Though Dan Houser and his wife Krystyna Jakubiak already 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, the couple spread their real estate wings to L.A. last year, picking up a $16.5 million Brentwood estate sited right next door to British heiress Petra Ecclestone’s home and directly across the street from LeBron James’ mansion. Now the English video game mogul and his longtime Russian voice actress wife are expanding their West Coast portfolio, picking up a snazzy Santa Monica beach getaway to accompany their elegant Westside outpost in Brentwood.
Property records show that Houser purchased a two-story house on a corner lot with views of prime Ocean Avenue and beyond, sporting unobstructed whitewater vistas from almost every room. The seller was Texas car dealership billionaire Dan Friedkin, who paid a little over $4 million for the place back in 2014. Originally listed for $6.7 million in early 2019, the place ultimately sold to Houser for a discounted $6 million.
Best known for co-founding Rockstar Games with his older brother Sam in 1998, Houser produced the highly successful “Grand Theft Auto” franchise, which has generated revenues of more than $6 billion worldwide and become the highest-grossing media title of all time. Houser, 47, officially stepped down from the company in 2020; but he’s reportedly formed a new games company — Absurd Ventures In Games — that’s described as a business specializing in “ready-made interactive leisure and entertainment software development.” His net worth is estimated to top $150 million.
One of only eight single-family residences on Ocean Avenue’s coveted front row, Houser’s ocean-breezy house was built in 2005. Described in marketing materials as a “California Mediterranean,” it’s since been renovated with an eye toward large-scale entertaining.