A Beverly Hills couple spent the pandemic crafting a Gothic-style castle inspired by 'Harry Potter' and 'Game of Thrones.' Now, fans can rent it for $110,000 a month.
Amanda Goh
- A couple bought a $13.76 million mansion and gave it an overhaul inspired by fantasy films.
- The house is decked out with nods to "Game of Thrones," "Harry Potter," and "Alice in Wonderland."
Beverly Hills' 90210 is known for big money and big houses, and Castle Rivani is no exception — even it doesn't exactly fit the ZIP code's mold.
Inspired by "Game of Thrones," "Harry Potter," and "Alice in Wonderland," the house is bursting with decor that looks like it came from another world — think warrior statues, gargoyles, and an apothecary cabinet filled with potions.
"My wife and I love to stand out and we always joke about how typical glass box homes are boring," Robert Rivani, the homeowner and president of the real-estate investment group Black Lion, told Insider.
Rivani and his wife, Krystal, purchased the home in December 2019 for $13.765 million, per property records.
The Gothic castle is up for rent for $110,000 a month, which means the tenant is looking at dishing out about $1.32 million a year in rent.
The house, which is in the Beverly Crest neighborhood, was listed for rent in September for $150,000 per month. They recently reduced the monthly rental to its current price, per listing records show.
There are currently 72 single family home rental listings in the area, per real-estate platform Realtor.com. Monthly rental ranges from $4,950 for an 800-square-foot home to $295,000 for a 12-bedroom mansion.
Castle Rivani, with its $110,000 monthly rent, is on the higher end of the price spectrum.
The Rivanis were initially drawn to the property because it looked like a European castle.
"The previous owners built the home to combine Gothic and Italian Romanticism, so the architecture and aesthetic were a starting point for inspiration — but we added our personalities and fantasy into the design," Rivani said.
The 15,200-square-foot home was originally owned by businessman David Gebbia and his ex-wife, "Real Housewives" star Carlton Gebbia, The Wall Street Journal reported in October. David and Carlton Gebbia have confirmed to Insider that they were the previous owners.
"I actually designed and built it with my brother-in-law, Johnny," Carlton told Insider.
Construction on the house began in 2010 and was completed in 2013, David told Insider. The home was inspired by his Italian background and Carlton's English heritage.
The Gebbia family business also includes a real-estate division specializing in custom estates, and to this day this house they built is considered the crown jewel, David added.
The Rivanis commissioned a $50,000 replica of the spiky iron throne from HBO's "Game of Thrones."
The throne replica was custom-made by a craftsman in Siberia and consists of 250 individual pieces that are assembled together, Rivani said.
Shipping the completed throne over to the US cost them $15,000, he added.
The throne is the centerpiece of their Great Hall, which has 35-foot ceilings and a life-sized portrait of the Rivanis dressed in Medieval outfits and brandishing swords.
"When the throne first arrived it was too large, so we had to cut it in half from the back in order to mount it on the wall. It took a massive team of people to mount it," Rivani said.
Most of the furniture in the house was custom designed for the couple.
"We couldn't find what we liked in LA, so we spent an insane amount of time sourcing custom vintage pieces internationally from all over Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Siberia," Rivani said.
The aptly named Jungle Room is Rivani's favorite room.
"It's vastly different from the other rooms in the house," Rivani said. "The faux greenery on the walls were plastered individually over the course of several weeks."
The couple commissioned a 25-foot chandelier from Dubai made of 300 glass butterfly pieces for the room.
The brown velvet sofa that sits in the middle of the room was also a commissioned piece, Rivani added.
The castle is perfect for entertaining, and that's exactly what the Rivanis do — they love to dress up and throw costume parties.
On Instagram, the Mohawk-sporting Rivani shares with his 53,000 followers investment advice, motivational tips, and snippets of his life in the castle.
For Thanksgiving last year, the couple had a "Harry Potter"-themed party where they dressed up as Slytherin wizards.
The Great Hall — the room with the throne — was turned into the Hogwarts dining room, and they even had actors dressed as Dumbledore and Voldemort to entertain guests.
The bar room is the Rivanis' take on an 1800s British bar. Inspired by "Harry Potter," they added an apothecary display cabinet filled with potion bottles.
"Growing up my favorite movie was Harry Potter, it was even the theme of our wedding," Rivani said.
The apothecary cabinet at the corner of the bar is filled with bottles of colorful liquid that are inspired by the potions from the film, Rivani said.
"Krystal made potions from the movie, like 'polyjuice' and 'gillyweed,' but the potions are not actual drinks," he added.
The nearly 2,000-square-foot bedroom features a massive 250-year-old wooden headboard sourced from an Austrian castle, Rivani said.
There are six more bedrooms in the house, per the listing.
The primary bedroom comes with a pair of en-suite bathrooms, each of which is connected to a walk-in closet.
There are nine bathrooms in total, per the listing.
One of the guest bathrooms has a dragon-shaped gargoyle hanging on the wall, Rivani told the Journal.
Outside, the garden has been groomed into a checkerboard pattern. There's also a giant playable chess set, although neither of the homeowners knows how to play.
Krystal had full control over the design of the outdoor area and she chose the "Alice in Wonderland" theme for its vibrant and colorful patterns, Rivani said.
"We love throwing elaborate themed costume parties and the energy from the backyard offers an energetic touch that differs from the inside of the home," he added.
The couple is looking to rent out the castle out as they'll be relocating to Miami for business, Rivani said.
Now that it's time to temporarily part with their house, one thing Rivani regrets is not moving in sooner, he said.
While there are currently no plans to sell the house, that might change in the future, Rivani added: "I want to be buried in that house, but I'm a businessman, so never say never."
Popular Right Now
Popular Keywords
Advertisement