Metallica Mansion — The El Cerrito Rehearsal House

From 1983 to 1986, 3132 Carlson Boulevard in El Cerrito, California served as the unlikely headquarters of the band that would become the biggest metal act in history. Metallica relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area from Los Angeles primarily to recruit bassist Cliff Burton, who had refused to leave the Bay Area on his own terms — a condition the rest of the band accepted because Burton was simply that good. The modest house became a communal crash pad and creative engine: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Burton lived there together, and the garage at the back became their primary rehearsal space.

It was in that garage that the band worked up the songs that would appear on Ride the Lightning (1984) and Master of Puppets (1986) — two of the most important records in heavy metal history. The now-famous band photo on the inner sleeve of Master of Puppets, shot on the living room couch, was taken right here at 3132 Carlson. The intensity of those sessions, and the camaraderie of living and working in each other's pockets, is widely credited with helping Metallica forge the tight, technically demanding sound that set them apart from their thrash contemporaries.

The original garage where Metallica rehearsed was demolished long ago and replaced by a three-unit apartment structure. The main house still stands as a private residence. In 2016, all four members of the band made a sentimental return to the property, and the Mayor of El Cerrito issued a formal proclamation in their honour — an unlikely piece of civic ceremony for a house that once shook with the sound of thrash metal being invented in a two-car garage.