Tycoon who designed Harry and Meghan's Sh1.5 billion mansion issues warning on property

Harry and Meghan have been warned by the Tycoon who designed their Sh1.5 billion (£11m) mansion in California to 'watch out for mudslides'.

The Sussexes recently moved into their sprawling pad 'The Chateau' after buying it in May - with American talk show queen Oprah Winfrey and Hollywood stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Rob Lowe among their nearby neighbours.

The lavish 14,463 sq ft property - designed and built by multi-millionaire businessman Terry Cunningham and his wife Randi - is so technologically advanced that it can detect fog rolling in from the Pacific ocean.

Set in 5.4 acres of "spectacular" land in Montecito, The Chateau is based on a classic French country house, and is surrounded by sweeping lawns, rose gardens, huge Italian cypress trees, blooming lavender and 100-year-old olive trees.

Mr Cunningham and his wife spent four years building the plush nine-bedroom mansion after buying the land in 1999, creating a dream home for themselves and their children to "make memories".

The businessman even poured two bottles of red wine onto the cellar floor to give the room an authentic aroma.

But despite installing sensors which can detect fog, there was one natural phenomenon the couple didn't think when designing the house - mudslides.

In 2018, devastating mudslides came within 200ft of the property, after being triggered by heavy rain in the hills nearby which had been ravaged by wildfires.

"We sure as hell didn't think about it when we were building, but certainly it's something I would be thinking about now," said Mr Cunningham, now 61, in an interview with the Mail on Sunday.

Giving an idea of the star-studded nature of the Santa Barbara neighbourhood, Mr Cunningham recalls Oprah holding her 50th birthday party nearby in 2014 - when he and his wife got to listen to Stevie Wonder playing live.

The Canadian-born tycoon - chief executive of software company Descartes Labs - has fond memories of the palatial property, which features 16 bathrooms, a spa, a two-bedroom guest house, library, games room, arcade, cinema and private gym.

There is also a large pool and tennis court, as well as an outdoor children's play area.

"We loved it. We built it. It was our dream home and we built it as a family home and we still love the place," said Mr Cunningham.

The tech tycoon described how the heating system used an algorithm to determine when it should shut down or spool up, based on the rate of change in the fog detected by sunlight sensors on the south-facing wall.

He also detailed how he designed and built the wine cellar using plywood from his brother's mill, and poured wine on the floor so that it "smelled correctly".

Meghan and Harry bought the property in May through a shell company listed at the LA address of her long-term business manager Andrew Meyer, according to the Mail on Sunday. They moved in six weeks ago.

Mr Cunningham, who still lives nearby, recently heard from a neighbour who had bought the property, after he and his wife sold it in 2009.

He said Harry and Meghan "got a great deal" - and insisted he hoped the couple and their one-year-old son Archie enjoy the house just as much as he and his family did.

He said: "We're really excited that they found a wonderful home in Montecito. It's a wonderful place to have lots of family around and it gave the kids memories they still talk about to this day.

Mr Cunningham sold the house 11 years ago because they wanted to downsize. The buyer was controversial Russian billionaire Sergey Grishin, 54, who was nicknamed the 'Scarface Oligarch'.