Want to Help Fund a New Frank Zappa Documentary? Buy His House

Are you a die-hard Frank Zappa fan? If you play your cards right—and have enough cash on hand—you might soon be able to watch a new retrospective on the musician from the comfort of his former living room.

Filmmaker Alex Winter is filming a documentary on the late songwriter called Who The F*@& Is Frank Zappa. To help pay for the project, WIRED reports that the Zappa Family Trust will sell the deed to the musician's 8000-square-foot Hollywood mansion for $9 million. A portion of the money will go to the Zappa family. The rest will be used to make the movie, and to preserve Zappa’s archives—a treasure trove of music, interviews, concert recordings, and film footage dubbed “The Vault.”

Winter launched a Kickstarter to fund his ambitious endeavor. Its minimum goal is $500,000, but Winter estimates he’ll need about $2 million to finish the documentary. That's where Zappa’s house comes in. The musician's wife Gail died last year, and with her passing, the mansion was already slated to hit the market. “In the Zappa family, the kids are all grown up and have their own lives. With Gail no longer here, there’s nobody there [at the house]. So we proposed to them that if this thing is going to get sold anyway, why don’t we make it part of our campaign?” Winter told The New York Times.

Since you can’t contribute a multimillion-dollar pledge via Kickstarter, the family is selling the estate on eBay. While the property doesn’t come with Zappa's belongings, it does boast “a rooftop tennis court, backyard swimming pool, guest cottage, beautiful mosaic art amidst the landscaping, and the space that was once the infamous Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, where musicians including Frank have recorded since the 1980s." Beneath the house is the underground storage chamber where Zappa once housed the contents of The Vault.

Not in the market for a new home? Kickstarter backers can pledge anywhere from $10 to $25,000 to help make Winter's project happen. Rewards include digital access to The Vault, a download of the documentary, T-shirts, memorabilia, and a private filmed recording session with one of Zappa’s beloved guitars.

[h/t The A.V. Club]