In the spring of 2000, I was riding around the Silver Lake neighborhood on my Harley-Davidson when I saw a beautiful old mansion. It sat at the top of the hill on a street called Micheltorena. It looked like some kind of convent. I noticed a set of big gates that had been left open, so I pulled in to see what was inside — that was when I met Dana Hollister, the owner of the Paramour. I asked her what she was doing with the estate. She explained that she was trying to turn it into a boutique hotel. Dana also mentioned she’d been hosting weddings and had movies being filmed there.

Dana gave me a brief history of the estate and told me it was once owned by a famous silent screen star called Antonio Moreno. Antonio had married one of the wealthiest women in Los Angeles at the time. Her name was Daisy Canfield of the Canfield–Doheny oil family. Her father had built the estate for them as their wedding gift. It was designed by the famous architect Robert D. Farquhar, who had also designed the Pentagon.

I told her I’d love to make some records in there, and she said that she would like that, too. So, I made a deal with her. I made a record with Lucinda Williams there called World Without Tears and started a record there with Tom Waits called Real Gone.

Fiona Apple, Sarah McLachlan, Eddie Vedder, Sheryl Crow, Billy Bob Thornton, Avril Lavigne, and Vic Chestnutt all came through there to make music. It was like a music sanctuary.