An L.A. home once occupied by Gene Wilder, the original Willy Wonka, is back on the market—thanks to Elon Musk. In 2020, the Tesla founder sold Wilder’s former Bel Air property to the late actor’s nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman and his wife Elizabeth Hunter. Musk lent them millions for the purchase, but the couple defaulted on that loan last month. Now, the home is on sale for $12.95 million.

Wilder originally bought this 2,750 square-foot compound by the legendary L.A. architect Robert Byrd for $300,000 in 1976, reports the Wall Street Journal, after the success of Young Frankenstein (1974). Wilder wasn’t the only celebrity to call a Byrd house home—film noir star Lizabeth Scott hosted Elvis at the Hollywood Hills farmhouse she scored in 1952, and Byrd designed the infamous Cielo Drive home that Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski rented in 1969.

The master bedroom. Courtesy of Westside Estate Agency

Wilder sold this property overlooking the Bel Air Country Club for $2.7 million in 2007. A trust linked to Musk scooped it in 2013, while he was on a buying streak in L.A. Wilder’s home sat across the street from Musk’s main residence at the time, according to WSJ.

In May 2020, Musk took to X (then Twitter), announcing: “I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house.”

“Just one stipulation on sale,” he added. “I own Gene Wilder’s old house. It cannot be torn down or lose any [of] its soul.”

Walker-Pearlman split his childhood between this house and his grandmother’s in Harlem because his parents were “a little crazy and not enthusiastic about the responsibilities of child rearing,” he told WSJ. Mel Brooks and Sidney Poitier visited most Sundays. Walker-Pearlman wanted to meet Musk’s $9.5 million asking price so he could restore the property, and show his wife more about his upbringing. That’s when Musk agreed to sell it to the couple and lent them $6.7 million to buy it.

The bar. Courtesy of Westside Estate Agency

“He could have sold it for so much more,” Walker-Pearlman said in 2022, emphasizing Musk’s benevolence.

An entity tied to Musk filed a notice that Walker-Pearlman and Hunter defaulted on that loan last month—the first step in foreclosure. Walker-Pearlman is a film director and screenwriter, and Hunter is a film producer; their low cash flow stems from last year’s writers’ and actors’ strikes. Hunter has the title, WSJ noted. “She did not want to continue morally owing Elon anymore,” Walker-Pearlman told the publication.

“This is likely the closing of a very unicorn and beautiful chapter of our lives,” he continued. “I’m not disgruntled at all.” Musk’s team hasn’t been adversarial, either.

The guesthouse. Courtesy of Westside Estate Agency

The striking if efficient 0.78-acre property offers four bedrooms and five bathrooms across two structures, all done up in Byrd’s iconic white and brown palette, with vintage wood beam ceilings throughout. The main house’s open floor plan revolves around its circular bar for entertaining, surrounded by panoramic canyon and skyline views, a gourmet kitchen, and a master bedroom that opens out onto a kidney-shaped pool. There’s a guest cottage, too, and al fresco nooks situated throughout the lush grounds, evoking Byrd’s noted affinity for indoor-outdoor living.

While the listing notes the home’s potential for major renovation, Musk and Walker-Pearlman’s hopes to retain its original character still feels right.