by On a quiet, leafy street lined with multimillion-dollar properties, one stands out: a 14,400-square-foot mansion that looks like a villa plucked from the hills of Tuscany and transplanted to Austin, Texas.
It was here that Elon Musk, 53, the world’s richest man and perhaps former President Donald J. Trump’s most important campaign backer, attempted to establish the cornerstone of an unusual family compound, according to four people familiar with its plans.
Mr. Musk has told those close to him in recent months that he imagines his children (at least 11) and two of their three mothers occupying adjacent properties. That way, his younger children could be part of each other’s lives and Mr. Musk could schedule time between them.
Directly behind the villa is a six-bedroom mansion that Mr. Musk helped buy, according to two people and public records. The total cost of the two properties was approximately $35 million. When in Austin, he often stays at a third mansion about a 10-minute walk away, the people said.
Three homes, three mothers, 11 children and a secret multi-billionaire father who is obsessed with the declining birth rate when he’s not overseeing one of his six businesses: it’s an unconventional family situation, and one that Mr. Musk seems to want to go even bigger.
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