With its verdant cliffs overlooking the Pacific, Malibu is the most desirable location for ultra-luxury homes in the United States. Beyoncé and Jay-Z have recently purchased a 40,000 square foot oceanfront mansion in the exclusive coastal enclave, reinforcing its rise as a popular vacation for the suer-rich.
The open concrete and glass homes designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Ando have become icons of wealth and success for Hollywood A-listers in the United States. For $57.3 million in 2021, Kanye West purchased a tiny oceanfront Malibu property designed and built by Ando, and this spring, Kim Kardashian stated that she was working on a “dream project” with Ando.
The home was commissioned by William and Maria Bell, art collectors and members of the soap opera family that created The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful. Maria Bell described the building as “dazzling” and “spectacular” to the Wall Street Journal, but she also noted that “it’s also a daunting idea to live in something that can seem to many people like a Brutalist structure.”
This “unbelievable deal” of $200 million for a home that was originally priced for $295 million was reported by TMZ.
The most expensive home in the United States is a $238 million penthouse in New York’s Central Park. However, the Golden State has recently been breaking its own records.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Larry Ellison’s decades-long investment have made Malibu a center for high-end real estate. According to the article, Ellison, the fifth wealthiest person in the world, has ten homes on Billionaire’s Beach in Malibu in addition to multiple commercial properties. Ellison controls a sizable portion of the Hawaiian island of Lanai.
Despite frequent disastrous wildfires, including one in 2018 that damaged multimillion-dollar mansions and killed three people, the area’s real estate market is being driven upward by wealthy tech executives and famous singers. Since 2016, the median price of a single-family home in the city has more than doubled, reaching nearly $7 million. According to the Journal, Malibu’s new rich homeowners are joining properties to construct mega-luxury complexes. For $187 million, WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum purchased two adjacent homes, while Marc Andreessen paid $255.5 million for his three Malibu properties.
A representative for Beyoncé has yet to comment on the rumor that she purchased a mansion. Kurt Rappaport, the “alpha agent” in Malibu who oversaw the $200 million sale, has dealt with celebrities including Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Ellen DeGeneres. No further comment was forthcoming from him.
Internet users have compared the celebrities’ home to a “WWII bunker” and “an empty Costco distribution center,” with the New York Post, which is notorious for its criticism of the “cheeseball” look of California real estate, underlining the comments. Each and every Malibu mansion seems like a supervillain lair, according to the conclusion of a Reddit thread discussing the mystery residence.
