In October 2020, a filmmaker named Jordan Walker-Pearlman and wife Elizabeth Hunter bought a home in LA's Bel Air neighborhood for $7 million. Jordan is the nephew of the late comedy legend Gene Wilder. That's important because Gene owned this very same house from 1976 to 2007. Gene bought the home in 1976 for $300,000. He sold the home in 2007 for $2.7 million.
The house sold again in 2013 for $6.75 million. The buyer, in this case, was… Elon Musk.
(Photo by Jean Catuffe/GC Images)
It's unclear if Elon ever actually lived in this house. During his ownership, he owned a dozen other mansions in California, many of which were much larger and more luxurious. That's not to say the Wilder home isn't impressive. The 3,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, four-bathroom home was designed and built in the early 1950s by an iconic architect named Robert Byrd. It's located in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Los Angeles, with the backyard overlooking the Bel Air Country Club.
In early 2020, Elon went through something strange that was never quite explained but resulted in him deciding to list all of his homes for sale. On May 1, 2020, Elon Tweeted:
Just one stipulation on sale: I own Gene Wilder's old house. It cannot be torn down or lose any its soul.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020
Elon listed the Gene Wilder house for $7 million in October 2020.
Along came Gene Wilder's nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, and wife Elizabeth Hunter.
Musk sold the home to Walker-Pearlman and Hunter with an eye towards keeping the property preserved. He actually went a step further. Elon loaned the couple $6.7 million to buy the house from him for $7 million. That was a win-win. Elon got to sell the house to someone who would honor and respect Gene Wilder's legacy. Jordan and Elizabeth buy an amazing $7 million house in Bel Air for just $300,000 down.
Unfortunately, the deal went sour at some point.
Thanks in part to last year's film and TV strikes, the couple eventually fell behind on repayment of the loan. They fell so behind that Musk has reportedly begun a foreclosure process. It's a disappointing development, but Walker-Pearlman recently told the Wall Street Journal that they are cooperating with Musk and that the billionaire isn't coming from an "adversarial or mean" position with the filing. He goes on:
"Elon gave us a magical opportunity. I have no complaints…This is likely the closing of a very unicorn and beautiful chapter of our lives…I'm not disgruntled at all."
The property is held in Elizabeth's name, and evidently it was she who decided to part ways with the house after falling behind on the loan to Musk. As Walker-Pearlman put it:
"She did not want to continue morally owing Elon anymore…We already owe him such a spiritual debt."
He went on to say that a representative of Musk's made it clear that despite the foreclosure filing, he does not intend to force the home into sale, something he would have the legal right to do within 90 days of the foreclosure. However the property has been listed for sale with an asking price of $12.95 million.
