Fans of perhaps the most famous living architect, American Frank Gehry, can now own their own Gehry home in Broad Beach. All they need is $34 million—which represents a steep discount from the original asking price of $57 million.
The compound was built in 1989 for PennCorp Financial CEO Burton Borman, who died in 2012. The 11,413-square-foot house—one of Malibu’s largest—includes six bedrooms and ten bathrooms and features multi-tiered concrete decks out back with a 60-foot lap pool and hot tub as well as a lighted tennis court, all with a stunning view of the home’s unprecedented 160 feet of Malibu Beach ocean frontage—a length achieved by combining four 40-foot lots. The property itself is 1.46 acres.
Gehry’s signature futuristic flair is omnipresent, with a boxy contemporary construction, an all-white concrete spiral staircase that serves as the house’s aesthetic centerpiece, a kitchen whose stainless steel appliances are complemented by a stainless wall and lofty ceilings throughout. The home also features a loggia with fireplace and plenty of windows and skylights to let in the California sunshine.
It was nearly purchased last December by billionaire-seventeen-times-over Paul Allen in an off-market deal reported to be around $49.5 million, but the Microsoft co-founder apparently got cold feet. It is now being sold in a court-ordered partition sale subject to overbid.
Gehry’s renowned for his abstract expressionist designs and use of materials and techniques developed for the aerospace industry. His most famous designs are metal-clad gems like the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millenium Park and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.