Jason Peteler of Revel Real Estate and Matthew Yim of Coldwell Banker only knew at first that an EV company had rented their listing for a few days as a filming location. They had no idea it would be the first home in which Tesla’s Optimus Robot would be filmed.
Whether it’s refining your business model, mastering new technologies, or discovering strategies to capitalize on the next market surge, Inman Connect New York will prepare you to take bold steps forward. The Next Chapter is about to begin. Be part of it. Join us and thousands of real estate leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.
It’s not every day that a robot makes its debut to the world at your home listing.
But that is what happened to Jason Peteler, luxury estates director at Revel Real Estate in Beverly Hills, and Matthew Yim of Coldwell Banker. The robot in question also was not just any robot, but Tesla’s new Optimus Robot, a general-purpose humanoid bot Elon Musk’s company currently has under development, The New York Post reported.
The bot made its debut via a launch video released earlier this month, which features Optimus helping a family with various household tasks at Peteler’s and Yim’s joint listing located at 2167 Mandeville Canyon Road in Los Angeles. It was the first time Optimus had ever been filmed inside a residential property.
The living area | Credit: Josh Spooner and Todd Goodman / LA Light
“We were doing short-term event rentals on occasion at some of the developers’ properties,” Peteler told Inman. “So we got the inquiry [from Tesla] and they were kind of secretive about what they were doing. They rented it for a couple days, then lo and behold, I’m watching the unveiling and I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s my listing.’”
Peteler and Yim didn’t know at first that it was Tesla that rented the home about three weeks ago now since the individuals who reached out to them just vaguely described their entity as “an EV company.” But Peteler said it soon became apparent after they saw security footage of all the Teslas parked outside of the home. Still, they had no idea the company planned to use the home as part of the Optimus launch.
The developer of the 4,000-square-foot home, which is listed for $6.85 million, is Ori Ayonmike, founder of Wilshire Partners. The property sits on a 0.44-acre lot behind 10-foot gates, sheltered behind private landscaping and at the end of its own cul-de-sac. Beyond a Mediterranean-style exterior, a modern interior awaits with clean architectural lines, several glass doors that invite indoor-outdoor living, and lots of natural stone and wood accents.
A Rosso Levanto marble island in the kitchen | Credit: Josh Spooner and Todd Goodman / LA Light
“I think the property’s design just fits aesthetically with the look that they were trying to go for with the humanoid,” Peteler said. “So just having clean lines, having that high design with a bit of warmth tied into it just kind of … it didn’t clash with the home being too modern and then the robot being too modern, there was a warmth and a modernity behind the property that kind of separated the two looks, in my opinion.”
The video has also been a fortuitous opportunity for Peteler and Yim to add a new dynamic to their marketing of the home, particularly with the original YouTube video from Tesla now racking up two million views, and its post on X hitting more than nine million views.
“Anything to market a property — that’s sort of my job,” Peteler joked.
In the video, Optimus waters the plants, tidies up the house and even appears to be playing games with the family.
The home’s unique staircase | Credit: Josh Spooner and Todd Goodman / LA Light
Musk and Tesla have come under fire in the wake of the company’s “We, Robot” event, which showcased Tesla’s progress with autonomous vehicles and robots, after it became more widely publicized that the Optimus robots were being remotely controlled by employees. At the event itself, the remote operators were not uniformly made known to attendees, leaving some in the dark until after the event had concluded when reports began to surface.
“Just bizarre that the people walking me through [the Optimus bots] refused to say that,” tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee posted on X after being belatedly informed that the bots at the event had been remotely operated.
According to a post on X by Milan Kovac, who oversees Tesla’s Optimus program, the company used human assistance at the event to show the firm’s “vision of an amazing future.”
Get Inman’s Luxury Lens Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly deep dive into the biggest news in the world of high-end real estate delivered every Friday. Click here to subscribe.
Email Lillian Dickerson
