After almost four years and an $11 million discount, the John Lautner-designed Stevens’ House in Malibu has finally sold.
The buyer is none other than Academy Award nominated actor Edward Norton, who paid $11.8 million for the sculptural beach home. It was last listed for $13.75 million, but that’s nothing compared to the $22 million that the seller, Michael LeFetra, was hoping for when he listed the 3,366-square-foot split-level abode on the market in 2013.
Sadly for LeFetra, who embarked on a “significant restoration” of the house, he didn’t even break even—he paid $13.8 million for the five-bedroom, five-bathroom abode in 2007.
Lautner designed the home in 1968; it’s in the celebrity filled enclave Malibu Colony. Despite the architectural significance and prime location within the guarded gates of the Malibu enclave, the residence languished on the market. Lautner designed the home to “resemble waves,” per the Douglas Elliman (DOUG) listing, but perhaps it’s that rather unique, almost boat-like aesthetic that resulted in the lack of interested buyers. Indeed, The New York Times once described the home as “an avant-garde boat that’s been hauled onto the beach.”
The cavernous home definitely has a nautical feel to it, and seems spacious yet narrow at the same time. There’s a family room with a wet bar as well as an eat-in kitchen, and the living room has an entire wall of glass, as well as a fireplace. The house is on 37 feet of coveted beach frontage, and there’s a large beach deck, as well as a swimming pool. It’s also a California State Cultural Landmark.
Leonardo DiCaprio sold his home in Malibu Colony a few years ago, as did Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann. David Geffen recently sold two homes in the area, and Jeremy Piven is currently trying to find a buyer for his own beach home there—not that Malibu is lacking in famous faces, of course.
Norton and his wife, Shauna Robertson, are already quite familiar with the neighborhood. The couple bought an oceanfront duplex on Las Flores Beach in Malibu for $2.72 million in 2008, though it’s definitely not quite as dramatic as their avant garde new purchase.