Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z are known for breaking records, and now, they’ve broken the record for purchasing the most expensive home in California’s history.
Knowles and Jay-Z, who’s real name is Shawn Carter, purchased a sprawling $200 million Malibu, California estate. They reportedly got a discount, as the home was privately listed for $295 million. Designed by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, the mansion spans 30,000 square feet and reportedly took more than a decade and a half to finish. The modern home was completed in 2014. The seller is notable Los Angeles art collector Bill Bell, Jr., who is the heir to a soap opera fortune. His father, William J. Bell, created the iconic soap operas The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful. According to the L.A. Times, Bell purchased the property in the late 1990s for $14.5 million and enlisted Ando to create a modernist glass-and-concrete structure. He’s considered one of the biggest art collectors in the world, with numerous works of art by Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Marcel Duchamp, and many more.
The concrete home overlooks the Pacific Ocean and has striking features, an expansive lawn on either side, and plenty of privacy for the ultra-famous family of five. The sale was brokered by Kurt Rappaport, a celebrity real estate agent of the Westside Estate Agency, who represented both the buyer and the seller in the sale. The colossal home spans nearly eight acres and has a private beach, infinity pool that seems to stretch off into the ocean, and Zen water features. According to Dirt, more than 22,500 square feet of polished pervious concrete was used for the estate’s driveaway and motor courts alone. For the home, it’s estimated that more than 7,645 cubic yards of concrete was used.
Because the home was listed privately, it’s not known how many bedrooms and bathrooms are inside or the types of amenities—but we can only imagine the home’s features are fit for the couple’s extravagant tastes. The calming retreat is both simple and tranquil—surely a respite from both of the musician’s busy lifestyle. Knowles is currently in Europe on her Renaissance World Tour, which is estimated to rake in nearly $2 billion. Just this year, she claimed the title for the most Grammy wins of all time.
The duo has already amassed an impressive real estate portfolio. In 2017, they shelled out $88 million for an impressive Bel-Air pad, and they also own homes in New York City and the Hamptons. The Carters’ recent purchase surpassed the former record of a $177 million Malibu compound purchased by billionaire Marc Andreessen in 2021, TMZ reported. Still, however, the most expensive sale in the nation still belongs to billionaire hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin, who purchased a New York City penthouse for $238 million.
Ando is also the architect behind Kanye West’s $57.3 Malibu home, which he purchased in 2021 amid his divorce proceedings with billionaire ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.