The original house was designed by Arthur W. Hawes in 1941 and completed in 1942 for French actress Michèle Morgan.

[1] According to official documents with the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, the architect of record for this home was Arthur W. Hawes (1873–1951).

Wadkins Corp.[2] Michèle Morgan, French actress for RKO Radio Pictures, arranged for architect Arthur W. Hawes to design a home and for J.F.

The home included a 3,200 square foot main residence; barbeque shelter; swimming pool; and a 2-story garage.

[4] Rudolph Altobelli (1929–2011), a music and film industry talent manager, bought the house for $86,000 in the early 1960s (equivalent to $876855 in 2023) and often rented it out.

[5] Residents included Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon (it was their honeymoon nest in 1965[6]); Henry Fonda; George Chakiris; Mark Lindsay; Samantha Eggar; and Olivia Hussey.

Charles Manson visited the house in late 1968, when it was occupied (from May 1967 to January 1969) by couple Terry Melcher (the son of actress Doris Day) and Candice Bergen.

On August 9, 1969, the home became the scene of the murders of the eight-months-pregnant Sharon Tate, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, and Steven Parent committed by Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel, members of the Manson Family cult.

But when you understand the repercussions that are felt ... that's what sobered me up: realizing that what balances out the appeal of the lawlessness and the lack of morality and that whole thing is the other end of it, the victims who don't deserve that.

[17]Reznor took the front door of the house with him when he moved out, installing it at Nothing Studios, his new recording studio/record label headquarters in New Orleans.

In 1996, the newly constructed home was completed, that he named Villa Bella, and obtained a new address for the property, 10066 Cielo Drive.

"[4][21] However, there is one remaining pine tree that exists between the house and pool on the property as well as two wooden posts that were originally part of an arbor.

In 2010, he had made this comment to Architectural Digest: "What I fell in love with here was the setting, the view, the privacy, and the amount of flat land" but complained that the design of the house was badly conceived.