Transcription
Hey guys, what's up? This is Rick. Thank you so much for returning. I cannot wait to show you one of the best, exquisite, mega abandoned modern mansions to date in the Hollywood Hills. That's why we're, we're in the Hollywood Hills of California. Thank you so much for returning. Sit back, relax, and watch me explore one of the most best mansions you have ever seen.
[Music]
In this episode, I'm venturing inside the hills of Hollywood, California, and today I'm taking you inside the abandoned mansion formerly owned by John Paul Middleton, son of the Philadelphia Phillies owner, John S. Middleton. A film and television producer who worked on the Bates Motel series and The Lego Movie, along with many other big-time box office hits, and also has associations with big-time Hollywood stars like Christian Bale, Justin Bieber, the Kardashian family, and Leonardo DiCaprio, just to name a few, all of which have stepped foot inside this estate.
[Music]
[Music]
So, we're all probably wondering how this mansion became abandoned and why a big Hollywood producer will leave a property like this behind. John bought it for $4.75 million in 2012, then put the property up for sale in 2014 for $5.5 million. In 2023, the property is now listed for $7 million, but there was a big problem, and still is a problem. The property didn't sell and sat vacant for quite some time, leaving it at the mercy of vandals, thieves, and multiple families of squatters. Police are called to a multi-million dollar Hollywood Hills estate after neighbors hear screams coming from inside the lavish home, fearing someone inside was being hurt. But what they found instead was a group of squatters who had been illegally living inside the home that has been abandoned and now trashed. Neighbors say the whole situation has them concerned. KTLA's Rick Chambers is live in West Hollywood with a closer look at the problem. Rick? Yeah, Shar. We're talking about those empty houses that are being used by party-goers and squatters, and it's made for some unsafe conditions out here and a hell of a mess. It was a call of a woman screaming that brought police to this hillside mansion on Sunset Plaza, and these three people were removed from it and handcuffed. It's an abandoned house. Um, they're just trespassing, squatting, screaming with somebody. I think they got bit by a dog. The man and the two women were cited for trespassing and then released. Two of them telling us it was just a misunderstanding. But I was hired to clean up, by, take the squatters out, get the house ready to prepare for Lisa for sale. I was delivering ice and water. These guys here, and, um, they said the coffee coming. So looking for my keys, my car keys. Hear in there still. But the real estate agent told us off camera that none of these three should have been at the site. Now, this is a home that once listed for more than $10 million, but is now covered in graffiti and littered with debris and feces. And what used to be million-dollar views are painted over. But that's not the only time this has happened. In January of 2022, a 41-year-old man barricaded himself inside the home with a dog after allegedly pointing a shotgun at a person. The man was only taken into custody after hours-long standoff involving SWAT officers, and it was believed that the man has been squatting in this home.
[Music]
Can we get in a little closer? It's a bunch of, uh, I don't know, mattresses and just a bunch of other junk that's been thrown out there. If I remember correctly, they, there is an owner to the house, but it's just abandoned, uh, and I guess it's been that way for quite a while. They, uh, cleared the house. Three in custody, one is being, uh, treated for something. They brought the, uh, fire department in. Let's go look at those people again. And that was that. But there would be more squatters after the guy with the shotgun left. These people lived inside without anyone knowing how they were coming and going. Herbeck's off-limits, and I happened to be one of the lucky ones who explored this mansion before it got really bad with vandalism and graffiti. But this wouldn't come easy. I needed to figure out the pattern of the squatters when they were coming and going. After studying the situation for a couple of days, I realized that the squatters would sleep here at night and leave early in the morning. And this will be my chance to get inside and film. Well, that day is today. Now, join me on this adventure as I take you inside the home of a Hollywood celebrity.
[Music]
The name is Ranger Rick. My mission in this series is to go back to the past, dig it up, search for clues, and stay curious. In each episode, I tell stories of abandoned places and their history. So come with me, let's explore together and see what we can find.
[Music]
What's up, Rangers? So before we begin today's episode, I want to tell you that I would like you to join my Patreon page. Go to www.patreon.com/rangericktv and by your pledge of $2 a month, you'll receive a simple thank you by me. In the tier one package, for $5 a month, in the tier two package, I'll feature your name in the ending credits in each video, plus a simple thank you as well. If you do not wish to pledge, that's okay. Thanks anyway. Now, enjoy the show.
All right, guys, welcome back. If you know me, you know the routine, you know the drill. I want to make it feel like is if you were the owner. How would it feel as if you were the owner coming in for the first time into this mansion, as if you just got the keys handed to you? This is one of the first things that you see. Look at this. It does not disappoint. This lion head fountain. And unfortunately, it looked like squatters are staying here, and you'll see a lot of trash as we go through. But if you could look past all of that trash, you could see how beautiful this place would have been. The only thing I won't show you on this tour is the garage, which is right there. Not too much to see. As you can see, we are in the hills right now. That's what it kind of looks like outside. And as we go up here to this grand staircase, because this is the grand staircase, I'm going to show you what's going on here because this place does not disappoint. Now, I'm not going to spend too much time in this room because there's, it's so plain, there's not much to see here, and it's just a toilet and a shower. However, if you go into the next room, you'll see a little bit more stuff. This is right across the hallway, so let's venture off into here. And don't be alarmed, that is just the fire alarm going off. And here we have a couple extra things like this chair laying around. Unfortunately, you got some graffiti, but still really cool. Besides that graffiti, there's not much graffiti in here, believe it or not. Little teddy mattress. This is probably one of my favorite bathrooms in here. Little dark, I know. Just got to keep the lights down. It's all beautiful windows. Look at that. All wooden doors. Wow, that's like really solid. Wasn't expecting that. And as we zoom in right here, you'll see a beautiful, beautiful chandelier. Look at that. That is nice. Wish I had that in my house. And I love the windows in this place. Very beautiful.
All right, guys, so let's go upstairs and see what we can find. And I promise you, I will not disappoint you. Here we go.
All right, so right when we arrive at the foot of the staircase, we are greeted by, okay, watch this. Don't get too excited. Wow, look at this view, guys. This, this is amazing. I know you could probably hear it in my voice. This is what urban exploring is all about. I promise you, once you get into this gig, you wouldn't want to get out. You wouldn't want to go back to a normal job ever again. Why work for somebody else when you can make a career out of this? This is living. Look at this. Now, unfortunately, some vandals have gotten in here, as you can see. Not much graffiti, but that's a good thing because we don't like graffiti. But we also don't like broken windows. As urban explorers, we don't like to see that. That kind of takes away from the integrity of the place, doesn't make it as valuable as if it didn't have all that vandalism. But nonetheless, you are greeted by, once you arrive at the foot of the stairwell, not only a nice view, but look at this beautiful piece right here. All these beautiful pieces of furniture. I know they, they seemed a bit damaged, but they looked comfortable at one time. Like this one has a green stain on it from MW because the doors and windows have been open. Gorgeous looking fireplace. As we come over here, look at this. Look at this. Oh, pay attention to detail. Not many people like to look up, but I do. And look, you got these wooden beams going up. Beautiful, beautiful. Now let's venture off into the kitchen, but let's not ignore these windows because these windows are everything about this place. This door opens. Not going to go out there, not right now. But look at that. Look how beautiful. God. And as we venture off into the kitchen, first thing you see is these marble counter tops. Actually, these are granite. Very hard stuff. But as you can tell, these cabinets have withered away over time. As we look and see what's in here, you could see, look at that, very warped. These cabinets cannot be restored, too warped. Beautiful looking stove. Beautiful. Some leftover Cheerios, life honeycomb. And look at all the ants. They unfortunately have to be here too. They got to eat. And what is this? Oh, I love the seasoning. I love that seasoning. Give a shout out to that company if y'all want to sponsor me. But no abandoned place is complete without an abandoned refrigerator filled with maggots and leftover flies, worms, a lot of nasty looking food.
All right, let's move on.
All right, and here is the faucet, kitchen sink, and this actually does work. The water does turn on. It's a little smelly in the kitchen because of the refrigerator, but everything in here, it looks in pretty good shape and it still works. Can you believe it? No power, but you know, these knobs still work. They click and all that good stuff. Stuff giggity, um, if you know what I mean. Now, if you come in here, we have a sliding barn door. This is the bathroom, one of the bathrooms. Well, I did slide. Stuck right now. But look at this bathroom. One of my favorite bathrooms here, but I'm going to save the best for last. One of the best for last. And I'm going to show you one of my favorite features about the living room, dining area. This right here. When you come out, you are greeted by in your courtyard. This is one of the courtyards. It actually has two courtyards. This is a swimming pool. This place actually has two swimming pools. If you look really closely, see that right there? That is where the waterfall came through. Unfortunately, there's no more water. It's all green. Look at this. And I love how you can see the inside and the inside can see you. That is so beautiful. And look at that. Some bamboo trees. Love them. And here's another piece of graffiti. Actually, this graffiti is not too bad. I'll let that slide. But stuff like this should not be on people's or in people's houses. Still looking cool piece. Give you props. All right, you get a pass. Now, on this, this is where they sat, ate dinner. This is the dining room right here. Really beautiful tablecloths, a little worn out. But let's take a look at the table. Wow, that is nice. Look, that's some good wood. Good solid wood. Wood veneer, actually. Doesn't look like it's a solid wood, but good enough. As we come in here, this looks like a study room/lounge area. Almost like a cigar room for a gentleman. If you know what kind of room this is, definitely leave it down in the comments. But yeah, I would think it'd be some kind of study room/chill or cigar room. Got a beautiful fireplace right there. It's got a TV inlet right here, which is really cool. And as you look outside, you got a beautiful view in here. But I'm going to show you a beau, a really good beautiful view in just a second. Look at how beautiful that is. As you come right here against this wall, you would never know it unless it was cracked. This goes into the master bedroom through that hallway. But I don't want to go inside just yet. I want to show you this closet in here. I'm going to break out my flashlight so we can see what's going on. Let's break out the flashlight. Look at this. Look how deep. Look how deep this closet goes. Unfortunately, there's no power on in here, so I got to use my light. I have no idea where that cubby hole goes. Although it could be a secret hidden passage. I cannot fit through there. But why would you have that like that right there? It's only about two foot tall. I don't think I can fit through that. And as we go over here, this is the back part of the closet, and it just keeps going further and further down. Look at that. Beautiful. That's a big walk-in closet. I'm just to show you the master bedroom. We're getting there. Here we go. But this is the hallway leading to it. This is one of the bathrooms that leads to the master bedroom, but not to be confused. This is not a master bathroom, but still beautiful on its own right. And I don't know why they got that little mannequin right there, but I guess the squatters might have put it there. Nice shower head. Let's continue to make our way to the master bedroom where we have a special guest goes by the name Herk Off Limits, and he is sleeping right now. But I'm going to show you guys out here. Look at this view, y'all. This is what it's all about. This is what Herk is all about. That's downtown right there. And look at the hills right here. Beautiful. But one of my favorite features is this in here. I'm going to show you guys what's going on. Look at this bathroom. Look how beautiful this is. Look at the attention of detail. It looks like you would some see something like this in Turkey or Rome. Like it's almost like a Turkish bath house in here. But I'm going to show you my favorite feature. See that right there? Look how tall this is. That's like at least 20 feet tall, and it is a water fountain. You turn it on right here. Watch this. I'm going to zoom in a little bit so you can see what's going on. But look how thick. Look, look how thick the spray is. Let me back up. Let me back up. Look at this. Look how thick that spray is. That is impressive. Let me turn this off. Let me turn this one on. This controls that, and you can kind of spray wherever you want, you know? Well, don't spray it all over the mansion, but you get, you get my gist. You see that's what it's all about. Isn't that like one of the coolest things you think you ever seen? I know if I had something like that, I'd be in the shower all day long. But here, as we go along, this looks like a maybe like a his and a hers type of sink. Don't ask what that is. I doubt it's tea. Um, and here is another shower. I don't get why they have two showers in one bathroom. I guess if, you know, you're rich, you can afford that. But it does have a bidet and a toilet. I don't want to show what's in it, but you know, you get my gist. So why the old lady's taking a shower, the old man is taking a shower in there, or vice versa, you can do whatever you want. But look at how cool it is. Look at that fireplace. Huh? I love the, uh, Florida emblem. Add a nice touch. Stained glass doors, our stained glass windows. One of my favorites. And this is made out of all iron work right here. Of course, you can see the squatters have kind of taken over this place. Not too bad, but it's, uh, still very presentable for sure. As you can see, they've been making themselves at home along with a mannequin. I'll let that slide because I like mannequins. But let's look outside one more time before we venture out into the upstairs. And that's what the infinity pool looks like. That is definitely an infinity pool. The, see the steps go down like that. Nice tiling. Beautiful palm trees. All right, let's make our way into the next room.
All right, so we are back in this room. Let's take these stairs going up. And watch this. So as we go up, there's not much to this floor. I'm going to be honest with you. Not too much to this floor, but I'm going to get to the good stuff in just a minute. Just bear with me. But a lot of people want to see the bedrooms anyway, regardless. Not too much going on in here, but this is what the bathrooms look like in here. Still very pretty in its own right. Let's see how this water works. This water don't work. What is in here? There's not too much left behind, but they do have these cool posters. Look at this. That's cool. Ready Player One. That looks like Back to the Future. Actually, Ready Player One. Where did they get these posters from? And yeah, Ready Player One. Leave it down in the comments if you saw that movie. And they left Tempur-Pedic mattresses behind, which is really cool. This, I have no idea what this. Oh, wait. Yeah, I think I know what this is. This, if you press this button, if we had power, this would fold down into another mattress. Pretty sure that's what that is. And again, we do not disappoint with the views around here. Look how beautiful. Look how beautiful that is. Great.
All right, y'all, just bear with me. We're almost done with this floor, and we're going to make our way up the next floor. But people want to see bedrooms, so I'm going to show you the bedrooms. And here's another bathroom that's filled with water. Little head cushion in there because you got to have your head cushion while you're laying back. Beautiful, beautiful. That's what this shower looks like. Here we go. Does this even work? Oh, it's just a big hole in the ceiling. Look at that. Turn it on again so you, so you see it. That probably get you really clean. A big old hole, hole in the ceiling with the water coming through. That's what's up.
All right, guys, this is one of my favorite guest rooms because I'm going to show you why in just a minute. But let me flip this camera around so you can see what's going on. Beautiful bedroom. But watch this. Turn it around. Here we go. You get to see a lot of the side of the house. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. My goodness. Again, more downtown. Got to see downtown. Can't forget about that. That's kind of it for this room. One thing I do want to mention in here is we have another closet. And let's go explore it. Even the guest room closets are bigger than my closet at home. This is ridiculous. Look at this. So much stuff to see. So much stuff. Got light. Good lighting in here and everything. Well, talking about these lights, not the actual light that's happening now.
All right, so let's go up one of the final flights of stairs. This is almost one of the most favorite architecture pieces in anything I've ever seen before in my life. This is really cool mansion here. Watch this. Watch this. Let's go up the stairs. Let's see what we have. This is a gym. Look at this. Not an actual gym. I'm talking about a diamond gym. This is so cool. So cool in here. A lot of natural light. Beautiful ceilings. One of my favorite pieces in here. This is what I'm talking about. Beautiful architecture. Got a beautiful fireplace with this all wood carvings. Silent wood all throughout. And then let's take a good look right here what we have going on in front of our very eyes. Some of the coolest architecture ever, especially the ceilings. Can you picture yourself laying right here, right across this seat, and looking up right here at this beautiful ceiling? And also, could you imagine yourself sitting right here, not only admiring your ceiling, but what about that? That is one of the best views here. Guaranteed. Let me turn my exposure down just a little bit. But look at this. Now, also, while you're sitting in the back right there, but in front of you at night, you can fold down your TV screen and it goes. But I know it's kind of hard to see right now, but there's a little cut or a, a slit in the ceiling. See that right there? That's where the big screen comes down and a projector lays right across the street right there. Look at that. That's the projector booth right there. A little square window right there. Unfortunately, I'm not going to go in there because they already took the projector out, but very cool in its own right. This door right here, you will see a really, really cool wine setup. This is a wine cellar for this house. I believe that this is a wine cellar. Don't hold me to it, but I can picture your bottles of wines being stacked up sky-high. Beautiful in here. And this looks like a little mini air conditioner for the wine to keep it cool. Beautiful. Now, some of these shots may not make sense to you because I was here earlier this morning when it was all foggy and you couldn't see much. So I'm going to line those b-roll footage shots with my drone compared to these shots right here, which is a big contrast between the two, so you can see the difference between a morning and day. Over here, go outside right now. I'm going to show you this beautiful courtyard. As you come out here, look how beautiful. You get to sit in your nice pavilion area. And when you look up, look at that. All wood, stained wood, followed by your bamboo rug. And look at this. Look at the brick flooring on that. That is gorgeous. Another favorite feature of mine is, you would think it would be this pool, but it's actually that little greenhouse. I know it's kind of hard to see. It's a little greenhouse right behind that window. And look at this. Looks like a Turkish bath house. Love it. Love, love, love it. Let's go down here through the courtyard. See what we can find. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Look how gorgeous this is. You're not going to see stuff like this, not too much in the regular suburbs, but here in this town, you do every day, all day. And here's a bar in case you were thirsty after you came in from swimming. You come in this area right here, get yourself something to drink because that's what these people did. They drank. They had a good time while doing it, you know what I mean? But let's look up at the mansion. I know this is kind of hard to believe, but this mansion is a lot of floors. You got two down here, and as you go up, you got that little circular dome part too. So this mansion is pretty tall, and it sits right on the side of a hill. Gorgeous. And I would think this big old piece right here used to belong up there as like a little shade, but very cool nonetheless. And look at this. I almost forgot to mention this. Actually comes with a car, which is an elevator. You call it, it comes up right through this door. Unfortunately, it doesn't open. I think it's locked. Yeah, it's locked. Look at this. Very, very cool in its own right. One last look at the outside before we head back in.
So now, with that being said, let's head up another flight of stairs. And I guarantee you guys are not going to be disappointed. This is going to be watch. Heading up the final flight of stairs. Here we go. I'm going to come back down and show you some more stuff. But this, look at this beautiful up here. You can't go outside unfortunately. But look at this because this is chained up, so you're not going to get too far out here. But that's what it looks like outside. Got a beautiful emblem right here for you to look at every day. And as you look up, lot of natural light. The sky dome right there. And it says Villa Allegra with a Florida symbol right there. One of my favorite features is this wrought iron gate. Well, wrought iron, yeah, I guess you can call it a wrought iron gate. Kind of protects you from falling down. As we look down here, go to the next floor. But first, I want to admire these views because this is probably the last time I'm going to be here for a very, very, very long time. Look up how beautiful.
[Music]
God. As it stands today, the property is undergoing renovations to resell. Now the mansion has newly installed cameras and 24-hour security. Thank you for watching and be sure to check out my Patreon page listed below.
[Music]
We are rolling. Oh, hey, what's up guys? I almost didn't see you there. Welcome to my crib. Well, for now, squatter's mansion, squatter's rights mansion. Uh, yeah, thanks for joining us. This place is crazy. Some squatters did this place up. So hell yeah, we're just hanging out for the day, just chilling.