Kanye West’s gutted, abandoned Malibu mansion finally lured a buyer
Kanye West purchased the concrete mansion in Malibu in 2021.
Kanye West, now known as Ye, has found a buyer for his stripped-down beachfront property in Malibu, California.
In 2021, the controversial rapper paid $57 million for the concrete home, according to Dirt.com, which reports on the real-estate transactions of celebrities and is now part of Robb Report.
According to its Zillow listing, West formally listed the unfinished house, designed by legendary Japanese architect Tadao Ando, for $53 million in January. In April, he reduced the asking price to $39 million.
Now Belwood Investments, a California-based home-flipping firm, is set to buy it for $21 million — less than half its original asking price. The Real Deal first reported that Belwood was in contract to buy the property.
The property has sat empty since West begam to completely gut the home in a move to start fresh. The Wall Street Journal reported that, as of December 2023, it lacked plumbing, electricity, windows, and doors.
The home’s listing agent, Jason Oppenheim of “Selling Sunset” fame, told the Journal that the house is a “blank canvas” for anyone who wants to add their own touch.
Belwood, which has been in the fix-and-flip business since 2018, plans to invest about $5 million to restore the property to its original condition.
Take a look at what the home looked like before West purchased it.
The home was originally built in 2013.
The exterior of the home.
The property was originally built for art collector Richard Sachs.
Ando, the Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect who built it, seamlessly blends minimalist design with natural elements.
Ando has also designed homes now owned by celebrities like Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
His other famous works include the Church of the Light in Osaka, Naoshima, an art island with contemporary works in Japan, and the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis.
The structure uses “Ando’s trademark design of smooth-as-silk concrete,” told B-17.
The exterior of the home.
According to the Oppenheim Group’s listing, the home spans 4,000 square feet and has four bedrooms and five bathrooms.
Ando used over 1,200 tons of concrete and 200 tons of reinforced steel to construct the home.
It is anchored to the ground with twelve “massive pylons” that extend more than 60 feet deep into the sand.
The house is located on Malibu Road, which book-lovers might recognize as a key location in Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel “Malibu Rising.”
The view from above.
Malibu, located just 13 miles northwest of LA’s Santa Monica neighborhood, is a hot spot for celebrities and wealthy homeowners.
It’s also the setting for many books and movies.
Notable residents include Sarah Paulson, Cher, Jason Statham, and Halle Berry.
The area features some of the country’s most expensive and luxurious homes.
As of July, the median home price in Malibu was $3.8 million, according to Redfin.
The home is located right on the beach. Any resident would be steps from the ocean.
An ocean-view room.
The home features 1,500 square feet of outdoor deck space with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, according to the Oppenheim Group listing.
This is what it looked like when West bought it in 2021.
The interior of the home with the staircase and floor-to-ceiling windows.
Photos obtained by TMZ in late 2023, however, show its state — let’s just say it’s a fixer-upper, lacking windows, doors, and even a roof.
West stripped the home of nearly everything, leaving it uninhabitable.
Inside the house.
In September 2023, West was sued by Tony Saxon, a former employee — his caretaker for the Malibu property — who claimed the rapper fired him after forcing him to sleep on the floor during renovations and ordered him to remove the windows and electricity.
Saxon also alleges that West failed to pay him wages.
West denied the allegations.
In January, lawyers representing Saxon filed a lien on the home following reports that he put the property on the market for $53 million, according to records shared with B-17.
Despite its current state, the home has a lot of potential.
An old photo of a bedroom inside West’s Malibu home.
The home is currently bare, lacking the furnishings and details shown in some of the listing photos.
While it might seem cold and unwelcoming now, the right furniture and decor could turn it into a warm and inviting space.
The home’s decks face the Pacific Ocean.
One of the outdoor decks.
The home’s outdoor areas look perfect for hosting gatherings or simply unwinding in a serene environment.
There was some doubt about whether the home would sell.
Backyard ocean views of West’s Malibu home.
Some people believed the renovations needed to make the home livable would be too extensive and costly, leading potential buyers to dismiss it altogether.
“For this price, you can find properties that are complete and more turnkey,” Cara Ameer, an agent with Coldwell Banker in California, told Realtor.com in June.
Belwood, the real-estate investment firm in contract to buy the house, apparently didn’t mind — but is paying a substantial discount from its original asking price.
“This is not just a phenomenal real estate investment; it is an opportunity to revitalize and preserve an architectural gem by the renowned Tadao Ando, ensuring it remains a jewel of Malibu,” Bo Belmont, Belwood Investments’ CEO, said in a statement.
