Billionaire Thomas Barrack—CEO of Colony Capital and advisor to President Trump—has sold Skycliff, his Richard Landy-designed mansion in Santa Monica. Barrack purchased the property in 2014 for $25 million. The home had been listed upon completion in 2013, for $35 million. About a year ago, Barrack listed it with an asking price of $46.5 million, and found a buyer at $34 million this summer.
Situated in the North of Montana neighborhood, the home is the work of architect Richard Landry, whose controversial designs have made for excellent cocktail-party debate fare. An extremely conservative home, the design approach is a contemporary revision of Colonial revival elements, with historical associations modified slightly by 21st-century sensibilities, and more than slightly by a heavy veneer of opulence.
Interior spaces are luxurious, and the 23,515 square feet of living space leaves little out: two kitchens, a lavish home cinema with tiered seating, a large wine cellar, an indoor basketball court and fitness center, and a grandiose double-floor foyer suggesting 1920’s style, with a checkered marble floor, sweeping staircase, second-floor gallery, and spectacularly overblown chandelier. The house also contains a library, a spa, an elevator, and a conservatory; its seven bedrooms and thirteen baths include a magnificent master suite.
The property—which borders the Riviera Country Club—extends to about an acre, and incorporates a pool and sunlounge, covered patio with fire feature, and formally landscaped grounds with citrus trees, walking paths, and privacy hedges.
Thomas Barrack became well known in 2008 when he rescued Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch from foreclosure with $24 million. His net worth estimated at $1.3 billion. Colony Capital’s investment portfolio extends to about $34 billion.
