A large Tuscan-style blufftop mansion in the coveted and celebrity-infested “Point Dume” neighborhood of Malibu sold a few weeks ago for a stupendous $27,250,000. As far as your gurl knows, that’s 2016’s second-biggest Malibu sale, after the massive “Lady Malibu” transfer. And Yolanda has been meaning to write about this one for awhile. But as you can see, we got a bit sidetracked with poignant, touching stories about Real Housewives and Kardashians and many other Nobel Prize nominees.
Anyway, the obviously enormously wealthy buyer’s identity is carefully cloaked behind a boringly-named LLC, but the trail leads directly back to a renovated house in the historic Los Feliz area of Los Angeles that’s owned by a young lady named Julia Lebedev (or Julia Lebedeva, as is the correct spelling) and her husband Jonathan Moss. Our Mr. Moss is a corporate litigation attorney, and Ms. Levedev(a) is a 33-year-old up-and-coming film producer who also happens to be the elder daughter of a Russian billionaire oil trader named Leonid Lebedev.
Ms. Lebedev — a USC graduate — and her father have partnered together to create Code Red Productions, through which they’ve bankrolled somewhere around a dozen feature films, including the critically-heralded Dear White People and an Orlando Bloom vehicle called The Good Doctor.
Yolanda has never seen or previously heard of either of those films, truth be told. But then again, despite this blog we actually live under an entertainment rock. It’s more like a boulder, really — a boulder the size of the one in that Indiana Jones movie. We can’t remember the last time we saw a film in the theater. So don’t take it personal, Ms. Lebedev. Yolanda’s just an ignorant lass.
The seller of the Point Dume estate was another semi-mysterious LLC, a known front for a young couple named Nathaniel & Cory Redleaf. Our Mr. Redleaf, who is currently 31 years of age, is an associate at a prominent hedge fund in New York called Luxor Capital Group.
For what it’s worth and in an odd coincidence (or perhaps it wasn’t), it was young Mr. Redleaf’s boss — fashion designer turned hedge funder Christian Leone — who with his husband Malcolm Kutner paid $17,350,000 in late 2013 for Leo DiCaprio’s house over on Malibu Road.
If it still seems odd that a 31-year-old associate at a hedge fund can afford a $27 million house — well, you’re right. Yolanda hasn’t told you the full story, see. Young Mr. Redleaf’s daddy happens to be a guy named Andy Redleaf. The elder Mr. Redleaf is a titan in the hedge fund world. His Minneapolis-based firm Whitebox Advisors has about $4 billion in assets under management — so bviously, the Redleaf family is hugely rich. The elder Mr. Redleaf was ordered to pay $141 million in a divorce settlement, just for starters.
Anyway, Mr. & Mrs. Redleaf paid a man named Ken Panzer a fat $26,500,000 for the house back in a September 2014 off-market deal.
Mr. Panzer, in case you didn’t know, is the guy who forked out $24,000,000 for Heidi Klum’s multi-acre compound up in guard-gated Brentwood Country Estates. (For what it’s worth, Mr. Panzer and his second wife Deborah embarked on some major renovations to Ms. Klum’s already-renovated house. That’s just what really rich folks do when they buy a new home, kiddies. Even if it already looks great, there’s always something — or a lot of somethings — that could be changed.)
But we digress. Anyway, as we already mentioned, the Redleafs decided to sell after only only two years and got $27,250,000 from the corporate entity with clear links to Ms. Lebedev. That’s $750,000 more than what they paid in 2014, but all that profit evaporates quickly when you factor in the enormous agent commissions, taxes, holding costs, closing costs, maintenance, time value of money, etc etc etc. Technically the Redleafs lost money on this property, Yolanda suspects.
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Built in 1995, the Mediterranean compound sits on 1.2 acres and weighs in at a mansion-sized 9,130 square feet with 6 bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms. These numbers include the tiny one-bed/one-bath guest/staff house near the front gate.
Speaking of the front gate, it and a large fountain are the only property features visible from the street. The house is hidden behind tall hedges for maximum privacy, and the long driveway passes the palm tree-surrounded tennis court before ending at the motorcourt and three-car garage. Naturally, there are cameras and security system(s) up the wazoo.
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A double-height entrance foyer has stone floors, a wrought-iron chandelier and neutral colors. The mostly-open floor plan includes a living room, which sports a row of three sets of French doors and a fireplace that looks big enough to host a tea party for the entire offensive line of the LA Rams.
Okay, maybe it’s not quite that big, but it’s close.
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Across the hall is a gourmet kitchen with a surprisingly small center island, granite countertops, top-line appliances, and and a wrought-iron chandelier. The kitchen opens to a dining room with an enormous wood slab dining table made out of white oak (or some other expensive material) and capable of seating 12. There’s also a nearby wine dellar (with wine barrels!) and a tiled family room with another fireplace and yet another wrought iron chandelier.
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Based on the looks of this house — particularly the master suite — we don’t think the Redleafs performed many (if any) renovations during their brief ownership. While quite comfortable and luxurious, the whole place has a distinctly late-90s flavor to it. The master bedroom sports a large custom fireplace with a wrought iron chandelier within a domed ceiling.
The walk-in closet and marble-slathered master bath are huge but rather dated, as is the decidedly outré wall-to-wall beige carpeting that runs through much of the suite. The master also has three sets of French doors that lead out to a sitting area overlooking the properly amazing view.
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Also upstairs are three more suite-style bedrooms, all with wall-to-wall carpeting (we’re guessing. One of ’em is pictured above). There’s also a wood-paneled sitting room/library with marble-surround fireplace and a hardwood-floored media room with a serious projection system, some heavy-duty wood ceiling beams, and yet another fireplace.
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Paver stone terraces overlook the busy beach below. The pool ain’t one of them new-fangled infinity-edgers but with a backdrop like that, who cares? Talk about potential overkill.
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This particular street — Birdview Avenue — is often considered to be the most desirable on Point Dume for the unbeatable westward sunset views it provides.
As we mentioned, Ms. Lebedev and her hubby Mr. Moss primarily reside in the pricey east LA neighborhood of Los Feliz, where back in June 2014 they paid $2,805,000 for a fully renovated 1931 Mediterranean with approximately 4,000-square-feet of living space.
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Like their Malibu house, the property is walled, gated, and has a professional security system with cameras galore. Possibly a force field, too. Gotta keep those undesirables out.
As already mentioned, their new Malibu house sits on the ultra-pricey Birdview Avenue where some of the nearest big-bucks neighbors include Olympic snowboarder Shaun White, legendary legend Bob Dylan, businessman Yife Tien, businesswoman Mary Gerdts, Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins, and leading man Owen Wilson, among others. Also on the same street is a house owned by X-Men producer (and alleged pedophile) Bryan Singer, who recently leased it to that crazy lady Angelina Jolie and her gaggle of children.
One happy final note. Immediately next door to Ms. Lebedev’s posh new pad is a property that was for many years owned by Kim Howe, the lady unfortunately killed in a Malibu car crash involving a distracted Caitlyn Jenner. The late Mrs. Howe’s dowdy and long-vacant Tudor-style pile was sold last year for $9,400,000 to a not-famous buyer who has since renovated, painted and generally brightened up the once-abandoned ol’ gurl. The weeds are gone, the hedges trimmed, the grass is green once again. Now she sits happy and proud, glory no longer faded.
Mr. Redleaf’s agent: Chris Cortazzo, Coldwell Banker
Ms. Lebedev’s agent: Brett Lawyer, Hilton & Hyland