Point Dume, the towering promontory that juts out into the Pacific Ocean, has long been the most star-studded neighborhood of Malibu. Longtime residents like Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand — just to name a couple of the more famous ones — enjoy the stunning views and essentially private beaches the area provides. Of course, homes here tend to be on the (very) expensive side — even for this pricey city.
Take this wee “treehouse”. Located on what is likely Point Dume’s most star-studded street, the walled-and-gated property was formerly owned by Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber. After purchasing the house for $6 million in 2014, the pair completely renovated before selling it one year later for $13,341,000.
The 2015 buyers were a married couple from Silicon Valley named Erik & Julie Swan. Back in 2016, the Swans upgraded their Malibu circumstances with the $17.7 million purchase of a larger Point Dume property. So last November (2018) — no longer in need of the smaller shack — they unloaded their “starter” digs for $14,012,000 in an all-cash deal. The buyer? A man named Steuart Walton.
Born and raised in Bentonville, Arkansas, Mr. Walton is the second of five children born to Jim C. Walton, a son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. According to Forbes, Jim Walton makes do with a net worth of $45.5 billion, enough to make him the world’s 14th-richest human.
In addition to all that moolah, it’s long been held that the Waltons are the wealthiest family in all the world. Their unfathomable collective fortune, y’all, is conservatively estimated at somewhere between $150 billion and $175 billion. They’re richer than Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, the Koch brothers. Everyone on the planet.
Just to give y’all a more tangible idea of how rich these folks are, in 2017 alone the family reaped approximately $3.2 billion in Walmart dividends.
As for Steuart, he is the founder and chairman of Game Composites, Ltd., a company that designs and builds small composite aircraft. He’s also a licensed attorney — he holds a law degree from Georgetown — and he currently toils on the board of directors at Walmart, the world’s largest retailer. That’s no piddly little job, kiddies. Did we mention Mr. Walton is also a licensed pilot?
Now approaching his late 30s, Mr. Walton is unmarried and has no children. But he has been spotted around town with his relatives and former Sports Illustrated model Kelly Rohrbach, an ex-girlfriend of Leo DiCaprio. So maybe this Malibu house purchase is meant to be a lovenest, hmm? We dunno.
According to the listing, there are 3 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in the 1958-built home of unspecified square footage (public records peg the number at 3,651). A large perimeter wall guards the 1.41-acre estate, and a long driveway ends at a four-car garage.
The tri-level residence has lovely wide-plank oak floors, and the expansive great room sports a fireplace and multiple glass sliders that open to a sea-facing outdoor deck where Mr. Walton can soak up the sea air on a comfy lounge chair.
Just off the great room is an all-white gourmet kitchen with an island situated under a “unique” light fixture/pot rack combo. There’s also a cozy “eating banquette” and just a few steps away, a cozy media/family room combo with a vaulted ceiling and wood-paneled walls.
A secondary lounge/bonus room on the lower level has an elevated, built-in banquette and opens to a lower deck with sea-facing views.
The wood-paneled master suite occupies its own private floor in the residence and includes a sitting area, glass sliders that open to a private deck, and a soaking tub next to a glass-enclosed steam shower.
The 1.41-acre estate is lushly-landscaped and sublimely private — it’s centered at the end of a cul-de-sac, after all. There’s a lagoon-style pool, a tree-shaded lawn, and — perhaps most valuable of all — a private pathway leading to Little Dume Beach, the most exclusive and difficult-to-access sand strip in all of Malibu.
Yolanda would encourage Mr. Walton to invite his new neighbors over for a friendly BBQ — there’s lots of interesting folks nearby. Some of them include Julia Roberts (she lives almost directly across the street), Coldplay’s Chris Martin, saxophonist Kenny G, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, film producer Ryan Ahrens, hedge funder Sean Fahey and his longtime wife Robin Luce.
It’s certainly a long way from Arkansas, right? And if Mr. Walton needs to make a quick run for some extra baby back ribs — Lord knows those big-name neighbors can wolf ’em down — his cousin Paige Laurie owns Trancas Country Market, conveniently located right up the coast.
Listing agent: Chris Cortazzo, Coldwell Banker
Steuart Walton’s agent: Matt Rapf, Pritchett-Rapf & Associates