Kris Halliday’s Malibu Spec Home Sells at 65% Discount

Australian spec developer Kris Halliday took an American-style bath after seeking $74.8 million for a 20,000-square-foot mansion in west Malibu, then selling it for $26.5 million.

The owner of MKH Developments, based in Malibu, closed the deal this week for 11870 Ellice Road, the Wall Street Journal reported. The name of the buyer was not disclosed.

The sale represents a 65 percent discount from the original asking price.

In March of last year, Halliday had listed the largest home in the coastal market for $3,740 per foot, before settling for $1,325 per foot. He’d bought its nearly 1-acre lot in 2018 for $5.4 million.

The six-bedroom, 10-bathroom estate is north of the Pacific Coast Highway, across the Ventura County line.

“Of course I have some disappointment,” Halliday told the Journal. “Hindsight’s easy to say what you could have done and what you would have done differently.”

Halliday declined to say how much it cost to build what he dubs Kaizen — the Japanese term for continuous improvement.

The two-story concrete home, influenced by feng shui principles, includes hand-carved stone and wood.

It has floor-to-ceiling motorized glass walls, a 2,000-gallon aquarium and a 20,000-gallon koi pond. Each bedroom has a terrace, and the living room overlooks a 95-foot tiled infinity pool.

The mansion was valued at more than $50 million for insurance purposes. In retrospect, Halliday says, his timing was poor.

He completed Kaizen early last year, around the time Russia invaded Ukraine. Tech stocks plunged and interest rates soared.

After he listed the house, sales of U.S. luxury homes fell 18 percent during the three months ending April 30, 2022 compared with the prior year, according to Redfin. Since then, luxury home sales have continued to slide.

The home’s location may have been a major factor, real estate experts told the Journal. The initial price may have been far too high, given that it’s on the edge of Malibu and perched north of PCH, without beachfront access.

After several broker swaps and price cuts, Halliday decided to sell the house at auction. Including a 12 percent buyer’s premium paid to Concierge Auctions, the total price works out to $29.68 million, the auction company said.

Brokers Branden Williams and Rayni Williams of The Beverly Hills Estates and Aaron Kirman of AKGRE represented the seller, while Estel Hilton of The Beverly Hills Estates represented the buyer.

— Dana Bartholomew