Mega Millions Lottery Winner Is Selling His Massive California Mansion for $26 Million

The house, according to Business Insider, includes a 16,000-square-foot house with a sauna, a movie theater, and a three-story elevator. It also includes a 4,000-square-foot garage. (Vimeo / Craig Strong)

A Mega Millions jackpot winner is selling his California estate for $26 million, according to reports.

Rick Knudsen won the $180 million California Mega Millions jackpot before quitting his job and buying the house for $5.5 million, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The house, according to Business Insider in a Jan. 14 report, includes a 16,000-square-foot house with a sauna, a movie theater, and a three-story elevator. It also includes a 4,000-square-foot garage.

He went on to buy a nearby buffalo ranch and more land, totaling 845 acres in all, in Oak Glen.

When he bought the property, Knudsen said he and his family lived at their old home for 23 years and couldn’t wait to buy a new one.

“We really are very grounded people. But there’s nothing wrong with being grounded in a big house,” Knudsen said in 2014, People magazine reported.

Knudsen’s estate is listed with Craig Strong at Pacific Union International. The realtor said that Knudsen is moving because of his son, who suffers from a heart condition.

According to Craig Strong’s website, “The embodiment of natural luxury within an expansive mountainside setting, the 16,000-square-foot Eagle Crest Mountain Estate sits upon 845 contiguous acres with unobstructed views spanning from Little San Gorgonio to Mount San Jacinto, San Gabriel Mountains, Salton Sea and beyond to Catalina.”

The website added: “The only private property to boast a 9,000-foot elevation in Southern California, the five-bedroom estate features a 4,100-square-foot six-bay garage and carport, three-story elevator, 17-seat theater with a George Lucas sound system, fully-equipped gym, wine cellar, as well as its own water source, sustained internet, and solar power system.”

Karen Pierce, Rick Knudsen’s sister, told ABC7 that “they’re ready to tone things down a little bit.”

“And his son does have a heart problem, and the 6,000-foot level is too much pressure on him,” she said.

It also comes with an on-site full-service restaurant known as the Oak Glen Steakhouse and Saloon (Google Street)

“It could be a celebrity, a musician, entertainer,” noted realtor Strong about potential buyers. “Whoever doesn’t want to be bothered at all, nobody’s going to bother you (at this home), and you don’t have to leave. You have everything you need.”

People reported the home also features a master suite with a private jacuzzi, a sauna, and its own deck.

Knudsen’s estate is listed with Craig Strong at Pacific Union International. The realtor said that Knudsen is moving because of his son, who suffers from a heart condition. (Craig Strong/Vimeo)

It also comes with an on-site full-service restaurant known as the Oak Glen Steakhouse and Saloon.

Meanwhile, there is also a fully operating ranch with a few dozen buffalo.

When he won the Mega Millions lottery, Knudsen said at the time, “Our bucket list got huge.”

“I just had a lot of lucky things happening,” he said. “I’m a numbers guy. I don’t buy (lottery tickets) unless I feel lucky.”

When he called into work about the win, his bosses doubted him. He had been working at the same place since 1979.

The estate is located in Oak Glen in Southern California (Google Maps)

“At first you thought, ‘Maybe I’ll stay as a consultant,’” his boss told him. “He’s been there so long. In one sense it was hard to break away, but he’s busier now, it seems like, than when he was working.”

After winning the lottery, the family has been approached by a number of people, he said.

They were, he added, “people we haven’t heard from in years.”

“We’re just average people,” Knudsen said. “We’re young, so we’re going to put it (the lottery winnings) to good use.”