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Dan Houser and Krystyna Jakubiak have quietly offloaded their elegant L.A. mansion in a prime pocket of Brentwood in an off-market deal that netted the English video game mogul and his longtime Russian voice-actress wife nearly $18 million — a tidy increase over the $16.5 million the couple paid financier Peter Richards for the place almost two years ago, back in June 2020.
Records indicate the buyer is 62-year-old Canadian Reuters heiress and former actress Taylor Thomson, who adds to a vast trophy property lineup consisting of lavish homes in Bel Air and Malibu, as well Santa Monica’s legendary Villa Ruchello estate, which she picked up from Vice magazine cofounder Shane Smith last year for a record $48.7 million — at the time, the most ever paid for a home on the entire Westside of Los Angeles, though that record has already been eclipsed multiple times.
As for Houser, he’s best known for co-founding Rockstar Games with his older brother Sam in 1998 and producing the “Grand Theft Auto” franchise, which has generated revenues of more than $6 billion worldwide and become the highest-grossing media title of all time. After officially stepping down from the company in 2020, the 48-year-old reportedly formed Absurd Ventures In Games, which specializes in “ready-made interactive leisure and entertainment software development”; his estimated net worth is around $150 million.
Though the Brentwood home was never on the market, information from previous listings show it was built in 2007, and has since undergone a “complete renovation” by architect Ken Linsteadt and M. Elle Design. Tucked away behind gates and tall hedges — and resting on a particularly desirable street, where nearby neighbors include Petra Ecclestone and LeBron James — the wood-sided structure features seven bedrooms and nine baths in just over 8,000 square feet of sun-drenched living space.
Glitzy offerings consist of a gym, sauna, media room, wet bar and wine room, plus walls of and French doors that open to a covered loggia ideal for al fresco dining. Other highlights include a double-height living room centered around a massive fireplace, and an eat-in kitchen that connects to a dining area and family room.
There’s also a study adorned with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and fireside master suite boasting dual closets and baths, and a private deck overlooking treetop views. The amenities continue outdoors, where the grassy backyard hosts a freeform pool, and an entertainment pavilion with a kitchen and fireplace.
While they’ve seemingly downsized their real estate portfolio, Houser and Jakubiak still own a $12.5 million mansion in New York City’s posh Brooklyn Heights neighborhood that’s got the added cache of having once belonged to Truman Capote, and a Santa Monica beach house they paid $6 million for in August 2021.
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