In 2003, a financier/real estate speculator named Richard Sachs paid $1.3 million for an oceanfront property in Malibu. He tore down the existing structure and then commissioned Japanese architect Tadao Ando to build a 4,000-square-foot mansion made entirely out of poured concrete.
Ando’s architecture is known for its clean lines, geometric shapes, and minimalist aesthetic. He avoids excessive ornamentation and focuses on creating a sense of space and proportion. Most importantly, Ando embraces raw concrete, a material often seen as cold and industrial.
As you might have guessed, concrete is much heavier than wood. In order for the beachfront Malibu sand to support what became an exceptionally heavy three-story structure, 12 pylons had to be driven 60 feet into the ground. Then, 1,200 tons of concrete were poured into 200 tons of steel reinforcement.
Construction took a decade. When it was done, Richard Sachs said the following:
“This is not just a house. This is like a Picasso Cubist painting, very important and very rare.”
Here is what this supposed “Picasso Cubist painting” looks like from Google Street View:
Sachs listed the home for sale in April 2020 for $75 million.
Enter Kanye West.
Kanye West has long been a huge fan of Tadao Ando’s work. He has described a visit to Ando’s art island in Naoshima, Japan, as “life changing.”
In September 2021, Kanye paid $57 million for Richard Sachs’ Tadao Ando concrete Malibu house.
At that point, the then-billionaire probably felt like it got it for a steal, saving $18 million off the original listing price. And maybe with that good feeling fueling his ambitions, Kanye proceeded to launch a full gut renovation on the project. This renovation project has not gone well. Today, the home has been described as “wrecked” and “rotting.” It reportedly has no plumbing, electrical, or HVAC.
For whatever reason, Kanye not only doesn’t want to complete the renovation he started… he doesn’t want to own the home at all any longer.
(Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images)
Kanye first listed the mansion at the beginning of this year with an asking price of $53 million. Perhaps because the home is highly unusual in the first place AND is currently in a somewhat “abandoned” “state, no buyers have come forth yet. As such, Kanye just dropped the price again.
Today the home can be yours for $39 million. If he finds a buyer at the price, it will represent an $18 million LOSS for Mr. West. And just to remind you, that would coincidentally be the same amount he “saved” when he paid $57 million, compared to the original $75 million purchase price. But of course, we still have not factored the millions Kanye has presumably spent on the renovation, plus things like taxes, insurance and more. If he somehow gets $39 million, this foray could easily be a $25 million loss overall.