Howard Marks made a substantial purchase in Malibu this spring, picking up a 5,525 sq. ft. pad on Broad Beach that looks something like a cross between a misplaced Connecticut Colonial mansion and a midcentury Golden Age power residence. The four-bed, six-bath property sapped $29.169 million from Marks’ wallet, but presumably gave him a place to hang his hat during post-COVID down time in the dreamy Cali sunshine.

The 1.06-acre size of the property is unusually generous for this particular neck of the woods, and the house follows suit. A cobblestone drive, a set of gates with lighthouse-capped pilasters, and a complex roofline capped with slate panes collectively set a very specific atmosphere, and establish considerable expectations for the home’s architecture and interiors.

Generally speaking, these expectations play out. Adorned in a soft shade of custard yellow, and with white trim and a gated white picket fence allowing admission, the role-playing preamble gives way to interiors that meld farmhouse and beach house; plank ceilings, exposed beams, warm off-white paint, cottage cabinetry, and whitewashed brick all make appearances.

A kitchen in original Saltillo is always a treat, and this house has one. The living room with its unique fireplace — a combination of fieldstone and brick with a rough timber mantel — is another distant echo of Malibu as it was.

Marks is the co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management. His net worth is north of $2 billion.