Peter Thiel bought LA’s 40,000-sq-ft Casa Encantada for $130M at foreclosure; his identity stayed hidden for months

Casa Encantada, a 40,000-square-foot Bel-Air mega mansion, known as Los Angeles' most iconic estate, has found a new owner in billionaire investor Peter Thiel. According to a report by LA Times, the venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder quietly bought the property through a limited liability company at a foreclosure auction in Pomona in July this year.The 58-year-old has become the new owner of the Old Hollywood-style mansion by shelling out $130 million, making it one of the priciest home sales ever in LA.However, even this price is a bow down from the initial rates the abode was listed at. The former owner of the 1938 mansion, late businessman Gary Winnick, asked $225 million for the property in 2019 and $250 million in 2023. But he never found a buyer and died in 2023, leaving a trail of debt in his wake. Records show the Bel-Air estate was used as collateral to pay off a loan from the CIM Group, and Winnick’s family relisted the home for $170 million in April before it was auctioned off to the highest bidder three months later.A lavish abodeThe house itself is full of glitz and glamour with 8.4 acres of land along with sprawling gardens and terraced lawns overlooking the Bel...