By Alec Fernandes
The French Quarter of New Orleans is home to the LaLaurie Mansion, a historical house of horrors once owned by actor Nicolas Cage. The residence is now back on the market, and despite the gruesome events that played out within its walls, prospective buyers can't seem to stay away.
The mansion's terrible tale begins with its former owner Madame Delphine LaLaurie, a wealthy socialite and slave owner. When a fire broke out on the premises in 1834, those responding to the inferno were horrified by what they witnessed inside. They found LaLaurie's slaves chained up in deplorable conditions and bloodied by the madame's years of sadistic abuse. The reports of torture were so vile that a local mob formed to destroy the property.
LaLaurie fled to Paris before the enraged citizens of New Orleans could bring her to trial. In the years following her escape, neighbors discovered numerous shallow graves scattered around the mansion's charred remains. LaLaurie's cruel legacy has solidified her as one of the most terrifying figures in Louisiana's history, with Kathy Bates portraying her in season three of American Horror Story.
Realtors speculate the rebuilt house could now sell for a record $10.25 million, a price that many consider insensitive of the property's pernicious past. Some locals have suggested opening up the private residence as a museum that acknowledges the severe mistreatment of enslaved people in the United States.