Malibu is the destination of choice for coastal lovers who expect luxury and are seeking a smaller cottage-style home with an impeccable view. Malibu Colony real estate is among the most coveted as it’s close to the beach, as well as to shopping, dining and entertainment in central Malibu.
Malibu Colony is a cozy, luminary filled neighborhood, and often thought of as “the original Malibu.”
The Colony encompasses both the land side and seaside areas, for a view that’s truly spectacular. It may have started out as a modest getaway place for some of Hollywood’s movie industry’s finest, but it’s turned into an area that’s full of artists, filmmakers, actors, and high-powered movers and shakers within the film industry and the business world.
Malibu Colony Features
Malibu Colony is located in central Malibu, making it an ideal location, as it is close to everything one needs. The Colony is situated near movie theaters, shopping and dining at Malibu Country Mart and Malibu Lumber, and Malibu’s sole medical center. Beautiful beachfront properties have total privacy due to a guarded gate that surrounds the community.
Nearby schools include Webster Elementary. Pepperdine University is a five minute drive from Malibu Colony. Malibu High School is a 15-minute drive up the coast.
Malibu Colony is also near the Malibu Lagoon, the famed Malibu Pier and Surfrider Beach, and Legacy Park is a short distance away.
Malibu Colony Real Estate
Malibu Colony real estate is often among the pricier real estate in Malibu. It’s no wonder, considering Malibu Colony close to the beach. The colony is filled with homes that range in style and size on mostly 30-foot wide lots. There are many older homes here, relics of the past from when early 1940’s and 1950’s movie stars starting moving here from the city of Los Angeles. Many homes have been remodeled, but the neighborhood still sports a cozy feel from the size and structure of the original homes.
Malibu Colony real estate for sale reflect a range of styles — Cape Cod, Mediterranean, ocean view, cottage rambler, modern, futuristic. Among these listings is the Steven’s Residence designed by famed architect John Lautner. Built in 1967, the home is an incredible piece of architecture, created to look like ocean waves.
This is the kind of ingenuity one will find in Malibu Colony — a gorgeous yet very different looking home on the beach listed for $17,995,000. Most beach side homes in Malibu Colony average in price around $15 million.
Photo MLS / Doug Elliman
Who lives in Malibu Colony?
The Malibu Colony neighborhood first developed when movie stars started to rent cottages from May Knight Rindge in the 1920s — a hop, skip and a jump away from Hollywood. It became known as the “Malibu Beach Motion Picture Colony.” Some famous people who lived at Malibu Colony when it was just getting started include: Bing Crosby, Clara Bow, Harold Lloyd, Dolores del Rio, Constance Bennett, Jack Warner, John Gilbert, Gloria Swanson, Barbara Stanwyck, among many others.
These stars lived in small cottage homes at the edge of the sea. Many of the homes in the Colony have been lived in by one celeb and then sold to another.
Legendary parties and other shenanigans have taken place in the Colony throughout the years:
It is one of the most famous miles in the world. Jane Fonda threw an infamous all-night party here. (The Byrds closed the festivities down at dawn on her deck.) It is where Cat Stevens had his Muslim moment, and where Robert Redford saw a bundled up Mary Tyler Moore strolling the beach and decided right then to cast her in Ordinary People.Gloria Swanson allegedly entertained Joseph Kennedy at her secret hideaway, while former best friends and next-door neighbors Larry Hagman and Burgess Meredith fought a vicious and costly legal battle over a few feet of obstructed ocean view. — The Daily Beast
A few famous faces that have graced Malibu Colony in more recent years include: Tom Hanks, Woody Harrelson, Jeff Bridges, Bette Midler, Tori Spelling, Bill Murray, Kevin Kline and many, many more.
Why Live in Malibu Colony?
The weather, for one thing, is simply stunning. Where else can you get a perfect mix of Mediterranean breezes and plentiful sunshine? The ocean breeze is fresh and you’ll hardly have a day where the temperature dips below 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
Just outside the famed neighborhood, you’ll find eclectic five-star dining, shopping areas filled with designer stores and, of course, the beaches. It is, after all, a laid-back beach community.
The neighborhood itself feels like home because it is located away from the busy Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH, and although the lots are smaller than in Malibu neighborhoods like La Costa and Broad Beach, the homes and neighborhood are cozy and private. There’s also the guarded gate and 24/7 surveillance, which ensures that privacy.
If you’re looking for a beach town to call home, Malibu Colony could be the perfect place for you.
