
The typical home value in Brentwood, Los Angeles is approximately $2.7 million. The Cohen property, carrying historical notoriety that no comparable listing can replicate, would likely command a significant premium — or a discount, depending on the buyer’s relationship with the property’s past.
Luxury homes dominate the Brentwood market, with properties priced from $3.4 million to over $20 million, and homes are selling with a median time on market of just 21 days in a slight seller’s advantage.
Why Brentwood Remains Immune to Market Softening
Brentwood’s insulation from broader LA market volatility comes down to its fundamental scarcity. What sets Brentwood apart is its idyllic combination of contemporary amenities with timeless architecture — Mediterranean villas with charming stone courtyards just blocks from sleek contemporary builds with panoramic windows and modernized, tech-integrated interiors.
Brentwood clings to its small-town feel beneath the glare — a celebrity zip code where fame fades fast once the cameras leave. On San Vicente Boulevard and at the Brentwood Country Mart, stars still blend in. That quality — prestige without ostentation — is precisely what made Brentwood attractive to Mickey Cohen in 1946 and continues to attract Hollywood royalty, tech executives, and serious capital today.
Mickey Cohen in Film and Popular Culture
The Brentwood house lives on beyond its physical address. True crime tours in Los Angeles often highlight these locations, allowing visitors to glimpse the physical settings of Cohen’s criminal saga. Books and films continue to explore Cohen’s life and the notorious Mickey Cohen House, with his character appearing in works like L.A. Confidential and Gangster Squad, where his infamous homes are often featured prominently.
In the 2013 film Gangster Squad, Cohen is portrayed by actor Sean Penn as the main antagonist, with a fictionalized version of his downfall. The film distorted the historical record in important ways — Cohen was imprisoned for tax evasion, not beaten in a street fight — but it reintroduced his story to a generation that hadn’t grown up reading about him in the Los Angeles Examiner.
FAQs: Mickey Cohen House
Where is Mickey Cohen’s house located?
Mickey Cohen’s house is located at 513 Moreno Avenue in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California.
Was Mickey Cohen’s house really bombed?
Yes. On February 6, 1950, a bomb went off at the Brentwood house while Cohen and his wife were inside. Both survived. The bombing caused approximately $50,000 in structural damage.
Can you visit Mickey Cohen’s house?
The property is a private residence and is not open to the public. However, several true crime and historical tours of Los Angeles pass through the Brentwood neighborhood and reference the address.
How much is Mickey Cohen’s former house worth today?
The typical home value in Brentwood, Los Angeles is approximately $2.7 million. Given the property’s historical profile and size, estimates for the specific address have been cited at around $1.5 million by some real estate commentary sources, though comparable Brentwood homes now routinely trade above $3–5 million.
Did Mickey Cohen know celebrities?
Cohen had connections with many Hollywood stars, including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., and frequently mingled with celebrities to bolster his status.
How did Mickey Cohen die?
Mickey Cohen died on July 29, 1976, from stomach cancer at the age of 62.
Conclusion
The Mickey Cohen house at 513 Moreno Avenue is, in the most literal sense, just a house. Walls, windows, a roof, a street address in an expensive zip code. But its history makes it something else entirely — a physical record of a period when Los Angeles was simultaneously building its mythology and concealing its corruption, when a Brooklyn-born gangster could buy property beside the Brentwood Country Club and dare anyone to object.
The bomb that went off on February 6, 1950, didn’t bring the walls down. The LAPD’s surveillance couldn’t penetrate them. What finally ended Cohen’s reign was the federal government counting his income — the same unglamorous mechanism that had taken down his idol Al Capone two decades earlier.
Today, Brentwood has moved on in the way only supremely expensive real estate can — by simply appreciating in value until the past gets priced out of the conversation. But for anyone paying attention, 513 Moreno Avenue remains one of Los Angeles’ most honest addresses: a reminder that the city’s most glamorous neighborhoods have never been quite as clean as their manicured hedges suggest.
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