Elon Musk's unassuming $50,000 Texas home can be revealed for the first time by DailyMail.com – complete with a rocket-shaped kids' playhouse, Tesla solar panels and CCTV cameras hidden in palm trees.
The world's richest man and new Twitter owner has sold seven Californian mansions in the past two years after vowing to offload his property portfolio and most of his possessions.
He's also denied claims he secretly lives at a friend's $12million mansion in Austin – insisting: 'My primary home is literally a $50k house in Boca Chica/Starbase that I rent from SpaceX … it's kinda awesome though.'
Boca Chica was a tranquil retirement village before SpaceX set up shop there in 2014, buying up the majority of the properties and launching giant rockets from its beach-front test facility two miles away.
DailyMail.com visited the dusty coastal enclave outside Brownsville, Texas, last week to locate Musk's supposedly Spartan digs and figure out if the Tesla mogul – worth an estimated $219billion - actually lives there.
Neighbors confirmed to DailyMail.com Elon Musk does indeed reside in Boca Chica, Texas – at least some of the time – in a three-bed, ranch-style home (pictured) a block away from his space firm's Starbase production facility
In the shadow of his SpaceX production facility's Starbase (seen in background) is the unassuming home Musk has apparently downsized to after vowing to offload his property portfolio and most of his possessions
Musk, who shares a son with ex-girlfriend Grimes, built a custom-made playhouse and swing in the backyard that closely resembles a SpaceX rocket
General Views of the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, located just a block away from Musk's modest ranch
Neighbors told us the 50-year-old does indeed reside in Boca Chica just two miles from the Mexican border – at least some of the time – in a three-bed, ranch-style home a block away from his space firm's Starbase production facility.
County records confirm SpaceX snapped up the single-story, waterfront property in October 2019 along with the adjacent empty lot and standalone garage.
Elon Musk made the decision to downsize last year, selling off seven California mansions for roughly $127million
Musk also listed it as his residence when he registered to vote for the 2020 General Election.
'You know Elon Musk is coming because you see the SpaceX people picking up trash and sprucing the place up,' neighbor Jim Crawford, 76, told DailyMail.com.
'He's never alone, he always has his bodyguards with him. He normally arrives late at night, he goes straight inside and rarely comes out.
'He waved one time but he's never invited us over or said hello. You don't go and knock on his door because the bodyguards would be out in a heartbeat.'
Locals refer to the 1,580-square-foot pad as 'the compound' because in 2021 an imposing 8ft fence was built around the entire property.
Musk – who last month agreed to pay around $44billion for Twitter – has whitewashed the walls, planted new trees and covered the entire roof in high-tech Tesla-made solar roof tiles.
His security entourage lives next door and the 1970s property is guarded with a dozen or so cameras, several nestling high above the street in the tops of palm trees.
The three-time divorcee, who recently had his seventh and eighth children with on-off partner Grimes, has also built a custom-made playhouse and swing in the back yard that closely resembles a SpaceX rocket.
County records confirm SpaceX snapped up the single-story, waterfront property in October 2019 along with the adjacent empty lot and standalone garage
The 1970s property is guarded with a dozen or so cameras, several nestling high above the street in the tops of palm trees
Various antennas, a Starlink satellite, and multiple security cameras (including some hidden in palm trees) are seen attached to the property
Musk has whitewashed the walls, planted new trees and covered the entire roof in high-tech Tesla-made solar roof tiles
Locals refer to the 1,580-square-foot pad as 'the compound' because in 2021 an imposing 8ft fence was built around the entire property
'They have a patio and chairs out there also. I saw him one time with two ladies and a small child, I presume that was his young son,' said Jim, one of the so-called 'holdouts' who have thus far refused to sell up to SpaceX.
'I don't like rockets and I'm a little too old to be thinking about going to Mars,' he added. 'I'm more concerned with the things SpaceX are doing here on earth.
'This year we've only had a handful of migrating birds because of the noise and the lights from the construction.'
Unlike previous owners Richard and Patricia Heaton, Musk won't have to contend with spotty internet since his house is equipped with an antenna for Starlink, his satellite Wi-Fi company.
But he will have to drive 20 miles to the nearest supermarket and have his drinking water trucked in by Cameron County once a week until SpaceX builds its proposed desalination plant.
Musk, who has long dreamed of creating a home for humans on Mars, declared in May 2020 that he was downsizing his own living arrangements
It's rumored the company spent around $200,000 on the property – more than three times the $62,334 value put on it last year by county tax assessors.
'We were very satisfied with the offer we received. It truly was quite generous,' Richard, 75, told DailyMail.com.
'I've seen the fence he's put up but you can understand why privacy is a huge deal with this guy. I sincerely hope that whoever is living there now enjoys it as much as we did.'
Musk, who has long dreamed of creating a home for humans on Mars, declared in May 2020 that he was downsizing his own living arrangements, tweeting: 'I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house'.
Between June of that year and November 2021 he sold off seven California mansions for roughly $127million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Musk further claimed in a recent TED interview that he couch surfs with friends depending on which city he needs to be in.
Boca Chica was a tranquil retirement village before SpaceX set up shop there in 2014, buying up the majority of the properties and launching giant rockets from its beach-front test facility two miles away
It's rumored SpaceX spent around $200,000 on the property – more than three times the $62,334 value put on it last year by county tax assessors
SpaceX employees live in a fleet of trendy Airstream caravans and security officers zip around the site in SpaceX branded Teslas kitted out with police-style flashing lights
Until SpaceX set up operations in Boca Chica, the coastal idyll of 35 homes spread along a single street was known for its abundant wildlife, lush wetlands and unspoiled, golden beach
He has also dismissed a report in the Journal claiming that he secretly resides in a plush lakefront mansion in Austin owned by his PayPal
