Billionaire Ron Burkle buys beachside

Cottage built in 1928 was owned by the late “Mayor of Malibu” Carol Moss

Billionaire Ron Burkle (Getty Images, Pritchett-Rapf and Associates)
Billionaire Ron Burkle (Getty Images, Pritchett-Rapf and Associates)

Billionaire investor Ron Burkle has picked up a nearly century-old beachside cottage in Malibu for $13.5 million.

The Montana-based resident from Los Angeles bought the 2,502-square-foot Malibu Colony retreat at 23708 Malibu Colony Rd., Dirt.com reported.

The 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath house had been owned by the late artist and philanthropist Carol Moss, dubbed “The Mayor of Malibu,” and hadn’t traded hands in decades.

The Tudor-style A-frame in white with slate-blue trim has a bougainvillea covered flagstone entryway, according to the listing. 

The two-story beach house, built in 1928, features a white-washed living room with a soaring ceiling, large brick fireplace, and a bank of window panes looking out to the Pacific Ocean.

It has an upgraded kitchen, office, attached guest quarters with bedside kitchenette, and a long wooden “tea house” encased in windows, with sliding doors leading to the backyard patio.

A raised wood deck overlooks the Malibu beach.

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Jack Pritchett of Pritchett-Rapf and Associates held the listing. Branden and Rayni Williams of The Beverly Hills Estates represented the buyer

The Malibu beach house marks the latest real estate acquisition for Burkle, a 69-year-old businessman who grew up in Pomona and made his fortune through leveraged buyouts of supermarket chains like Stater Bros., Ralph’s and Fresh & Easy.

The founder of the West Hollywood-based investment firm Yucaipa Companies now lives in a 22,000-square-foot “castle” built by real estate titan Don Abbey on a private island in the middle of Flathead Lake, Montana. He’s worth $2.2 billion, according to Forbes.

A collector of quirky real estate, his Southern California properties include the Bob Hope mansion in Palm Springs designed by John Lautner, as well as the late comedian’s estate in Toluca Lake, which he bought in 2018 and saved from demolition.

Burkle also bought Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch near Santa Barbara, the Greenacres estate of silent-screen actor Harold Lloyd in Beverly Hills, and a 25,000-square-foot estate overlooking Black’s Beach in La Jolla. 

In 2019, he sold a Mayan-influenced Frank Lloyd Wright home in Los Feliz, known as Ennis House, for $18 million to a married pair of cannabis entrepreneurs. He also owns homes in London and New York.

[Dirt] – Dana Bartholomew

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