A reclusive member of the wealthy Rothschild dynasty is believed to have died after his Los Angeles home suddenly caught fire.
Fire crews discovered a man’s body inside the Hollywood Hills home after they were called to battle the blaze just after 4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Authorities haven’t yet released the man’s name but multiple neighbors identified him as William Rothschild — a member of the prominent banking family, ABC7 reported.
Rothschild, who was in his late 70s, had lived in the two-bedroom home with his Afghan hound, neighbors said.
They described him as a reclusive and eccentric millionaire who owned multiple properties on the same street and a slew of expensive vintage cars, according to the outlet.
“It is very sad,” Jim Moore, who lives nearby, said. “He was a good guy. A good neighbor.”
Some neighbors said they had never laid eyes on the reclusive Rothschild and assumed the property was vacant.
The Rothschild family built their fortune by establishing banks across Europe from the late 1700s.
They have an estimated fortune of about $1 billion.
The burned-out 825-square-foot home was estimated to be worth about $1 million, real estate listings show.
It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the fire and authorities said the incident remains under investigation.
It took 45 firefighters roughly 30 minutes to extinguish the flames.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner will formally identify the man and determine his cause of death, authorities said.