Janis Joplin’s childhood home in Southeast Texas is on sale for $500,000.
The 1500-square-foot house in Port Arthur has a Texas Historical Commission marker outside, confirming the blues icon lived at the residence from the age of four until she left for college.
Tax appraisal records value the home at $52,500, according to public records obtained from the Jefferson County Appraisal District. The seller hasn’t been made public.
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The Museum Of The Gulf Coast declined an offer to acquire the house before it went on the market, with organisation official Sarah Bellian citing upkeep costs and fundraising concerns.
She tells SF Gate: “The problem is, unlike having a car or a piece of clothing or something that you can take with you, the house is where the house is. So you have to look at the surrounding market for it.
“The best thing that could happen is that someone will buy it and that they care for it.”
With most of the homes in the neighbourhood built in between 1920 and 1950, they typically sell from $70,000 to $80,000, according to American Real Estate realtor, Diane Fernandez.
Fernandez adds: “You’re obviously paying for the fame of the home.”
A “psychedelic” painted 1964 Porsche 356C Cabriolet owned by Joplin fetched $1.76 million at an auction in December last year.
Joplin was found dead, aged 27, in her hotel room in Hollywood in 1970. A film based on her life, Janis: Little Girl Blue was released on DVD last month.
