A few weeks ago, our homeboy Vlad the Revealer at Celebrity Address Aerial begged us to reveal who was behind a blind trust that paid nearly $4.5 million — $4,475,000, to be exact — for a Pacific Palisades McMansion back in April (2018). No need to beg, hunny — just ask and ye shall receive. Yolanda first had to slap a few insolent fools but we eventually discovered that the home’s new owner is a 22-year-old dude named Justin Caruso.
The Range Rover-driving Mr. Caruso just completed college last month and is now an official USC graduate. Mazel! The real world awaits.
While most college kids do get a graduation gift upon the completion of their studies, most do not get a $4.5 million house as their present. But then again, most college kids don’t have a multi-billionaire daddy either. Young Mr. Caruso is the third of four children born to Rick Caruso and his longtime wife Tina. Forbes says that Mr. Caruso is worth $3.9 billion. Heavens to Betsy! That’s a lot of cheddar.
If y’all live in LA, chances are you already know the Caruso name. Ol’ Rick is one of our city’s most high-profile real estate developers and is the dude behind The Grove, The Americana at Brand, the Calabasas Commons, the Palisades Village, and tons more shit.
As for young Justin, he majored in music studies at USC and now moonlights as a DJ. He already has nearly 20,000 followers on Instagram! Best of luck on your career, Mr. Caruso, although you definitely don’t need the cash.
The mock-Mediterranean structure was built in 2010 and last sold in 2012 for just $2,900,000 to tech entrepreneur named Tamim Mourad. It appears that young Mr. Caruso faced some competition for Mr. Mourad’s house — records indicate he actually paid $30,000 more than the last asking price. Located in The Bluffs section of Pacific Palisades, the narrow property spans just .18-acres of land. Still, there is a two-car garage and a petite front yard with an olive tree and some rose bushes.
The front door opens almost directly into the fireplace-equipped living room. Beyond that is a smallish formal dining room and an airy kitchen, which includes stainless appliances, an island with bar-style seating, and a separate breakfast room. French doors lead out to the backyard.
There are no fewer than six bedrooms in the house — each with their own en-suite bathroom — so Mr. Caruso has plenty of space for friends, if he’s inclined to share. The master suite is open and airy with dual French doors accessing a partially-covered private balcony overlooking the backyard. The master bath has dual vanities and a built-in soaking tub.
The home’s basement level includes a lounge/family room and a large wet bar with barstool seating. And while the backyard is rather small for a $4.5 million house, it does include a pool w/ inset spa, a grassy lawn, and patios for outdoor dining.
Now then, we know some of y’all might be thinking that this $4.5 million McMansion is way too much house for a 22-year-old guy. But truthfully, kids with multi-million-dollar homes isn’t anything unusual in the Caruso family. Back in 2015, Justin’s older brother Gregory Caruso received a $4,550,000 house in Santa Monica not long after his own USC graduation.
The cute 1927 Spanish has lots of original details and is situated on a prime corner lot in a leafy (and highly desirable) part of Santa Monica. Unfortunately, the house does not have a pool. $4.55 million on the Westside definitely does not go as far as it used to, y’all.
Yolanda confesses she is not sure where the eldest Caruso child — that would be 27-year-old Alex Caruso — lives, but we believe he may have purchased a luxury Santa Monica condo for $3,650,000 earlier this year. We have not yet been able to prove that, however. Stay tuned.
As for the youngest Caruso child — swimwear entrepreneur Gigi Caruso — she is still in college and living at school. But Yolanda would be absolutely shocked — nay, aghast — if she does not receive her own multi-million-dollar home upon her graduation.
Anyway, the longtime Caruso family seat is located in the Brentwood Park neighborhood.
It appears to Yolanda that the Caruso fam has owned their Brentwood complex for at least two decades and has gradually expanded it by gobbling up adjacent properties, demolishing them, and integrating the land into the Caruso kingdom. The multi-acre spread now includes an 11,000-square-foot main house, a guest house, a massive oval-shaped pool, a lake-sized fish pond, a full-size tennis court, a sports court, sprawling lawns, and at least one more accessory structure of unknown use.
The Caruso estate has become famous in LA for the extravagant Christmas lights it sports every holiday season. Although y’all can see it above, the lightshow is far more impressive in person. The compound is arguably the best-decorated spread west of the 405. At night, cars line up and down the block to check it out. (How the heck do they get lights on those palm trees? Helicopter air drop?)
The Caruso fam is fond of horses and as such they also own a 1-acre ranch in the equestrian-friendly Sullivan Canyon section of Brentwood. Records reveal that Mr. Caruso used a blind trust to pay $6,535,000 for the modest (and bucolic) spread in early 2015.
EDIT: As was pointed out by one of our ever-so-helpful readers, the Caruso family also owns an oceanfront manse on Malibu’s La Costa beach. The 6,162-square-foot house sits right up on PCH and was last sold in 2008 for $11,300,000. As an aside, the house lies immediately next door to an even larger mansion owned by wealthy widow/author/socialite Candy Spelling.
The Carusos also own a floating mansion — a 216-foot superyacht christened Invictus. It was here, aboard this ship, where several of Gigi Caruso’s high school friends gathered for a raucous party one night in 2016. A video posted to YouTube showed the mostly Caucasian kids singing rap song lyrics laced with the N word. Oh dear.
Listing agent: Dan Urbach, The Agency
Justin Caruso’s agent: Nicole Howard, Pacific Union