Few real estate-related happenings surprise us anymore, but Yolanda has to admit we were still a wee bit dumbfounded when our trusty pal Vlad the Revealer at Celebrity Address Aerial hit us up to cattily whisper that a very contemporary home in Malibu Colony was sold to Chrome Hearts founders Richard Stark and his business partner/wife Laurie Lynn Stark. Property records confirm that the house in question sold just days ago for $7,250,000 to an LLC that has long served as a front for the pair.
It astonished us because these folks have already spent a bonafide fortune on luxury real estate, most of it in Malibu.
Astute readers may recall that it was only six months ago (back in April 2017) that the Starks paid an astounding $38,500,000 for a bluff-top compound in Malibu’s Paradise Cove area. And just two years before that, Mr. & Mrs. Stark laid out $23,500,000 for a politically-connected 128-acre ranch in the hoity-toity winter resort town known as Aspen, Colorado.
If that doesn’t goose your gander, get a load of this. Not only have the Starks spent $70 million on three luxury homes within the past three years, but this latest acquisition is not even their first house in the super-exclusive Malibu Colony. Or their second house. Or third.
That’s right, kiddies, the Starks own no fewer than four multi-million dollar homes within the gates of a community whose residents include many famous folks like Pink and Jason Statham, just to name a couple. Two of those homes are on the ocean side of the street, two are on the land side.
But the Starks don’t actually reside full-time in any of the Malibu Colony properties. Rather, their main residence is on Sweetwater Mesa Road in Malibu’s guard-gated Serra Retreat community, the very same dead-end street where earlier this year Hong Kong billionairess Karen Lo paid $69,900,000 for an enormous hilltop compound. And it’s also the street where hair care billionaire John Paul Dejoria resides, for what it’s worth.
Including their four Malibu Colony properties, the Serra Retreat spread, and that $38.5 million Paradise Cove compound, property records show that the Starks own no fewer than eight multi-million-dollar Malibu homes. Take those and the Aspen ranch plus the $5 million Santa Monica crib bought by their daughter Jesse Jo Stark and a big swathe of vacant Calabasas land, and Mr. and Mrs. Stark collectively control a mind-numbing $100+ million in luxury residential real estate.
Where does all this money come from? Japan, apparently. Since they founded their company back in 1988, Mr. & Mrs. Stark have expanded their retail presence internationally, with stores in Europe and Asia. But it’s Japan where the lion’s share of dough comes from. They’ve got ten brick-and-mortar stores in that country alone — by comparison, the USA has just seven — and the luxury brand has become somewhat iconic over there.
Fancy a trinket from Chrome Hearts? You’d better be packin’ a packed pocketbook. A pair of sunglasses retails for about $2,000 and a hand-carved dining room table can run upwards of $250,000. Yowza! They also sell incense (Cindy Crawford always has some burning in her home, it’s “amazing”).
Mr. & Mrs. Stark have hobnobbed with celebrities for decades — Cher is their eldest daughter’s godmother, for starters — but the pair are notoriously secretive about their business, eschewing traditional ad campaigns and relying mostly on word of mouth to sell their fiendishly expensive trinkets and lifestyle products. Clearly, whatever they are doing is working. But we digress. Here’s a look at the Mr. & Mrs. Stark’s latest acquisition.
The house was built in 1980 and “recently renovated”, according to the listing. It is one of only a handful of Malibu Colony residences that sports its own pool and in-ground spa. There’s also an open-air rooftop terrace with a firepit, plenty of lounge chairs, and an over-the-rooftops view of the Pacific.
Living, family, and dining rooms all blend together into one cavernous space that spans the length of the residence and also features a luxuriously-outfitted kitchen. In keeping with the contemporary theme, the whitewashed walls are emboldened with colorful pictures that feature nonsensical slogans like “anyone telling anything is telling that thing” and “this is it with it as it is“.
Upstairs are where the three of the home’s four bedrooms are located. The fireplace-equipped master bedroom goes minimalist with its mostly art-free white walls, white ceiling, and white floor. The master bath has white and black and silver — sorta like the Chrome Hearts headquarters — and features a party-sized shower with dual rainfall showerheads and a steam room w/ sauna.
The house is only 3,653-square-feet on a .17-acre lot, but the previous (non-famous) owners must have really loved to cook and/or entertain because in addition to the substantial indoor kitchen, there is also a full-sized outdoor kitchen with a bar and high-end stainless steel appliances. Although the property is located on the land side of the Colony, the listing points out that the residence transferred with deeded rights to the beach.
We’re not sure what Mr. & Mrs. Stark plan to do with their latest acquisition — perhaps it’s merely an investment or maybe it’s a party house or maybe it’s for one of their kids or something — but it could be worth noting that one of their other Malibu Colony pads (this one oceanfront) is currently available for lease at an eye-watering rate of $100,000 per month.
Listing agent: Chad Rogers, Hilton & Hyland
Richard & Laurie Stark’s agent: Chris Cortazzo, Coldwell Banker