Gary Zhou 
Earlier this year, Elon Musk shocked the Internet when he revealed that he would sell his Bel Air properties partly as a way to unload himself from material possessions and as a way to eliminate an attack vector that his most ardent opponents are constantly using. One of these is a very distinctive house previously owned by the legendary actor Gene Wilder, who starred in the classic 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as the famous Willy Wonka.
When Musk declared his intention to sell all of his homes, he noted that Wilder’s estate had one stipulation. The “Gene Wilder House” can not be torn down, according to the Tesla CEO, as it would lose its soul. This probably limited the number of potential buyers, especially those looking to turn the prime lot into something that may be more contemporary. The house, after all, features clear views of the golf greens of the Bel Air Country Club.
As noted in a recent Variety article, it seems that Elon Musk has sold the “Gene Wilder Home,” and something very remarkable and almost heartwarming is the story behind the sale. The property was sold for $7 million, more than what the CEO of Tesla paid for it in 2013, around $250,000. When taxes and maintenance over the past seven years are considered, this benefit pretty much evaporates. This, however, is not the most fascinating portion of the story.
Records show that the new owner of the Gene Wilder Bel Air estate is an LLC whole sole manager is listed as Elizabeth Hunter, a screenwriter and TV producer who has worked on popular shows like Charmed and Empire. The Hollywood screenwriter has lived in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles for a long time and, oddly enough, she has been married since 2015 to filmmaker Jordan Walker-Pearlman. Walker-Pearlman happens to be the late Gene Wilder’s nephew.
With the selling of the estate, Musk seemed to be very generous. Musk eventually ended up lending Hunter and Walker-Pearlman as much as $6.7 million to fund the purchase, as can be seen in the records of the purchase of the Gene Wilder Building. That is over 95 percent of the selling price of the house.
Although the home is likely to remain unchanged as per the stipulations of Musk, the Wilder house is nevertheless pretty impressive real estate. Images of the house show that it is currently equipped with Tesla’s Solar Roof tiles and Powerwall batteries, rendering the house almost resistant to sudden power outages. The building also measures approximately 2,800 square feet and has five bedrooms and 4.5 baths. There is also a private guest house and a swimming pool on the property.
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