Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have officially bought their first house together on the Riven Rock estate in Montecito, California, and the estate's eerie past has been unveiled. It was once the home of schizophrenic Stanley McCormick, the subject of T.C. Boyle's 1998 novel Riven Rock, and was where he was confined for four decades.
SEE: Inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's £11.2million new house
WATCH: Inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's incredible former LA home
Stanley developed severe mental problems and was locked in his home, on the Riven Rock estate where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex now live, while medical experts attempted to 'cure' him. His family went on to hire a private scientist and allowed him to set up a laboratory inside of the home in a bid to heal Stanley.
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© Photo: RexKatherine McCormick lived on the Riven Rock estate with her husband Stanley
To no avail, Stanley's wife Katherine took matters into her own hands and began to transform their property into what she believed would make for a healing sanctuary, including tropical plants imported from Japan and a six-acre lemon orchard. The family also installed a nine-hole golf course and a theater for live performances that meant Stanley had his own home entertainment without a need to leave.
Stanley died from pneumonia in 1947, and Katherine passed away 20 years later in 1967.
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The Riven Rock estate was eventually split into pockets of land and sold as grounds for separate homes, including Meghan and Harry's new property. Their £11.2million mansion has a total of nine bedrooms and 16 bathrooms, and reports say that there is also a separate guest house with an additional two bedrooms and bathrooms.
Inside the main house, there is a library, an office, a spa with a separate dry and wet sauna, a gym, a games room, an arcade, a movie theatre, a wine cellar and a garage with space for five cars. The house is set on five acres of land with a tennis court, outdoor pool and a playground for Meghan and Harry's son Archie.
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