Minecraft Creator Lists Beverly Hills Mansion for US$70 Million
Markus "Notch" Persson, the Swedish programmer who created Minecraft, has listed his Beverly Hills mansion for US$70 million. That is the same price he paid for the house in 2014.
The Los Angeles Times reported the listing on 27 October 2026. The listing agent said Persson is selling because he does not spend much time in Los Angeles.
The house at 1181 North Hillcrest Road covers 22,300 square feet on about an acre, with views of downtown Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean. It has eight bedrooms and 15 bathrooms, spread over two levels linked by a private elevator. The grounds include a pool, a wine room and a home theatre. The estate can be sold furnished or unfurnished.
Persson added several rooms of his own after buying it. There is a professional recording studio with a separate drum room, and a private nightclub with a DJ booth, dance floor, bar and club-grade sound system. Staff quarters and an on-site security office sit alongside them.
The LA Times also lists a US$200,000 candy room, a wine cellar holding 2,500 bottles stocked with cases of Dom Pérignon, and an art installation featuring a chrome machine gun.
The house was built by developer Bruce Makowsky, a handbag tycoon, who sold it to Persson. Before that, it had been built as a spec mansion, meaning it was constructed without a buyer lined up in advance.
Persson's fortune comes from games. He founded Mojang Studios in 2009, and Minecraft arrived two years later. He sold the game to Microsoft in 2014 for US$2.5 billion, at a time when he held a 70 per cent stake. The LA Times describes Minecraft as the bestselling video game of all time.
The asking price is flat on what he paid, but the market has moved. The LA Times reports that the median Los Angeles home has more than doubled in value over the past 12 years. Persson's house would also be the priciest Beverly Hills home sale of 2026, if it sells at the asking price. That would make it the second-priciest sale in Los Angeles County, behind Casa Encantada, a Bel-Air estate that former PayPal chief executive Peter Thiel bought for US$130 million at a foreclosure auction in September 2026.
Some history from the house's past also stands out. Jay-Z and Beyoncé toured the Beverly Hills property several times in 2014. Three years later, they bought an US$88-million mansion in Bel-Air instead.
The listing is held by agents from Christie's International Real Estate Southern California, working with agents from Beverly Hills Estates. No buyer or sale has been reported yet.
