Trousdale Estates, Beverly Hills · Provenance Record
1181 North Hillcrest Road, Trousdale Estates
$70,000,000 · recorded 2014
Beverly Hills, CA
A newly built Trousdale Estates spec house of roughly 23,000 square feet, sold fully furnished in December 2014 for $70 million to Markus Persson, the Swedish creator of Minecraft, weeks after he sold Mojang to Microsoft. The price was reported at the time as a record for a Beverly Hills home.
The seller was developer Bruce Makowsky, who had asked $85 million. Branden Williams of Hilton & Hyland held the listing. Sally Forster Jones, then president of Aaroe International Luxury Properties at the John Aaroe Group, represented the buyer.
Sale Price
$70,000,000
Record Date
December 2014
Status
Closed, all cash, sold furnished
Property Type
Single-Family Estate
Listing Agent(s)
Listing Brokerage
Hilton & Hyland, at the time of sale
Buyer’s Agent(s)
Buyer’s Brokerage
John Aaroe Group, at the time of sale
Ownership Lineage
Every press-verified change of hands on record for this property, in order.
Listed · $85,000,000
Bruce Makowsky completes the spec house and asks $85 million
Handbag entrepreneur turned spec developer Bruce Makowsky completes the roughly 23,000-square-foot house with eight bedrooms and fifteen bathrooms, a 54-foot automated curved glass wall, an infinity pool, a 2,500-bottle wine room, an eighteen-seat screening room and a sixteen-car garage with a car elevator, and offers it at $85 million.
Sources: CBS News
Sold · $70,000,000
Markus Persson buys for $70 million, a Beverly Hills record
Minecraft creator Markus Persson buys the house fully furnished in an all-cash deal reported December 18 and 19, 2014 and announced as closed on December 22. Sally Forster Jones of the John Aaroe Group represented Persson. Branden Williams of Hilton & Hyland held the listing, with Rayni Williams named in the brokerage’s own announcement.
Press Citations
Every fact on this page traces to one of these sources.
Forbes
‘Minecraft’ Billionaire Markus Persson Buys $70 Million Beverly Hills Contemporary With Car Lift
Forbes reported the $70 million purchase by Markus Persson from developer Bruce Makowsky and named Sally Forster Jones on the buyer’s side and Branden Williams on the listing side. Forbes gives the address as 1108 North Hillcrest Drive, a variant that no other source or parcel record supports.
December 2014
Bloomberg
Minecraft Creator Buys Beverly Hills Home for $70 Million
Bloomberg reported the $70 million all-cash purchase and identified Sally Forster Jones as president of Aaroe International Luxury Properties, representing the buyer.
December 2014
CBS News
The $70 million mansion that Minecraft bought
CBS News reported the $85 million original ask, the $70 million sale price and the furnished, as-staged terms, and named the agents on both sides.
December 2014
CNBC
Inside Minecraft founder’s $70 million bachelor pad
CNBC detailed the 23,000-square-foot house with eight bedrooms and fifteen bathrooms and confirmed the $70 million price weeks after Persson’s sale of Mojang to Microsoft.
December 2014
PR Newswire
Hilton & Hyland’s Branden And Rayni Williams Represent Record $70 Million Sale In Beverly Hills
The brokerage’s own December 22, 2014 announcement of the closed $70 million sale, naming Branden and Rayni Williams. Identified here as a press release rather than reporting.
December 2014
How This Record Was Verified
- Method
- Compiled from published editorial coverage of the sale, with the brokerage announcement used only for the closing date and its own agent attribution.
- Open entries
- The address appears as 1108 North Hillcrest Drive in Forbes. Parcel records and both agents’ own sold listings give 1181 North Hillcrest Road, which is the address carried here. Outlets differ on which side Katia De Los Reyes worked, and Ben Bacal of Rodeo Realty is named as a listing agent by one outlet only; neither is carried in the agent fields. Lot size and architect have not been reported.
- Sources
- Forbes, Bloomberg, CBS News and CNBC, with the Hilton & Hyland announcement identified as a press release, each linked in full above.
- Corrections
- Unconditional and not contingent on any commercial relationship. See Corrections Policy.