Wild history of Johnny Depp’s castle, which keeps luring nosy tourists

nypost.com:

kicking, banging and slamming kitchen cabinets, and yelling “motherf–ker” in the gothic kitchen of the house — a replica of a Bavarian castle in West Hollywood that looks more like the set of a horror movie, replete with turrets, towers and battlements.For Hollywood movie fans hoping to gawk at the quirky castle on Sweetzer Avenue, near the storied Sunset Strip, it’s virtually invisible to view — hidden on a cul-de-sac, behind lush foliage and trees planted for privacy.

All that can be seen from street level is the front gate. Still, that doesn’t stop tour buses from hauling loads of fans up to gawk.“We were getting these vans with open tops and the people are talking, and cheering and yelling, and it’s been annoying,” said John Ryan, 63, who’s lived there on the street for 28 years, told The Post.As strange as it is seeing a gothic castle in the midst of LaLa Land palm trees, the history of the property is even odder.Depp purchased the castle in 1995 for $2.3 million from flamboyant lawyer-to-the stars — including pioneering the claim to “palimony”  in a landmark case against actor Lee Marvin by his live-in girlfriend — Marvin Mitchelson.

The late attorney, who had a well-publicized jet-set lifestyle, had turned the castle’s interior into an elaborate showplace.Mitchelson, who also represented Tony Curtis and Sonny Bono, lost the seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom estate, situated on four acres, in bankruptcy after a tax fraud conviction that led to him serving two years in federal prison.

He died in 2004 at 76. “After Mitchelson lost the castle,” recalled neighbor Ryan, “it fell into disrepair. When Johnny Depp bought it he spent quite a time renovating it, trucking in huge trees to completely hide it.