Seth MacFarlane Drops $15 Million on Malibu Beach House
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Back in late 2015, Cindy Landon — the wealthy widow of “Bonanza” and “Little House on the Prairie” actor Michael Landon — paid $7.5 million for a 1980s modern home on a blufftop near Malibu’s star-studded Broad Beach. She proceeded to give the place a down-to-the-studs overhaul and recently flipped it for nearly $15.7 million, more than doubling her investment after less than four years of ownership. Minus the hefty renovation costs, realtor fees and taxes, of course.
The new owner is television royal Seth MacFarlane, best-known as the creator of “Family Guy,” the long-running and money-minting Fox animated sitcom that debuted in 2004. He’s since expanded his media empire — an empire that he calls “accidental” — into a rarefied multibillion-dollar showbiz fiefdom that includes other hit television shows, movies, acting roles, musical albums and high-margin merchandise. And in 2008, MacFarlane inked a $100 million deal with Fox, an unprecedented contract that made him the highest-paid TV writer of all time at that point.
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According to listing details, Landon hired acclaimed architect Doug Burdge and high-end contractor Scott Halley to reimagine her Malibu project. Inside the boxy finished showpiece, rooms are blessedly free of any overwrought decorative flourishes, with the strikingly minimalist neutral decor meshing cleanly with walls of uninterrupted glass, leaving the visual drama to the aquamarine sea below.
The multi-level contemporary structure sits on a private road and features five beds and six baths in nearly 7,000 square feet of mansion-sized living space. Fully walled and gated for privacy and security, the property also includes an attached two-car garage, wide-plank hardwood floors, formal dining and living areas, a gourmet kitchen with top-notch Thermador appliances, and an outdoor in-ground spa.
On the home’s lower level are adult recreational amenities including a SubZero wet bar and an expansive wine cellar. The top floor, meanwhile, is accessed by a skylit stairway and sports a master suite with sweeping coastline views, a boutique-worthy closet and an “infrared” sauna.
From the home’s backyard, long stairway leads through the treetops on the rugged hillside’s slope, down to the sandy beach below. The two-parcel property also offers a spacious private yard — something of a rarity in tightly-packed beachside Malibu — with a rolling lawn, gardens, a koi pond and two mature palm trees.
MacFarlane’s main residence remains an 11,000 sq. ft. Mediterranean-influenced mansion in the mountains high above Beverly Hills, in a neighborhood known as Beverly Hills Post Office. According to previous reports, he picked up the 90210 estate in 2008 for $13.5 million and has since given it a thorough decorative overhaul. That house happens to lie on the same street as the homes of high-powered Hollywood agent Peter Micelli and billionaire computer heiress Alexa Dell.
Sean Landon at The Agency held the listing; Edward Fitz, also of The Agency, repped MacFarlane.
Launch Gallery: Seth MacFarlane's Seaside Malibu House
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