Kanye West is having quite the year. The famous rapper, producer and fashion designer has a partnership with the Gap that's just beginning to blossom, and his latest album Donda released to commercial success after a series of highly-publicized live performances. It’s no secret West has become one of the most lucrative performers in the world, and of course, he's going to treat himself with the profits.
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Case in point: West recently acquired a new beach house in Malibu, an according to a report by High Snobiety, he paid a cool $57.3 million in an off-market deal. The house is a 4,000-square-foot concrete complex that sits directly on the Pacific, and it was designed and renovated by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando; one of West’s favorite designers.
The sale marks the second-largest price tag in Malibu real estate history, second only behind an $87 million purchase last February, according to The Dirt.
The house boasts four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms. It's been described by The Real Deal as a “textbook example” of Ando’s style, with boxy exterior walls reinforced by concrete and an emphasis on natural light via large glass windows that overlook the ocean. A stairway leads to the sand below as pylons lift the property out of the ocean, and there's plenty of patio space for relaxation.
Kanye’s $57.3 million dollar Malibu house is in fact the pad of my dreams pic.twitter.com/bvQuLxeYgk
— Kimberly (@TheKimbino) September 20, 2021
Located on scenic Malibu Avenue, the property sits neatly between other beachfront properties but is still easy to pick out due to its near-brutalist style. It's nearly more of a complex than a beach house. The front features a large garage and no front yard, with a wide driveway for West’s luxurious rides.
Each of the home's three floors have a distinct occupancy purpose. The lower floor features three guest bedrooms, while the middle holds all “public areas,” including the bathrooms, kitchen and living room. The top floor is only for the homeowner, featuring a primary suite fit for a king and an ocean-view balcony. No photos of the interior are currently available, but it has been described as “minimalist, yet warm” by Marmol Radziner, the architecture firm who built the house.
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The property has an interesting development history, too. The plot was first purchased by Wall Street financier Richard Sachs in 2003 for $1.9 million. Sachs hired Ando to fully renovate the home in his signature style, a project that cost Sachs millions and required more than seven years of construction. According to The Dirt, Ando used more than 1,200-poured tons of concrete, 200 tons of steel reinforcement, and 12 pylons driven 60 feet into the ground to keep the property from sinking.
Following the project’s completion, the house was first offered for an even heavier price tag of $75 million before being removed from the market so as only to be available for private purchase.
West’s grab of the Ando property is not a surprise to many “Yeezy” fans. The superstar had previously expressed his admiration for the architect’s style, even visiting Naoshima—the Japanese “art island” designed by Ando—in 2013. Following the visit, West called his work “life-changing,” adding that he wanted to live in an art sculpture like those seen on the island.
The property joins a long list of those owned by West across the country, including his $7.7 million ranch in Wyoming and a series of minimalist condos in Calabasas and New York City, both notable for their brutalist, hard-hitting architecture.
West also made headlines for taking up residence in a backroom of the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It was there that the artist finished recording his Donda album. No word yet on if he plans to also build his childhood home in the complex, as he did during the Donda concert in Chicago.
Photography by: Marc Patrick, Matteo Prandoni, Rommel Demano / BFA
