The most expensive home in Pacific Palisades has been destroyed in the raging wildfires that devastated large parts of Los Angeles, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Exclusive photos from DailyMail.com show the $125 million mega-mansion reduced to a smoldering shell, with exposed beams and piles of rubble in what were once beautiful gardens.
The 18-bedroom home, owned by Luminar Technologies boss Austin Russell, 29, was available to rent when the fire broke out – for an eye-watering $450,000 a month.
In 2023, the futuristic property starred in the successful HBO hit Succession, where it stole the show as the luxury apartment occupied by the Roy siblings in season 4.
The Palisades Fire, which has destroyed large portions of Pacific Palisades and Malibu, continues to burn and is currently only eight percent contained.
It has claimed more than 10,000 buildings and at least two lives, and left historic landmarks such as the Topanga Ranch Motel — once owned by politician and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst — in ruins.
Tech mogul Russell’s now-destroyed property is one of the most famous homes lost to the inferno and made headlines in 2021 when he bought it for $83 million.
Before the fire, the striking home had eighteen bedrooms and six bathrooms, as well as a “Nobu-designed chef’s kitchen” and its own twenty-seat theater.
The most expensive home in Pacific Palisades has been destroyed by the raging wildfires. The 18-bedroom house was available to rent when the fire broke out – for an eye-watering $450,000 a month.
The garden’s patio, complete with spectacular ocean views, provided the backdrop for multiple scenes featuring siblings Roy Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), Shiv (Sarah Snook)
The outdoor pool, once the centerpiece of the garden, is now a scorched wooden pit filled with murky black water
The basement housed a temperature-controlled wine cellar, while the roof was retractable ‘for stargazing’ and the lush gardens housed a state-of-the-art swimming pool.
The garden’s patio, complete with spectacular ocean views, provided the backdrop for several scenes featuring siblings Roy Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv (Sarah Snook).
Although the famous fire pit with its elaborate rattan bench remains intact, it has become black with soot, while the once breathtaking views of the hills are now a wasteland of charred chapparal.
The outdoor pool, once the centerpiece of the garden, is now a scorched wooden pit filled with murky black water.
And nothing remains of the famously elaborate interior – not even the retinal scanner installed outside the master bedroom.
The futuristic four-storey property has collapsed on itself, reducing the house’s iconic decking and two panic rooms to smithereens.
Other amenities destroyed in the fire include the mansion’s rooftop terrace and luxury spa, and a state-of-the-art car gallery with a turntable that doubled as a ballroom.
The loss of the Succession mega-mansion comes as officials in LA are confronted with the question of why a crucial reservoir that supplied water to the Pacific Palisades neighborhood was emptied at the time of the fire.
In 2023, the futuristic property starred in the successful HBO hit Succession, where it stole the show as the luxurious pad occupied by the Roy siblings in season 4.
Tech mogul Austin Russell’s now-destroyed property is one of the most famous homes lost to the inferno and made headlines in 2021 when he bought it up for $83 million
The futuristic four-storey property has collapsed on itself, reducing the house’s iconic terraces and two panic rooms to smithereens
Although the famous fire pit with its elaborate rattan bench remains intact, it has become black with soot, while the once breathtaking views of the hills are now a wasteland of charred chapparal.
Other amenities destroyed in the fire include the mansion’s rooftop terrace and luxury spa, and a state-of-the-art car gallery with a turntable that doubled as a ballroom.
Before the fire, the striking home had eighteen bedrooms and six bathrooms, as well as a “Nobu-designed chef’s kitchen” and its own twenty-seat theater.
Embattled Mayor Karen Bass is also facing questions about why fire hydrants in the area failed early Wednesday morning when the fire broke out, and her decision to cut funding for the LA Fire Department by $17.5 million through 2024-2025 . financial year.
The owner of the mega-mansion is 29-year-old Luminar Technologies boss Austin Russell
California Governor Gavin Newsom has also been the focus of intense criticism in the wake of the fire, with his decision to cut wildfire resilience funding by $101 million last June now sparking widespread outrage.
In addition to the Palisades Fire, five fires are still burning in the Los Angeles area, of which only two — the Lydia and Hurst Fires — are more than 70 percent contained.
A seventh wildfire, dubbed the Sunset Fire, caused panic in parts of Hollywood on Wednesday evening but has since been largely extinguished.
Of the remaining fires, the Eaton fire, which started in the northeastern suburb of Altadena, has consumed 13,690 hectares and only three percent is contained.
The Palisades fire has burned 21,000 acres and is eight percent contained, while the Kenneth fire in West Hills and Calabasas has scorched 1,000 acres and is 35 percent contained.
The latest blaze, called the Archer Fire, flared up early Friday morning in northern LA County and is zero percent contained.
An intriguing sculpture remains intact outside what remains of Pacific Palisades’ expensive rental
The house is believed to have been the most expensive home in the Pacific Palisades
Russell initially kept his identity secret, with initial reports of the sale of the mega-mansion calling him “a mysterious crypto billionaire.”
He is one of the world’s youngest members of the mega-rich, becoming a billionaire at the age of 25 after taking Luminar Technologies public in 2020.
The entrepreneur founded the company in 2012, when he was just 17, and after graduating high school the following year, he attended Stanford for three months before dropping out to focus on the business.
The company specializes in lidar and machine perception gadgets – technology that has made autonomous cars possible.
Although Russell, who grew up in Tony Newport Beach, California, is not a rags-to-riches story, his now-destroyed mansion was a much grander affair than the house he grew up in.