Multi-million home mere feet and inches away from disaster
Includes video report
By Kate Northrop
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — $2 billion Powerball lottery winner Edwin Castro's Hollywood Hills mansion was just mere inches away from being bowled over by a landslide this week.
It was a very close call for lottery billionaire Castro's $25.5 million Hollywood Hills paradise, which just narrowly missed being crushed by a landslide.
The effects of a storm this week reached all the way up into luxurious Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, where one of Castro's next-door neighbors was not so lucky. The deteriorating hillside buried half their home in dirt and mud.
The house's residents were devastated by the news last Wednesday night and were just days away from moving in, the homeowner told KTLA. The property was under construction for renovations at the time of the landslide, and now this will further set the family back.
One neighbor captured footage of the landslide on their phone.
"The hill is giving, and it's making all sorts of noises, like it's cracking," the neighbor is heard saying on video. Right after, a huge chunk of loose mud and dirt broke from the hillside and hit the house with a crack.
Another neighbor, David Marvisi, told reporters that they saw the landslide happen before their eyes. He's lived across the street for 21 years and has witnessed "some crumbling," but he has never seen damage like this before.
"We were home yesterday, and suddenly we heard a bang, and we came outside," Marvisi recounted. "We saw all this dirt come down at five o' clock in the afternoon."
Marvisi believes the damages could cost around half a million dollars, only about $50,000 for the house itself and large majority for clearing out the debris and renovating the hillside on his property to bring it up to code.
Firefighters arrived at the home shortly after the landslide. Officials red tagged the house, which indicates a property that is unsafe for occupancy. The homeowner told KTLA that he hopes that the city or county will help shoulder the cost to remove the debris and repair his home.
"There's no insurance [to] cover this, no. No way you can get any insurance to cover that," Marvisi said with certainty, gesturing to the destroyed home.
Residents still worry about the possibility of further damage still to come as a result of the storm. Safety officials have been inspecting the surrounding area and houses, but no other homes are affected as of now.
"You have to be very careful," Marvisi continued. "You gotta know what you're getting into, 'cuz this Mother Nature can cost you some money."
VIDEO: Watch the report
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(Click to display full-size in gallery)
Silly California and it's laughably dated rules of not allowing lottery winners to claim (via a trust or anonymously if they choose to do so) means that every detail of a winner's life is broadcasted to the world. Yikes
When the media, either through fires or mudslides shows these homes built precariously close to disaster it is no wonder insurance won't cover them.
Had to chuckle when Marvisi said the government should cover the cost of home repair/debris removal. Fat chance, maybe your billionaire neighbor Castro could pay for it. As far as I've seen the city will clear debris only from public roads, not private property. Too bad so sad you're not entitled to one red cent Marvisi.
OTOH Oregon lottery said they're working with the newest Billionaire winner purchased in Portland who came to the office yesterday.
https://instantrimshot.com/
Like a good neighbor, State Farm Edwin is there
Need I say it? This is why you rent everything that doesn't make you money. The yacht sinks, the plane crashes, kid wrecks the car, girlfriend runs off with the pool cleaner, house slides down the hill, good thing they were rentals ;-)
BobP
I'd say he was lucky again.
Both the girlfriend and the pool cleaner were rentals 🤣🤣
Life's a beach
this is why i only buy mansions at the bottom of an unstable hill. when a mansion above mine slides down onto my property, i get a free bonus mansion.
Glad that Mr. Castro's mansion survived.
Some guys have all the luck.
Time to get out of Dodge, just a matter of time.
LOL ...now I have that song stuck in my head.
Some guys have all the luck
Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks
Some guys do nothing but complain.
Sometimes I just come to the usamega/lotterypost sites to click on the ads to support the cause.
LOL!
Glad Edwin's house is unharmed, story after story of house in California being buried by mud, do these people never learn? don't build there! They always say, It was an act of God, well maybe he doesn't want you to live these cause you'll be buried in mud and boulders.
I never understand people buying a house on a hill
me neither, but I'm sure thars some silly rhyme/reason behind the idea
Or the people that buy at the bottom of the hill. Just stay away from hills.
btw... the owner and house next to Castro has a much interesting story than Castro himself.
Living up on the unstable hillside is a status symbol and having your house slide down is the ultimate flex. They never learn. The sad thing is that all the development up in the hills in the rich parts of LA is what exacerbates the instability of the hillsides. Some people in the local gov't are getting rich allowing all these houses to be built.
It's the same with living on the water. I around a mile or so from a river and in 2016, we had heavy rains and the river rose and I ended up with 3 feet of water in my home. I have no desire to live near water and for that reason New Mexico is looking like an attractive place to live.
Having been through a flood, the idea of living anywhere disaster prone isn't looking good to me. Too many of these houses in the hills have collapsed and I wonder why people buy and build them. I guess some just don't learn.
The part that puzzles me is spending $25 million to have such an ugly back yard and neighbors 10 yards away.
I know right ROFL
specially when one could be living the sweet life for soo much less
you pay a premium to better catch a glimpse of celebrity neighbors in their own ugly backyards.
Beverly Hills is very beautiful. The mansions are amazing and the lawns are well kept. It is the closest thing to heaven that i've ever seen on earth.