- Kanye West (otherwise known as Ye) has offloaded the Tadao Ando-designed mansion he famously acquired back in 2021 — but at a considerable loss.
- Reports indicate the oft-controversial multihyphenate gutted this oceanfront Malibu property in an assumed renovation, before leaving it to decay in the elements.
- The headline-making “shell” of a house had been on the market since December 2023.
The coastal mansion designed by Pritzker prize-winning architect Tadao Ando at 24844 Malibu road was a modernist masterpiece. That was until the intervention of oft-controversial multihyphenate Kanye West.
In 2021, the man legally referred to as Ye acquired this 3,665-square feet Puerco Beach abode in an off-market deal with retired Wall Street financier Richard Sachs. The magic number? US$57.3 million (AU$88 million).
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And at that stage, both the local community and West himself were optimistic about the latter’s custodianship of what had been described as a liveable (and highly-collectible) art installation. Marbled-finished bathrooms, a small fortune worth of custom wood cabinetry, courtyard featuring a fireplace, and all.
But in a move that was largely consistent with his recent approach towards ambitious projects, the ‘Good Life’ rapper abandoned his planned architectural remix — one that entailed a vision of “clarity, simplicity, and a kind of self-reliance” — at the most crucial stage; before ridding it entirely from his impressive real estate portfolio.
The concrete structure has been stripped beyond recognition and ravaged by the natural world; now devoid of essentials ranging from doors, windows, and plumbing, to electricity — and even barer than the minimalist aesthetic it once boasted.
Hence why after close to nine months of zero bids, Kanye West was willing to part ways with his Tadao Ando mansion for a heavily-discounted price tag of US$39 million (AU$59.9 million). It initially listed for US$53 million (AU$81.4 million).
“It’s funny — and not funny, in a way — to say, ‘I’m the man who single-handedly destroyed this architectural masterpiece.’ But I pretty much did,” Tony Saxon, the contractor West hired for the botched renovation, told The New Yorker.
“We were all devastated. It was this beautiful piece of architecture, and it’s really destroyed,” added Ron Radziner, who was solicited to “put it all back together” before hitting the market without warning.
Previously, every level of Kanye West’s Tadao Ando mansion served a distinct purpose.
The lowest floor, for one, held a total of three ensuite guest bedrooms, while the middle floor hosted your more public areas (living room, kitchen, powder room, etc.).
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The top floor was reserved for the owner’s exclusive use, complete with a penthouse-like master suite, as well as a rooftop terrace that overlooks the Pacific ocean; in total, there were four and a half bathrooms.
As it stands, to borrow from the transparently euphemistic parlance of real estate agents, it’s a “blank canvas” of a house. Or in our own words, a not-so-beautiful dark, twisted fantasy.
Check out what 24844 Malibu road used to resemble before Kanye West below.
