Royal Reception? $85M New Castle in Malibu Is This Week’s Most Expensive New Listing

By Claudine Zap
May 24, 2018
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Hear ye, hear ye, the new castle in Malibu, CA, is back on the market for $85 million, making it this week’s most expensive new listing on realtor.com®.

While royal lineage would come in handy to afford the price tag (paging Meghan Markle!), the property does offer a king’s ransom of amenities.

The spacious spread first landed on the market in an unfinished state about a year ago. At the time, the asking price was a mere $80 million.

Paul Lester of The Agency now represents the property, which is marketed as the first in a series of new Malibu properties from designer and builder Scott Gillen of Unvarnished.

The previous castle on the property was destroyed in a fire over a decade ago, and Gillen bought the lot for $9.7 million in 2015 and began to build on the ruins. 

The result? The new castle is a regal (and massive) home with jaw-dropping views.

The 15,500-square-foot compound includes a five-bedroom main house and a two-bedroom guesthouse with a gym and spa. With 360-degree promontory views, the site represents “the last masterpiece of its size to ever be built in the area,” according to the listing.

“It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live in Malibu in a way that few can live,” says Lester. “You’ve got a new-construction contemporary home that’s at trophy level. That’s rare.”

The layout includes a glassed-in great room with a custom-made teak dining table that aligns with the infinity pool outside. There’s a 450-bottle wine cellar and adjoining cigar room, along with designer furnishings including Minotti couches and Bottega Veneta ottomans.

Hand-hewn wood elements such as exposed beams, hand-scraped and aged white oak floors, custom-designed cabinetry, and a custom walnut soaking tub grace the space with unique style. The home comes fully furnished and with a yearlong concierge service, adding to the bespoke nature of the property.

Which leads back to the eye-popping $85 million asking price. Perhaps at another time in Malibu’s history, the price tag would seem hyperbolic. No longer.

Malibu properties have made headlines, with the recent $110 million off-market sale of Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Peter Morton’s Malibu home reportedly setting a Los Angeles–area record. Two other Malibu properties have also recently sold for $85 million each. 

And the beach community was also home to the most expensive listing last week—a cliff-side villa on the market for $58 million.

Record-breaking prices—including this contemporary castle—are here to say in this iconic coastal town.