Carbon Beach
Dotted with multi-million-dollar homes, Carbon Beach is a beautiful and private stretch of sand that has attracted some of the wealthiest names in both the business and the entertainment fields. For example, music producer Dr Dre owns a home here, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison has reportedly purchased ten properties on Carbon Beach. This coveted stretch of sand has even earned the nickname Billionaire’s Beach. And one of the big reasons that this beach was so attractive to the rich and famous was its privacy, although that has somewhat changed recently changed.
Theoretically, Carbon Beach is public land, but because of the way owners had built their homes and fenced in their land, there was never an easy way for visitors to gain access to it. That, however, changed in 2015 after homeowners lost their battle in court to continue restricting access to the beach, and an entryway was created next to music mogul David Geffen’s compound. Though Carbon Beach is now truly “open” to the public, it still remains very private. Fortunately for homeowners, the number of visitors who have actually taken advantage of the access way has remained low. In addition, some homeowners employ security staff to escort any outsiders who stray onto their private property back into the public areas.
Carbon Beach, which sits between the Pacific Coast Highway and the ocean, starts at the Malibu Pier and runs for about a mile and a half towards Santa Monica. There are approximately 70 homes on Carbon Beach, and they range from relatively modest structures to sprawling mansions that are spread across multiple lots. All of the homes here are all waterfront, with some sitting just mere feet from the pounding surf. Because Carbon Beach is crescent-shaped and narrows at both ends, the homes with the highest value tend to be the ones sitting in the middle, where the most sand is located. And while all homes boast gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean, a few also enjoy the added pleasure of seeing Catalina Island, the Malibu Pier or the Queen’s Necklace — the nickname given to the Santa Monica Bay’s coastline.
Not surprisingly, homes on Billionaire’s Beach in Malibu are extremely pricey. In 2017, for instance, David Geffen sold his huge compound, which included the main house and two guest houses for a reported $85 million. And while that may sound impressive, in April 2018, another Billionaire’s Beach home set a new record for the most expensive home sale in Los Angeles County history. The almost 7,000-square foot mansion was sold by the co-founder of the Hard Rock Cafe for an astounding $110 million.
