As summer 2018 slips away like so much sand through the proverbial hourglass, we wanted to catch the last wisps of freedom before they fleet off into the night, stolen by autumn — with winter close behind. But really, who are we kidding? This is LA. It’s summer 365 days a year here, for better or worse.
Yolanda has noticed that the ultra-high-end market — we’re talking homes sold for $15 million and up — has been unusually dead this summer, especially in comparison to recent years. Perhaps we’ve finally crested the peak in these parts? We shall see. Still, there have been a small handful of big sales here and there. Let’s head to the beach to take a peek at an upcoming one. Come on, it’ll be fun.
Last year, entertainment veteran Ed Fishman — he founded Access Records with his business partner Dick Clark — heaved his huge oceanfront spread onto the open market. The two-parcel compound, which is located on a private road and sports a hefty 130 feet of ocean frontage, is sidled with a $23,900,000 pricetag and is currently in escrow, according to the MLS.
And although the sale has not yet closed, whispers through the Pacific Coast Highway grapevine say that the buyers will be Malibu local Richard Weintraub and his longtime wife Liane.
The Weintraubs, both of whom are about 50ish, have been married for upwards of 25 years and have two young children. Our Mr. Weintraub is one of LA’s most successful real estate developers — he’s the guy behind the sublime Malibu Lumber Yard outdoor mall and the Californian condo tower in the Wilshire Corridor, just to name a couple of his developments.
Liane Weintraub is herself an entrepreneur — she co-founded Tasty Brand, a nutritious and organic snack-producing company that has received much media recognition. She is also one of Malibu’s most social and philanthropic residents — she and her hubby have hosted numerous galas and charity events at their home over the past couple decades. Thus she is friends with all her celebrity neighbors — and pretty much everyone in Malibu, to be honest.
Mr. and Mrs. Weintraub aren’t really celebrities — more like ordinary well-connected (very) wealthy folks. But if their names sound vaguely familiar, it’s probably because they were splattered all over every real estate news site last month. It was then, y’all, when the Weintraubs sold their massive La Villa Contenta estate for nearly $50 million — $48,750,000, to be exact.
The hedonistic 8+ acre Malibu property was custom-built by Mr. and Mrs. Weintraub in the early 2000s and features a luridly opulent main house, a guest house, and several ancillary structures. It has been featured in numerous films and TV shows — including True Blood — and was famously rented to Beyonce and Jay-Z last summer (2017). The property had been on and off the market for eight years — beginning in 2010 with an optimistic $75 million asking price.
Although the buyer’s identity is concealed behind an LLC, numerous reports have already identified him as Behdad Eghbali. Our Mr. Eghbali is not a big-time celebrity but rather a low-profile private equity guy, the co-founder of Santa Monica-based hedge fund Clearlake Capital, a multi-billion-dollar investment firm.
But we digress. Point is, the Weintraubs just sold their longtime estate, so it isn’t particularly surprising that they would be in the mood to drop millions on a new Malibu house. Let’s check out their (alleged) new digs, shall we?
The .59-acre oceanfront spread features a 6,100-square-foot mansion that was custom-built by Mr. and Mrs. Fishman in 1991. Though the contemporary property is blessed with stellar views and a superb location, Yolanda thinks the interiors are in need of a thorough renovation. Many of the rooms in this pad scream “early 90s”, often for worse. Still, the property features a double-height great room with a fireplace, a media room, and a formal entryway.
Walls of glass enhance the magnificent vistas from this place and make up for the kitchen, which is woefully dated and should be gutted entirely. Those tiles make Yolanda want to gouge her eyes out!
There are a total of 5 beds and 4.25 baths in the mini-estate. The upstairs master suite has a fireplace, a private balcony, walls of glasss, and a bathroom decked out with hideous green-and-pink tiles. Argh! Make it stop, kids. We pray Mr. and Mrs. Weintraub have the good sense to redo the whole shebang. And maybe they’ll even invite Yolanda over to see it once the renovation is complete? Pretty please!
The private Escondido Beach road where the Weintraubs’ new house is situated is home to multiple noteworthy individuals: retired TV show creator extraordinaire Marcy Carsey, entrepreneur Jeff Stibel, and the estate of the late Tom Petty, just to name a few.
Listing agents: Eytan Levin, 4 Malibu Real Estate; Ellen Francisco, Coldwell Banker