$2 Billion Powerball Winner Buys Rakish Hollywood Hills Mansion

$2 Billion Powerball Winner Buys Rakish Hollywood Hills Mansion

Edwin Castro paid $25.5 million for the keys, a discount off the property’s nearly $30 million original ask.

To say the last few months have been life-changing for Edwin Castro would be putting it mildly. In November, he bought a winning Powerball lottery ticket at a Mobil gas station in the Los Angeles suburb of Altadena. Last month, he finally claimed his record-shattering prize, taking home a $997.6 million lump sum before taxes. Less than 30 days later, he’s the proud owner of one of the flashiest new mansions in the star-studded Hollywood Hills. Some of his nearest neighbors include Ariana Grande, Dakota Johnson and Jimmy Kimmel.

Little is publicly known about Castro, who did not appear at the press conference announcing his win, apart from his status as a longtime local to Pasadena and its surrounding neighborhoods. He’s also believed to be relatively young, reportedly still in his early 30s.

But in contrast to its owner, Castro’s hillside mansion is aggressively extroverted, putting its louche design on flagrant public display to the peasants residing in the valley far below. Perched on the edge of a ridge, and built into the side of a nearly sheer cliff, the blocky contemporary boasts more than 13,000 square feet of living space, complete with five bedrooms, five baths and two powder rooms. Castro paid $25.5 million for the keys, a discount off the property’s nearly $30 million original ask.

Built by noted developer Roman James and previously featured in Robb Report, the sexed-up contemporary stands three stories tall. The main level contains a vast central living area anchored on opposite ends by a giant fireplace and kitchen sporting black granite countertops. Walls of glass make for a seamless connection to the entirely hardscaped backyard, which offers a full outdoor kitchen and infinity pool.

The house is unapologetically austere in its hard-edged, modern persona, with exterior walls painted masculine shades of gunmetal gray, charcoal and black. But inside, things get softer with beige-toned stone and decadent touches. That’s particularly true of the recreation-themed lower level, which offers a gym, cold plunge pool, wine cellar, movie theater and sauna. On the mansion’s penthouse level, the master suite has its own private balcony and a bathroom clad in exotic slabs of black-and-white marble. There’s also a rooftop deck.

Though the Castro abode sits on a large half-acre lot, a significant portion of the property is unusable hillside. Still, the place has plenty of parking — two separate garages that can house up to seven cars, plus a flat motorcourt for several more — a rarity in these tightly-packed hills. Plus, Castro will save on gardening bills, as the estate is essentially landscape-free — save for  some drought-tolerant plantings around the front and side.

Nice as the house is, it just can’t compete with the surrounding scenery. Every room in the mansion boasts jetliner vistas of the entire L.A. city skyline, from Downtown skyscrapers to Century City, the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. That’s a view worth the gamble.