The myth of a permanent Satanic sanctuary originates with a Victorian property in San Francisco's Richmond District. Anton Szandor LaVey founded the Church of Satan on Walpurgisnacht, April 30, 1966, designating his residence at 6114 California Street as the official headquarters. Painted entirely in matte black, the residence featured secret passages, ritual chambers, an altar room, and a collection of taxidermy and live animals, including a Nubian lion named Togare.
During the late 1960s and 1970s, the Black House functioned as an epicenter of counterculture curiosity. LaVey hosted late-night lectures on occultism, performed televised celebrity baptisms, and conducted stylized theatrical ceremonies. Journalists from across North America gathered at the house, turning the private dwelling into an international symbol of physical Satanic infrastructure.
The property was never a conventional house of worship. It was a private residence that doubled as an administrative studio. Following LaVey's death in October 1997, legal battles over his estate fractured the household. The property fell into disrepair and was eventually sold to a real estate developer. On October 17, 2001, demolition crews leveled the structure. Today, a standard modern duplex occupies the lot, leaving behind no physical trace of the original compound.
