A Mysterious Crypto Billionaire Just Snagged This LA Mansion for a Record-Breaking $83 Million
A hilltop Los Angeles mansion with a retractable roof and two panic rooms has sold for $83 million, shattering residential sales records on the Westside of Los Angeles.
While the house was never formally offered for sale, it had once been marketed as an $88 million pocket listing, and was also briefly offered for rent at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, asking $350,000 per month. Real estate sources say the new owner’s fortune comes from their cryptocurrency holdings, though the name of the billionaire buyer—and whether they’ve already moved into the wildly extravagant mansion—publicly remains a mystery, for now.
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Simon Berlyn
Crypto tycoons are a relatively new phenomenon, but they’ve already begun making big inroads into the flashiest sector of the high-end real estate market, particularly in Los Angeles. In May, a $28.5 million Hollywood Hills mansion sold to Olaf Carlson-Wee, the first employee at Coinbase. Last year, well-known bitcoin billionaire Josh Jones, founder of what was briefly the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, dropped $25.8 million on an all-new Brentwood estate. And in May, hedge fund manager and top crypto investor Jeffrey Feinberg bought a different Brentwood property for $44 million, $1 million over the asking price. For now, Forbes estimates there are at least 12 official cryptocurrency billionaires worldwide.
Built over several years at an undisclosed but surely exorbitant cost, the Palisades house is the largest and grandest product to date of LA mega-mansion developer Ardie Tavangarian. But it’s certainly not his first brush with billionaires—back in 2019, he sold a similarly extravagant Bel Air house for $75 million to Liang “Johnson” Zhang, a Mainland Chinese heir to a mining and real estate fortune. And last year, Tavangarian paid a combined $61.9 million for four Bel Air homes owned by Elon Musk.
Speaking of Musk, he was reported to have toured the Pacific Palisades project in early 2020, back when it was put up for rental grabs at the aforementioned $350,000 per month, but it’s not clear if he—or anyone else, for that matter—actually took the real estate plunge.
Simon Berlyn
On LA’s Westside, an area generally considered to include the Palisades, Brentwood and Santa Monica, the $83 million deal blows every other recorded sale out of the water. In fact, the next-priciest transaction was only inked earlier this year, when a historic Santa Monica estate transferred for just under $49 million—more than 40% less than the unprecedented Palisades price.
Records reveal Tavangarian bought the one-acre promontory property in 2013, paying $7.3 million. Set at the very end of a quiet cul-de-sac in Pacific Palisades’ Riviera neighborhood pocket, the place is surrounded by leafy hillsides and famous neighbors. Immediately next door is the $26 million main residence of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson; also on the same street are properties owned by Sam Harris (of the “Making Sense” podcast) and bigshot financier Matt Barrett.
High-tech gadgetry is a central theme at the estate; the upstairs master suite is accessed via retinal scanner, a la a James Bond movie. Apart from that, the master bedroom boasts a one-of-a-kind retractable roof that offers views of the starry sky, via either a giant open sunroof or through the protection of glass. And while it doesn’t seem the most practical feature, the ceiling also doubles as a projection screen, displaying movies to folks relaxing in bed.
Simon Berlyn
Other amenities include state-of-the-art smart home and security systems, a fully stocked wine cellar, and a garage with a car turntable that also doubles as a dance floor and ballroom.
Outside, the property has a $2 million curved wall that seemingly rises directly out of the infinity pool. There’s also a party-ready spa capable of accomodating a dozen guests, several cabanas, outdoor loggias with ample space for al fresco entertaining and a “sauna room” with views of the surrounding mountains.
Inside, the 20,000-square-foot showpiece packs in six roomy bedrooms. Inexplicably, there are also a whopping 18 bathrooms—over-the-top, perhaps, but certainly convenient.
Check out more images of the property below.
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