Blockchains founder lists two Lake Tahoe homes for a combined $45 million
Jeffrey Berns, founder of technology company Blockchains, has listed two of his Lake Tahoe properties for a total of $45 million.
The properties are located next to each other along the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe, in Glenbrook, Nevada. The larger property is listed individually for $39.995 million, while the smaller home is asking $7.995 million.
The listing comes after Mr. Berns and his wife, Mary Berns, bought a new Tahoe property in Incline Village for $47.5 million, which he said is closer to his daughter’s school.
Mr. Berns bought the larger of the two Glenbrook properties — a roughly 1.6-acre property — in 2018 for $23.5 million. He said it has served as the family’s primary residence for about five years. It contains an approximately 9,300-square-foot main house with six bedrooms, plus a two-bedroom guest house, a detached office space and a beach cabana, according to listing agent Clif Chase of Chase International Luxury Real Estate. Outside there is a sandy beach with approx. 160 feet of lake frontage, a floating jetty dock, a private dock, two buoys and a jet ski dock.
Jeffrey Berns in 2021.
Jason Bean/The Reno Gazette-Journal/Associated Press
When the roughly 0.4 acre property next door came on the market, Mr. Berns bought it to use for guests. This lot, which has approximately 76 feet of lake frontage, contains an approximately 3,000-square-foot, five-bedroom, two-deck waterfront residence.
Mr. Berns said he moved into the new house earlier this year, dragging his feet because he didn’t want to leave the Glenbrook property.
“It’s still, to this day, even though we live somewhere else, my favorite property,” Mr. Berns said. “I didn’t want to sell it.”
Mr. Berns said he has held on to the home for about a year since buying the Incline Village property, thinking they might move back after their daughter went to college. “But my wife said she wouldn’t do it,” he said, “so that’s why we listed it.”
More: Soccer Field, Playground, Recording Studio—This Miami Duplex Penthouse has access to it all
In 2014, Mr. Berns founded Blockchains. The company is focusing on Web3, the idea of a decentralized internet that uses cryptocurrencies, blockchain and other technologies, the company said.
Mr. Berns said the decision to sell his Glenbrook property has nothing to do with the current volatility in the cryptocurrency market. The homes were put up for sale in early November, he said, before cryptocurrency platform FTX filed for bankruptcy.
The local market has adjusted to the nationwide downturn in the housing market, Mr. Chase said. In October, the average sale price of a home in Glenbrook was $3.6 million, down more than 60% from the same period last year, according to real estate and data company Redfin. While some high-end buyers are staying on the sidelines because of economic uncertainty and stock market volatility, he said, some are still shopping around. Earlier this year, he sold a home on the lake for $32 million, he said.
