Recluse Dies as Fire Claims $1-Million Hilltop House

A 75-year-old man who reportedly lived as a recluse in a $1-million house overlooking the San Fernando Valley was found dead in his bedroom Wednesday morning after fire destroyed the dwelling, authorities said.

The cause of the 1 a.m. fire in the 15400 block of Briarwood Drive in Sherman Oaks was not known, but investigators were looking into the possibility that a portable electric heater may have sparked the blaze.

Los Angeles police described the victim, Nathan Rounds, as a “pack rat.” Stacks of newspapers, magazines and other belongings were piled throughout the house. There were also several portable heaters inside, police said.

It took Los Angeles firefighters about 50 minutes to extinguish the blaze, which apparently erupted in the middle section of the ranch-style house atop a hill overlooking the West Valley. Firefighters said the house was gutted by the fire and a car was also lost. Structural damage was estimated at $560,000, officials said.

Police investigators were called to the scene when firefighters saw what appeared to be a bump-like injury on Rounds’ head. But neighbors told detectives that the victim already had the deformity and a driver’s license photograph also showed the bump. Investigators ruled out foul play in his death.

“It appears he died as a result of smoke inhalation,” Detective Don Tabak said. “There is no evidence of foul play.”

Two neighbors said they attempted to rescue Rounds but were turned away by intense flames.

One neighbor said Rounds had lived in the house more than 25 years but rarely talked to nearby residents. He said Rounds, who had shoulder-length hair and always wore a baseball cap, did tend to the landscaping around the house but that other neighbors occasionally trimmed shrubs. The neighbor also said the victim rarely took trash out to the curb and usually waited months to retrieve his mail.

“He was like a hermit,” said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. “He lived like he was in the middle of the desert. He never talked to anyone. He never got his mail. He never took his trash out. Nobody ever came around to visit him.”

The neighbor, who was saddened by Rounds’ death, said that on one of the few occasions that he spoke to Rounds, the man said he was a retired mechanic who had once sold an airplane to Howard Hughes.

“I said, ‘You don’t get out or talk much,’ and he said, ‘I like to keep to myself,’ ” the neighbor said. “He was a curiosity.”