Everything You Need to Know About Billionaires' Beach
In the 1930s, Malibu's founding family, the Rindges, subdivided a little crescent-shaped strip of land called Carbon Beach. Today that spot is one of the hottest and most exclusive strips of beach in California.
Less than 20 miles from Hollywood and Beverly Hills, Carbon Beach stretches roughly 1.5 miles and features about 70 gorgeous homes on rare broad lots with tons of dry sand and unobscured ocean views. So, it naturally attracts some of America's wealthiest, earning it the nickname Billionaires' Beach.
Let's take a look at the residents:
The king of the beach is probably Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, considered the nation's most avid trophy-home collector. He owns 10 of the community's properties. That's 1/7 of the beach. One of his properties is a 2,800 SF beachfront cottage he rented out this summer for $65k/month, plus a $35k security deposit. He also owns a $37M property home he purchased in 2012, which includes a guesthouse and a screening room.
And his Carbon Beach empire doesn't end there. Ellison also has commercial properties like the hot restaurant Nobu Malibu on Pacific Coast Highway, which features amazing beach views. And there's the Malibu Racquet Club, which has been known to host tennis greats like Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams. Not shabby for a two-time college dropout.
Pictured: Larry Ellison's $65k/month rental property
Sports analyst Bill Simmons just purchased a two-story 3BR/3BA 1,500 SF house for $7.5M.
Les Moonves, president and CEO of CBS, dropped $28.8M on his 5,800 SF "weekend retreat" in 2014. He purchased the home from Microsoft co-founder and Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen.
Other current residents include building tycoon and art collector Eli Broad, who has a summer home there. Former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt's ex-wife, Jamie McCourt, owns the $27.2M home the couple purchased when they were married. Attorney Stuart Liner and his wife have a $10M home they purchased from music mogul Irving Azoff in 2012.
And there's also Canadian media mogul Gerry Schwartz, Hard Rock Café co-founder Peter Morton, Jerry Bruckheimer, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Power Rangers creator Haim Saban.
Pictured: Peter Morton's home
John Travolta and Courtney Cox are former residents of the enclave. Cox and husband David Arquette sold their pad for $33.5M when their marriage ended. Businessman Michael Milken reportedly rented a $200k/month estate in 2011.
And Mariah Carey spent $10k/night to stay in a 3,734 SF 4BR/4BA Mediterranean-style house that 20th Century Fox honcho Michael Lambert listed on Airbnb. (Yes, even the mega-rich use Airbnb.)
Fun fact: The pilot to the new Melrose Place on CW was filmed in a Carbon Beach home
Pictured: The home Mariah Carey rented for $10k/night.
But that's enough name-dropping for now. Let's get to the controversy:
Why would music magnate David Geffen want to sell his property, which includes two giant homes consolidated from five separate parcels, one of which was once owned by Doris Day? (OK, we can't help it. It's called Billionaires' Beach for a reason.)
One reason might be that the beach is losing its exclusivity. Geffen was one of the residents leading the charge against attempts to create public access points on the beach.
We told you about how much the beach is valued because of its abundance of dry sand. This ups the value—and not just because of aesthetics, but also because in California wet beach is automatically public beach. And billionaires aren't too keen on the idea of random passersby peering into their luxurious abodes.
Case in point: Lisette Ackerberg, who received permits to build a Richard Meier home with a pool, tennis court and seawall, in exchange for including a 10-foot-wide public access path to the beach. Ackerberg got her house and all of her amenities, but reneged on the public path.
After a three-decade fight and some creative strategies to block the path from being built, Ackerberg caved and the path opened this summer. About the same time, word got out that Geffen was quietly shopping his property for $100M.
Geffen has had his own decades-long battle over a public access point that included fake garages, made US and European headlines, and was featured in a Doonesbury cartoon strip (even Stephen Colbert mocked it). Apparently there are 19 more unopened access points that were promised in the 1970s, so this could go on for a long time.
Pictured: Jeffrey Katzenberg's home designed by Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman Architects
Places to check out:
If you travel to Billionaires' Beach, you can stay at the Malibu Beach Inn, and dine on the beachfront at Carbon Beach Club. You can also try Giovanni's Ristorante, which Zagat gave a food score of 25 points. There's also a popular Johnny's Pizza, and of course Ellison's beachfront Nobu Malibu.
Pictured: Carbon Beach Club at Malibu Beach Inn
Back in May, rumors were swirling that Soho House was looking at a possible third LA location on Carbon Beach, but nothing more has been said about it. Apparently they were (are?) considering the 6,900 SF building that once housed Ellison's Italian restaurant Nikita, next door to Nobu. Nikita abruptly closed in December 2014.
Pictured: Nobu Malibu
