Homes that are haunted by dead Celebrities

((Nicolas Cage’s LaLaurie House (note: Nicolas Cage is Alive))

(1140 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70116 Estimate not available.)

Actor Nicolas Cage has always had a penchant for the offbeat in real estate, so it made sense that he came to own this notoriously haunted New Orleans property, the LaLaurie House, telling the NY Daily News “… You know, other people have beachfront property; I have ghost-front property… ”

The story goes that Madame Delphine LaLaurie, a socialite of great wealth and prominence in New Orleans in the early 1830s and her husband, Dr. Louis LaLaurie, would host elaborate parties at the house.

But, she had a reputation as someone who abused the slaves who worked for her.

In one tale, Delphine was whipping the child of a slave when the child broke away and ran to the roof, falling to her death.

Legend goes that the turning point for Madame LaLaurie occurred when a fire broke out in the mansion and when help arrived, they witnessed horrific scenes of punishment and torture inflicted on the slaves. Delphine fled, never to be seen again.

The home has undergone many changes and owners over the years, including Cage, but the actor fell on hard financial times and lost the property in a foreclosure auction.

Some other homes Cage purchased include an 11th-century castle in Germany, a huge English Tudor estate in Bel Air, an English Country Manor in Rhode Island, another another historic New Orleans home, and two more "contemporary" homes: one in Las Vegas and one in Newport Beach.

Ref: Homes that are haunted by dead Celebrities (businessinsider)