A few years ago, a garish faux Scottish castle in the hills of Malibu went up in flames. It was a party house owned by Lilly Lawrence, the daughter of an exiled Iranian oil baron. It was not so affectionately called "the paper mache castle" by its neighbors. When it burned down, no one who had a view of it was sorry. In its ashes, celebrity architect Scott Gillen built a 15,500 square foot mega mansion. The spec property has hit the market for $85 million, making it Malibu's most expensive listing. The house is being called "The New Castle." Gillen built his two story masterpiece just under the wire. New anti-mega mansion codes are now in place in Malibu, all but ensuring this modern home will be the last of its kind in the area.
Gillen is the designer and CEO of the architectural firm Unvarnished. He's developed homes for Matthew Perry and David Duchovny. He is pretty much single handedly responsible for driving up Malibu's already pricey prices. Unvarnished has built 23 custom properties in Malibu over the last 13 years.
The New Castle has five bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms in its main house as well as two bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms in its guest house. The property sits on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and has a 75-foot infinity pool and two story waterfall. The screening and gaming room inside the home have a perfect view of the pool and waterfall. The mansion also has a custom teak wine and cigar room that cost $1 million to construct. The lucky buyer will receive the 440 bottles of wine in the wine room as well as $1.5 million worth of art scattered throughout the house.
So, if you have $85 million laying around and are looking for a new pad, go check out The New Castle. It is one-of-a-kind!
