It is just a wall. Honestly, if you drove past 360 N Rockingham Brentwood CA today, you wouldn't even blink. You’d see a massive, meticulously manicured hedge and a gate that looks like a hundred other gates in this pocket of Los Angeles.
But for a specific generation of news consumers, this isn't just a piece of real estate. It is a landmark of American cultural trauma.
The address belonged to O.J. Simpson. For years, it served as the backdrop for the most televised legal drama in history. Helicopters hovered over these few acres. Prowlers tried to peek over the fence. Now, decades later, people still plug the address into GPS just to see if the "vibe" remains, even though the original house—the Tudor-style mansion where Kato Kaelin lived in a guest house and a white Bronco once sat in the driveway—is long gone.
The House That Isn't There Anymore
People get confused about this a lot. They expect to see the brown-trimmed house from the 1995 news footage. They want to see the exact spot where the glove was supposedly found.
You can’t.
After Simpson was acquitted in the criminal trial but found liable in the civil suit, he lost the property. It was a messy, public financial crumbling. Fred Goldman, the father of Ron Goldman, was relentless in pursuing the assets. Eventually, the house was foreclosed upon. In 1998, an investment banker named Kenneth Abdalla bought the estate for about $4 million.
He didn't want the history. He didn't want the "O.J. House" tourists.
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So, he leveled it.
The original structure at 360 N Rockingham Brentwood CA was scraped off the earth. Every brick of the 6,000-square-foot home was hauled away. It was a literal exorcism of a crime narrative. In its place, a massive, 20,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style villa was erected.
Why This Specific Plot of Land Matters
Brentwood is full of expensive dirt. But the Rockingham estate was always different because of how it defined the "Gold Coast" of Brentwood. This isn't the hilly, winding part of the neighborhood where you feel tucked away in a canyon. This is the flat, wide-street section. It feels established. Old money.
The property sits on a corner lot. That’s actually a huge reason why the media circus worked so well in the nineties. There was so much street frontage for news vans to park.
When you look at the property records, the scale is still staggering. It covers roughly 1.8 acres. In Brentwood, that is a kingdom. Most lots nearby are half that size. Even though the "Simpson House" is gone, the land value has skyrocketed. If that property hit the open market today, we are talking about a $30 million to $50 million valuation, depending on the state of the interior.
It's weirdly quiet there now. You’ll see joggers. You’ll see nannies pushing strollers. The ghost of 1994 has mostly been paved over by high-end stucco and better security systems.
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The Architecture of Erasure
The new house is a fortress.
When the current structure was built, the goal was clearly privacy. If you look at aerial shots, the house is centered in a way that makes it almost impossible to see from the sidewalk. There are multiple structures now, including a massive pool house and what looks like a professional-grade gym setup.
The irony? By trying to erase the history of 360 N Rockingham Brentwood CA, the new owners made it look even more like a place where a celebrity would hide.
Most people don't realize that the "Rockingham Gate" was actually the back or side entrance Simpson used. The "Ashford Gate" was the other entry point. That dual-access layout made it a nightmare for the LAPD to secure during the investigation, but it’s a dream for a modern billionaire who wants to sneak in and out without being tracked by paparazzi.
A Quick Reality Check on the Neighborhood
- The Vibe: It’s not "Hollywood." It’s "Corporate Titan."
- The Neighbors: You’re living near studio heads and tech founders.
- The Tourism: It has died down, but never fully stopped. You still see the occasional slow-moving rental car with out-of-state plates.
Misconceptions About the Property
A big one: People think the murders happened here. They didn't.
Nicole Brown Simpson’s condo was at 875 S. Bundy Drive, which is about two miles away. This address—360 North Rockingham—was where O.J. lived. This was where the "slow speed chase" ended. This was where the bloody Bronco was parked.
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Another misconception is that the property is "cursed" or "unsellable." Real estate in 90049 doesn't care about curses. It cares about square footage and school districts. The fact that a world-famous tragedy is linked to the dirt didn't stop the value from quadrupling.
What This Address Tells Us About L.A. Real Estate
L.A. has a short memory when it wants to.
Think about the Menendez brothers' mansion or the Cielo Drive property. Eventually, the homes are renamed, remodeled, or rebuilt. 360 N Rockingham Brentwood CA is the gold standard for this. It proves that you can literally bulldoze a scandal if you have enough capital.
The current owners have stayed remarkably private. No public tours. No "tell-all" photos of the interior. They understand that the best way to manage a "famous" address is to make it as boring as possible to the outside world.
Actionable Insights for the Curious
If you are a true crime buff or a real estate enthusiast looking to understand this area, don't just stare at the gate. You won't see anything.
Instead, look at the urban planning of the Rockingham/Ashford loop. It explains why this was the "it" spot for the 90s elite. The lots are wide enough for privacy but close enough to feel like a community.
Next Steps for Researching the Area:
- Check the Zillow history: You can see the tax assessment spikes over the last 20 years. It’s a masterclass in Brentwood appreciation.
- Use Google Earth Pro: Use the "historical imagery" feature. You can actually toggle back to the early 90s and see the footprint of the original Tudor house before it was demolished in '98.
- Respect the perimeter: The LAPD still cruises this area frequently because of the high-profile residents. Don't be "that" person blocking the road for a selfie.
Ultimately, 360 North Rockingham is a reminder that in California, land is the only thing that's permanent. The houses, the people, and even the scandals are eventually just replaced by something newer and more expensive.