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Talk about a grave injustice.
One of Old Hollywood’s last stately mansions, connected to deceased real estate investor Paris Nourafchan, is on the market for $16.9 million — all while his name remains embroiled in a vitriolic legal dispute involving his also-deceased brother, Richard.
As the case involving Richard’s death rattles through California Superior Court, accusations of forgery, fraud, elder abuse and a bat mitzvah that allegedly went off the rails are flying.
The suit does not name this listed Holmby Hills home at 1196 Brooklawn Dr. or the legal entity that owns it — but the legal tussles between Paris and his nephew, Nicholas Rahban, over alleged actions by Richard on his deathbed could cast a pall over the mansion’s sale.
Both Paris and Rahban are claiming the right to Richard’s holdings after separate visits just days, if not hours, before the dying 78-year-old man lapsed into a coma from which he never emerged. He died in 2024.
Paris and Rahban both say they came away from their visits with valid will and trust documents that made them the stewards of Richard’s estate.
Rahban filed the suit against Paris individually and as the trustee of Richard’s assets before Paris passed away last year, and the battle continues in his Paris’s name. Paris, in his own legal action, has contested Rahban’s probate petition.
Both sides have presented wills and trusts to the court that they say are legit, while accusing each other of using unsavory tactics to get the documents. These include allegedly faking the fading Richard’s signature and strongarming him.
Rahban got his authorization after pulling a make-a-will kit from an online site and photoshopping his uncle’s name and initials on it, Paris’s papers claim.
Rahban, for his part, contends that his uncle Richard loathed his brother, alleging that Richard refused to join Paris and their other brother George for a candle-lighting ceremony during a grandniece’s bat mitzvah, and yelled to the rest of the family, “I’m not getting on the stage with those crooks.”
Both men have denied the other’s claims and say in court papers their close relationship with Richard compelled him to leave them his assets.
Paris suggests Rahban is the family’s black sheep and an opportunist, noting in court papers that he has not been successful in business endeavors and claims Richard wanted his estate to be divvied up by giving Paris and George each a third and the rest to go to other relatives — while Rahban “is desperate to obtain the entirety of Richard’s wealth.” The three brothers had been in business together.
Rahban wants the court to award him double the “at least some tens of millions of dollars” he says the estate is worth, and wants the extra amount to come from Paris personally. Rahban’s suit bases his request on the assets’ own value and penalties through a California statute involving elder abuse Paris allegedly committed by bullying Richard into signing. Or, Paris forged his brother’s signature, Rahban’s suit says.
Rahban has a lot at stake, with his inheritance going from 100% to around 8% if his uncle’s lawsuit prevails, according to his filings.
Rahban did not return calls requesting comments about the suit.
Paris’s son Marc Nourafchan, who is one of his heirs, told The Post the mansion “is in no way” connected to the suit, although word about the family fracas could put “a cloud” over its sale.
Estate planning attorney Nicole Israel, who is not involved in the case, pointed out that “when someone in a probate case is named individually,” as Paris was, it can “open the door to their assets being laid claim to by the plaintiff.”
Another estate planning attorney, Craig Redler, who is also not involved with the suit, agreed, though neither would comment on the specifics of this case. Marc added that the home has seen a lot of foot traffic since his decision last month to cut $2 million from the $18.9 million he listed the mansion for in the spring.
The parties are due back in court in January.
Meanwhile, Marc continues his efforts to sell the 6,477-square-foot Holmby Hills mansion, known as Villa d’Este, and its separate onsite 4,000-square-foot theater, both of which were built in 1929 as magnificent examples of Old Hollywood flare.
The five-bedroom Spanish Colonial home and its 1.6-acre grounds “are spectacular, with the kind of Hollywood glamour that doesn’t exist anymore,” said Drew Meyers of Westside Estate Agency, who shares the listing with colleague Kurt Rappaport.
The artisans of the home’s intricately hand-carved living room ceiling replicated the one they created for publisher William Randolph Hearst’s architecturally awarded San Simeon estate.
Stevie Nicks was into the vibe and rented the estate in the 1980s. Clint Eastwood chose the huge theater for a key scene in his film, “Firefox,” Marc Nouafchan said. Eastwood, as director, turned the theater into a pyrotechnics-filled airplane hangar which he, playing elite pilot Michael Gant, tries to fly out while a MiG-3 next to him is exploding, and electrical systems and fuel lines are erupting in flames.
The home had a much more sedate beginning, commissioned by Fox Film Corp. production chief Winfield Sheehan while he was successfully steering the studio from silent films to talkies.
Under Sheehan’s stewardship, Fox Film launched the word vamp into the vernacular through its film “A Fool There Was,” with Theda Barra playing a no-holds-barred seductress. The studio’s “Regeneration” was the first full-length film about gangsters.
Later on, the estate was a busy hub for celebrity social gatherings, with guests ranging from Shirley Temple to John Wayne, who shared the same stature in their Hollywood heydays. Neighbors included Walt Disney, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Becall, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, and Frank Sinatra. The Playboy mansion was minutes away by car.
Architect Burton Schutt designed the mansion around the same time he was working on the nearby Bel-Air hotel.
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