Tag Archives: Celebrity Homes

Culture

Kanye’s Malibu Mansion Saga Continues

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The concrete Malibu mansion abandoned mid-renovation by Kanye West is back on the market with a previous deal now on the rocks. 

The Malibu Beach home that Kanye West bought in 2021 for $57.3 million usd/ $79.03 million cad but then gutted, abandoned and sold for $21 million usd/ $28.97 million cad has hit a new snag. The 4,000-square-foot home, designed by renowned architect Tadao Ando, has bounced between several developers and is now back on the market for $34.9 million usd/ $48.14 million cad. 

It’s the latest twist in the saga of the oceanfront house, designed by award-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando, which the rapper purchased in 2021. 

West bought the three-story home for $57.3 million—and then immediately gutted it, leaving only a concrete shell with no windows, plumbing or electricity when he dumped the project about two years later. 

Note- prices below are in USD, please read intro paragraph above for CAD conversion at time of publication.

The skeletal beach house then sold for $21 million last year to Steven “Bo” Belmont, a developer who returned it to the market within months. He quickly went into contract to sell it to another developer, the Montana-based Andrew Mazzella, for $30 million, both parties confirmed.

Listing images show the home before a gut renovation was begun.The Oppenheim Group/Roger Davies

The deal with Mazzella, a luxury home developer, was scheduled to close in May but has now stalled, as the shell of a house was back on the market as of Wednesday asking $34.9 million, down from an initial ask in March of $39 million.

According to Belmont, CEO of crowdfunding platform Belwood Investments, the deal is enirely dead, he told Mansion Global on Monday. Belmont cancelled the contract after Mazzella requested a third extension to find financing when the second extension expired on July 31. 

Mazzella confirmed that they mutually cancelled the contract earlier this month, but was quoted as saying he’s “not out of the game just yet”, and is “still interested in negotiating a deal for the house”. 

Roughly 1,200 tons of concrete were used to build the original home.The Oppenheim Group/Roger Davies

Prior to the March deal, Belmont had already begun the $8.5 million process of returning the 4,000-square-foot home to its original design by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect, built in 2013 for financier Richard Sachs, he said. He consulted with Sachs and hired the same design-build firm, Marmol Radziner, who had constructed the house originally. 

Belmont plans to sell the building as-is at the new price to recoup the money already invested, or return to the original plan of restoring it and selling the completed house—which he expects to be in even more demand in the wake of the January wildfires. 

“Malibu is going to get a full face lift, with fire-retardant concrete homes, and we have the ultimate high-end concrete home. A tsunami can’t take it out. A fire can’t take it out,” Belmont said. “And it’s the only Ando for sale.” 

The listing is with Jason Oppenheim of the Oppenheim Group and Mauricio Umansky of the Agency, who have been representing the seller from the start. Oppenheim previously repped Kanye in the sale to Belmont, as well. Neither immediately responded to a request for comment. 

Realtor.com first reported the home’s return to the market.

Mazzella had also planned to complete the reno of the house and list it closer to Kanye’s original purchase price. “It’s a very complicated construction project,” he said. 

Who knew? The relationship between Kanye West and architecture – nss magazine

Mazzella is working on restoring another Los Angeles mansion and plans to keep looking for opportunities if the deal for this one does fall through. “I consider my business style to be that of Trump, Musk and Carl Icahn combined so it’s not an easy process,” he said.

For the Silo, Liz Lucking/ Mansion Global, Jarrod Barker.

Fashion

Celebrity Homes: Andy Warhol Home Sold For $50 Million USD

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Warhol Home InteriorsMontauk, New York was celebrating its biggest estate sale ever after the closing on the 5.7-acre beachfront estate at $50 million USD that pop artist Andy Warhol bought in 1972 for $225,000 USD.

The most recent owner of the compound was CEO of J. Crew, Mickey Drexler, who bought it in 2007 for $27 million USD. He listed it in 2015 for $85 millionUSD that included a 24-acre horse farm and equine center, which the buyer, Adam Lindemann, opted out of the purchase. Lindemann is the founder of the Venus Over Manhattan Gallery and a major collector of Warhol’s works making the property’s history especially significant for him.

Warhol’s first gig out of art school was as a fashion illustrator for several of the top women’s magazines. With the money acquired from his illustrations, he purchased a large loft on New York’s West Side and opened the Factory, where he turned toward creating industrial art. It wasn’t long before the Factory and Andy were attracting like-minded modernists from hippies to wannabe journalists and actors to drag queens and drug addicts. It was the start of New York’s avant-garde scene where Warhol held court. In addition to his painting, he branched out into music, film and journalism where he met Paul Morrissey who became the director of some of Warhol’s early films.

Warhol Interior Large1

In 1972 when Warhol’s popularity and success were peaking, he and Morrissey decided to invest in property in the Hamptons and purchased the family fishing camp of the Church family of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda fame. The estate includes a 3,800-square-foot main house and five cottages completely hidden from public view with wide beaches and ocean views. Totaling almost 15,000 square feet with nine bedrooms and twelve baths, Drexler had it all meticulously restored by architect Thierry Despont.

Warhol’s stream of celebrity guests and renters put Montauk on the international map. Frequent guests included Liza Minnelli, Liz Taylor, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill. The parties were legendary and stories of happy days idled away on the Hamptons’ beach are recounted in many celebrity biographies.

Warhol Interior Large2

Even though the Warhol home sale set a record at $50 million USD, his most famous paintings such as “Eight Elvises” and “Silver Car Crash” have sold for $100 million USD and higher. The listing agent was Paul Brennan of Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Montauk, New York. Visit here for more information.

Supplemental– David Bowie as Andy Warhol in Basquiat

Culture

Real Estate Bubble? Celebrities Forced To Reduce Asking Price On Homes By Millions

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Both Celine Dion and Puff Daddy have vastly reduced the prices on their mansion homes, featured this week at TopTenRealEstateDeals.com.

“Celine Drops Price on Florida Water Park Home” Grammy Award-winning Canadian singer Celine Dion and her manager husband, René Angélil, built their dream Florida home on Jupiter Island in 2010. The location offered the privacy the hard working couple wanted to relax with their children and friends and they designed an estate around a series of water features and outdoor sports activities that, along with pristine beachfront, took full advantage of the Florida sunshine and Atlantic Ocean breezes. But even for celebrities who seem to have achieved it all, life can throw curve balls.

For Sale -Now Reduced! Celine Dion's Florida home.
For Sale -Now Reduced! Celine Dion’s Florida home.

Though René had successfully fully recovered from a bout of throat cancer in 1999, it reoccurred in 2013 when he had surgery for another malignant throat tumor. Dion announced in 2014 that she would suspend her performances indefinitely due to her husband’s worsening health. In August of 2015, she resumed her Las Vegas residency at Caesar’s Palace, but lost René to cancer in January 2016 and her brother only two days later. The couple and their three children had made the Las Vegas bedroom community of Henderson their home while Dion was performing at Caesar’s Palace. She returned to the stage on February 23rd for the first time since René’s death and paid tribute to his memory and their life together in her first performance.

Their Bahamian-inspired Florida oceanfront estate was first put up for sale in 2013, the year that René was re-diagnosed, for $72.5 million. Over a period of time with no buyer interest, the price was cut to $62.5 million and recently reduced to $45.5 million.

Among many five-star features, the 5.5-acre beachfront property’s centerpiece is the 500,000 gallon water park highlighted by a slow-current lazy river connecting two pools, bridges and a twisting water slide. There is also another pool located beachside. The two-story, 10,000-square-foot main residence has five bedrooms with a second-level wraparound terrace with ocean views and multiple main level terraces. The luxurious master suite walk-in closet has automated carousels for quick access to shoes and clothing at the touch of a finger. The open-plan main level is light and airy in keeping with the subtropical climate. There are also two separate four-bedroom guest houses, tennis house, simulated golf range, pool house and beach house. Celine’s Jupiter neighbors include Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, and Palm Beach is just a few miles down the road.

Now settled in Nevada at least until the end of her Caesar’s Palace residency in 2019, Celine has stepped up her effort to sell her resort estate by engaging a new brokerage and lowering the asking price. Fenton Lang Bruner & Associates in Jupiter Island holds the listing.

“Puff Daddy’s New Jersey Mansion” Whether called Puff Daddy, Puffy, P. Diddy, or his real name Sean Combs, the Grammy-winning rapper, actor and businessman is frequently in the news, whether for his recordings, his charity or his clothing line. Most recently, he has signed on as Pharrell Williams’ team adviser for season ten of “The Voice.” Listed as number one by “Forbes” as the wealthiest hip hop artist of 2015 with an estimated net worth of $735 million, Sean has reduced the price on his New Jersey mansion  several times, now at $7.89 million.

For Sale- Now Reduced!- Puff Daddy's NJ home.
For Sale- Now Reduced!- Puff Daddy’s NJ home.

Combs purchased his elaborate 3.25 acre estate in Alpine in 2004 for $6 million. Built in 1999, the home has all the glamour and amenities expected in the home of one of America’s most popular celebrities. The 8,000-square-foot home has six bedrooms, six baths, foyer with double staircase and expansive formal rooms with walls of glass filling the interior with light. The basement is the activity heart of the home with its own kitchen, wet bar, home theater, an aquarium and another bedroom with full bath. There is also an indoor basketball/racquetball court and a fully equipped gym with full bath. Outside is a swimming pool with waterfall, putting green, a lighted tennis court and a six-car attached garage. Originally, Sean put the property on the market in 2011 at $13.5 million. Without a buyer, he pulled it from the market and relisted it again in 2015 at $8.5 million. Again with no buyer, he has once again dropped the price to $7.89 million. The listing agency is Sotheby’s International in Alpine, New Jersey. For the Silo, Terry Walsh.

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