James Harden Sued For Turning $30 Million Mansion Rental Into A "Party House"

When James Harden rented a Beverly Hills mansion for a week in August 2019, it looked like a routine luxury vacation rental. Harden paid $82,200 to stay in a sprawling estate owned by restaurateur and real estate developer George Santo Pietro. But what followed quickly turned into one of the stranger celebrity lawsuits of the year.

According to court filings first reported by TMZ, Santo Pietro accused Harden of lying about how he planned to use the property. The rental agreement limited the home to no more than seven adults at any one time. Larger gatherings were explicitly classified as "parties," which carried a separate $150,000 event fee. Santo Pietro claims Harden hosted at least two gatherings with more than 15 people, triggering $300,000 in unpaid party fees, along with alleged property damage and angry neighbors. He also sought punitive damages, arguing Harden knowingly misrepresented his intentions before signing the contract.

But the lawsuit itself is only half the story. The real intrigue is the house.

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A Mansion With a Long Celebrity History

The 14,500-square-foot estate sits in the hills of Beverly Hills and includes eight bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a gym, spa, wine cellar, pool, and expansive entertaining areas. Valued at roughly $30 million at the time of the lawsuit, the property had already lived several high-profile lives before Harden ever set foot inside.

Most notably, it was once the longtime marital home of Vanna White.

Santo Pietro and White married in 1990 and quickly became fixtures in Los Angeles high society. During their marriage, the couple lived in multiple ultra-exclusive gated communities, including Mulholland Estates, where their neighbors reportedly included Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. Eventually, they built a massive spec mansion in the gated enclave of Beverly Park, one of the most expensive residential neighborhoods in the United States.

The Beverly Park home became White's primary residence for more than a decade, from the early 1990s until the couple's divorce in 2002. For years, it was closely associated with her public image during the height of her fame on "Wheel of Fortune." Here is a video tour:

From Marital Home to Ultra-Luxury Rental

After Santo Pietro and White divorced, both moved out of the property. Rather than selling immediately, the former couple held onto it as an investment. For several years, the mansion was rented privately for an eye-watering $175,000 per month, making it one of the most expensive rental properties in Los Angeles.

In 2017, Santo Pietro and White listed the estate for $47.5 million, alongside a second nearby property they also owned. The two parcels were ultimately sold separately. One lot sold for $22 million, while the primary mansion, the same property later rented by Harden, sold in June 2020 for $19.3 million. By that point, it had already gained a second life as a short-term luxury rental, a role that would prove legally complicated.

It was during this rental phase that Harden entered the picture.

Why the Lawsuit Drew So Much Attention

From a legal standpoint, the case was relatively straightforward: a dispute over contract terms and alleged misuse of a property. What made it fascinating was the combination of characters and setting. An NBA superstar. A multimillion-dollar mansion. A former "Wheel of Fortune" icon. And a house that had quietly transitioned from celebrity marital home to high-end party venue.

Santo Pietro alleged he attempted to resolve the issue privately before filing suit, but claimed Harden refused to pay. Harden, who was in the middle of a six-year, $228 million NBA contract at the time, did not publicly comment on the lawsuit.

Regardless of how one views the dispute, the episode highlighted how a single property can evolve over decades, from a private family home shared by one of television's most recognizable faces, to a rental asset capable of generating six figures per week, and finally into the center of a headline-grabbing celebrity lawsuit.

For Vanna White fans, the story added an unexpected footnote to the history of one of her most famous homes. For everyone else, it was a reminder that even a $30 million mansion can come with house rules, and that breaking them can be very expensive.