Peek inside the Moroccan Disneyland castle that once belonged to Madonna

Madonna became the neighbour everyone one complained about when she moved in to the 1926-built “castle” nestled in the Hollywood Hills in 1992.

Paying what was then a whopping US$5 million (NZ$8.3m) for the nine-bed, six-bath home, the Holiday singer immediately started renovations in a bizarre attempt to turn the classic whitewash, Spanish-style home into an Italianate palazzo.

To achieve the look, she ripped out Moorish tiles and had the entire building painted in terracotta pink and sandstone yellow stripes. It did not go down well with the locals.

These days, the whitewash is back, so are the tiles, and what was once quite a barren patch of hillside surrounding the Castillo de Lago is dripping with greenery. And all of it could be yours for just US$21m (NZ$33.4m).

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While living at the castillo, Madge recorded her 1994 release Bedtime Stories, and released one of her most controversial songs, Erotica.

But she isn’t the first famous person to have lived in the sprawling home: It’s said that gangster and patron saint of slot machine junkies everywhere, Bugsy Siegel, once used the home as a gambling den.

According to the New York Post, its current owner is Russian-American fashion designer Leon Max, who purchased the property in 2010 for US$7m (NZ$11.2m). One thing is certain, they have great taste and an aesthetic that could easily be described as Moroccan Disneyland.

Like a Bedouin tent, one bedroom is swathed in rugs from the floor to the ceiling, and includes a set of ancient wooden doors to the bathroom, and a tiny, tiled hamam-style ensuite … and that’s just the start of the weirdness in this opulent play land.

In the rest of the house, the walls are lined with old masters (or replicas at least), including what looks like gold-framed Titian in the living room. The exposed, carved rafters are painted with florals and geometric patterns, echoed in more Moroccan-themed decor.

The dining room ceiling is equally impressive with a honeycomb coffered ceiling, also painted with florals. There are hand-painted tiles, and ceramic tiled floors throughout.

The office is teak panelled, and dotted with 16th century portraits. Continuing that theme, the master bedroom has an enormous four-poster bed that looks to be about the same age. Beyond the bed, a pair of columned arches open into a private sitting room with a view over the dam and Lake Hollywood.

The 977m² home also features a vintage wood-panelled elevator, and a swimming pool with views of downtown LA.

But perhaps the most delightful bedroom is the one at the top of the clock tower, reached by a winding spiral staircase, which has a 360 degree view that takes in LA, the reservoir and the Hollywood sign, which the home sits just underneath. Swathed in blood-orange and white fabric, it’s the kind of bedroom wannabe princesses dream of.

The home is built around a shaded courtyard, overlooked by a covered walkway that links the clock tower to the rest of the house. It’s nothing short of magical.

The listing, which is with Linda May Real Estate, calls the home “one of the most spectacular trophy Hollywood Hills Estates”.

Castillo De Lago isn’t the only home in California built to look more like a Spanish village than a single home.

High on a hill overlooking San Simeon, on the northern Californian coast, sits La Cuesta Encantada – Hearst Castle – the fantastical home of media mogul William Randolf Hearst.

Built between 1919 and 1947, the home has two massive swimming pools – one is an Olympic-sized pool decorated in faux Grecian style, the other is indoors, like a Roman bath. Both are open to the public for swimming – a full sized cinema, and a collection of buildings, arranged around the central building designed to look like a Spanish-style church.

Hearst, a compulsive collector of antiques, filled every corner of the home with antique pieces and architectural details, including importing 14th to 16th century ceilings, doors and windows from properties in Europe and North Africa.

The home is open to the public for guided tours.