By now, you have seen a lot of marvelous mansions and lovely apartments in different parts of the world. What about the spectacular home of hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky, which he bought twice in the last twenty years? Yes, you haven’t misheard. One home. One owner. Two purchases. Such an estate should be spectacular or keep some special memories, and so it is! Let’s explore what made the NHL legend Wayne Gretzky and his wife, Janet, step on the same rake twice.
63-year-old Gretzky spent 20 seasons in the NHL, and his 61 NHL records and extraordinary abilities on the ice won him the nickname “the Great One.” Considered the greatest player ever in the NHL, Wayne Gretzky won four Stanley Cups and was called the league’s Most Valuable Player nine times. At the time of his retirement, the Canada native collaborated with the Oilers, Kings, Blues, and Rangers. Afterward, the iconic retired professional hockey player was involved in hockey team ownership and management. He also owns restaurants, a winery, and a distillery.
Nearly two decades ago, Wayne Gretzky bought this spectacular home at 1072 Newbern Court in Thousand Oaks, the Golden State. Together with his wife, an American actress Janet Gretzky, they had the compound built in 2002. In her interview with Mansion Global, Janet said, “When Wayne retired in 1999, we decided that there was no better place to raise our children than here in Southern California.”
However, five years later, in 2007, Wayne Gretzky sold the property to a former baseball star Lenny Dykstra for 18.5 million dollars and moved out of the mansion. Lenny Dykstra soon had to sell it, having gone into foreclosure after declaring bankruptcy in 2009. The property was put at a foreclosure auction in 2010, and the bank sold it for a mere 760,712 dollars. The couple who purchased it at the auction agreed to cover 12 million dollars still owed on the property. In 2018, the Gretzkys purchased the property for the second time.
Dykstra had reportedly trashed the mansion, so it needed substantial renovations. Gretzky commissioned the architect Richard Landry to redesign the extensious 6.5-acre California property in the gated Sherwood Country Club. Mr. Landry had a rich experience creating over 500 homes for many A-listers, including Rod Stewart, and Tom Brady. Gretzky’s beloved Southern California house became even better than it originally was.
In 2018, the Gretzky family repurchased their former home for 14.9 million dollars and transformed it into a beautiful celebrity home. In 2020, they put the estate back on the market for a hefty 22.9 million dollars. For mere mortals, such an amount seems unbelievable, but not for Wayne Gretzky, who is reportedly worth somewhere around 250 million dollars.
For more details, please check our video about Wayne Gretzky