The question begs to be asked: Where does Elon Musk live? One might think the billionaire, often the richest person in the world (depending on Tesla’s stock valuation on any given day), would have the real estate portfolio to end all real estate portfolios. At the time of publication, SpaceX and Tesla CEO has a net worth of $208.4 billion, according to Forbes, thanks to his advancement of electric cars and space exploration. But despite it all, Musk now resides in a tiny house with very few bells and whistles. Read on as we share the scoop on where Musk calls home, and why.
Selling his seven former mansions
Taking to Twitter (now known as X) in 2020, Musk vowed, “I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house” and promptly went on to list his seven California properties. When one of his followers asked why, he had a one word answer: freedom. Combined, the asking prices for the seven homes was over $100 million.
Six of Elon Musk’s houses were in the Los Angeles region. The first was a 16,251-square-foot home with six bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. The palatial estate was built in 1990 in an architectural style reminiscent of a French château, and featured a two-story library, wine cellar, tennis court, pool, and home theater. The home sold for a staggering $29 million, according to Zillow.
Property number two was a low-slung white-shingled house that was once the home of actor Gene Wilder. The 2,800-square-foot home had five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and decades of rich Hollywood history. Jordan Walker-Pearlman, the nephew of Wilder, had once thought the home had been demolished, until a drive through the neighborhood with his wife showed him otherwise. About a year later, a friend sent Walker-Pearlman a screenshot of Musk’s tweet stating he would sell his home. Musk sold the historic house back to the late actor’s family for $7 million with one stipulation—that the property be preserved. Per Musk’s tweet, “it cannot be torn down or lose any of its soul.”
The final four Los Angeles properties were all a stone’s throw away from each other in Bel-Air, with three being on the same road. According to The Wall Street Journal, the first was a six-bedroom, 7,000-square-foot house that was originally built in 1954; the second was a modest ranch house on an adjacent street; the third was a large, unfinished contemporary home three doors down; and the fourth was a white brick Colonial next to that. While the parcels were four separate homes, they were listed together on Zillow with a price of $62.5 million and sold to developer Ardie Tavangarian, owner of Arya Group. The group made a statement saying they plan to redevelop the properties into “a new single development project to make it truly one of a kind,” according to Mansion Global.
The final property Musk sold was a 16,000-square-foot mansion in Hillsborough, California—an affluent area in Silicon Valley. The Mediterranean-style residence, also known as Guignécourt, sat on more than 47 acres of land and boasts seven bedrooms, nine and a half bathrooms, a professional-grade kitchen, a library with leather walls, its own reservoir, and far-reaching views of the San Francisco Bay Area and skyline, according to Maison Global. Not to mention a ballroom with 20-foot ceilings featuring crown moldings, complete with gold leaf detail. The home sold for $40.8 million in 2021.
