He’s been labeled a cryptocurrency “evangelist” and the one holding the reins of the world’s biggest crypto bull, but Chris Dixon is also a very rich man with a taste for the more humdrum and old-fashioned finer things in life—things like luxury real estate. To wit: Dixon and his wife Elena Silenok were the buyers who recently forked over $20 million in non-crypto cash for a lavish tennis court estate in L.A.’s prime Bel Air neighoborhood.
Sited on nearly 2-acres of usable land near the end of a secluded cul-de-sac, the fully walled and gated estate is anchored by a nearly 8,500-square-foot mansion that is decidedly traditional in style. According to our research, the property was never publicly listed for sale, so our knowledge of its current amenities and intricacies remains limited.
However, tax records and other resources reveal that the house was originally built in the early 1960s and rented to Elvis Presley in February 1966. Presley and his family reportedly occupied the property until late 1967; it was here, in March ’67, where the rock ‘n’ roll legend suffered a fall that gave him a serious concussion.
It should be noted that the existing Bel Air home, the one just acquired by Dixon, is decidedly not the former home of Elvis, apart from the identical address. The former Presley residence was essentially razed and radically rebuilt at some point in the late 1990s. Today’s French- and English-influenced villa shown in photos here bears little resemblance to the far more humble midcentury modern structure once occupied by Elvis.
In any case, the current house is accessed by a very long gated driveway that dead-ends at a motorcourt fronting a four-car garage. A hand-carved wooden front door opens into the stately home, which features all the traditional trappings of elegant wealth: elaborate crown molding, parquet wood floors, a chef’s kitchen with top-end appliances, a wood-paneled library and a media room.
Also on tap are a formal dining room, an upstairs primary retreat with dual closets and bathrooms, and a double-height living room that sports a particularly enormous fireplace. There are five additional bedrooms, ideal for guests or live-in staff.
But it’s the outdoors where this Bel Air property really shines. Surrounded by towering pine, eucalyptus and oak trees, the backyard is more akin to a lush clearing in a hidden forest than just another cramped L.A. yard. Rolling lawns tightly hug the swimming pool, while a spacious concrete patio has plenty of room for al fresco entertaining and is a breezy walk down to the full-size tennis court. And there are enough manicured hedges and formal gardens to practically ensure Dixon will need to retain at least one fulltime gardener to manage the premises.
Dixon, 53, is a serial entrepreneur and Silicon Valley tech veteran. More than a decade ago, he sold the Hunch website he cofounded to ebay for $80 million; he was also an early Bitcoin advocate and adopter. Today, he’s a general partner and the leading crypto investor at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), the world’s largest venture capital firm by assets under management. In 2022, Fortune magazine called Dixon “the world’s leading crypto investor.”
Unsurprisingly, Dixon and his wife are also not new to high-end real estate. Back in 2019, they paid $5.7 million for a traditional-style home in the Bay Area town of Hillsborough, Calif., that they sold four years later for $6.3 million.
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