Cher Drops Price on Pan-Mediterranean Malibu Palazzo

Touted in marketing material as “A Villa Befitting a Legend,” over the almost 25 years Cher has resided in her custom-built pan-Mediterranean-style mansion in Malibu she’s made several attempts to sell the home, both on and off the market.

In the spring of 2009, the powerhouse singer, celebrated actress, outspoken activist and opinionated Tweeter officially listed the 1.73-acre spread with a $45 million price tag that fell to $41 million before it was taken off the market less than four months later. And in 2013, rumor ran rampant that Jay-Z and Beyoncé were going to buy the place.

They didn’t and last year, shortly after she had it showcased in Architectural Digest, the iconic entertainer heaved her one-of-a-kind home on the market with lots of publicity and an asking price of $85 million. But, as first spotted by Mansion Global, with no takers at that amount, the price has been reduced by a whopping $10 million.

Now available at $75 million via Drew Fenton and Robert Kass of Carolwood Estates, Cher purchased the property in 1989, the same year “Heart of Stone” was released, for $2.95 million. Inspired by grand residences across southern Europe, including the palazzos of Venice and Spain’s Moorish-infused Alhambra palace, the more than 13,000-square-foot villa sits on a high, prominent bluff above Amarillo Beach. Built over nearly five years, it was completed in 1999.

Beyond the high wall, security gatehouse and huge sliding gate, forty mature Canary palm trees dot the landscape and line the driveway that swoops down to a discreet parking area and an auto garage that’s tucked under the south end of the elevated, ocean-view tennis court. An octogram-shaped Moorish-style fountain serves as the focal point of the lushly planted walled entrance courtyard, and due to its high perch, the property offers endless views that sweep over the ocean from Point Dume to the Santa Monica Pier.

No expense spared or detail overlooked, the seven-bedroom villa showcases limestone and marble imported from Italy and France, hand-wrought bronze doors, and bespoke hardware and tiles from Spain and Morocco. Both a fortress outfitted with an extensive security apparatus and a monochromatic sanctuary that blends the monastic with the theatrical, the home presents a carefully arranged collection of museum-quality Asian artworks, lots of artisanal finishes and numerous one-of-a-kind treasures.

A 18th-century Venetian marble balustrade was purchased from William Randolph Hearst’s collection at San Simeon and in the living room, the coffered ceiling was hand-painted using gold-leaf stencils and tea stain. With its flamboyant Corinthian columns and intricately patterned tin ceiling, boucle-covered midcentury chairs add a cozy anachronism to the dining room.

A pair of folding court chairs from the collection of Doris Duke flank the bronze-studded walnut doors at the entrance to the primary bedroom and just inside, a few of the homeowner’s dozens of professional accolades, including an Oscar, a Grammy, and several Golden Globes, are displayed.

A private domain all to itself, the primary suite comprises a silk-lined bedroom with a 1920s bed once owned by Rudolph Valentino and Natacha Rambova as well as a sunroom with 180-degree ocean and coastline views through pointed arch windows. There’s also a meditation space, a hammam-style bathroom that showcases Turkish wood screens and two walk-in closets, one that additionally serves as a secure panic room.

Throughout, large arched windows draw the eye into the courtyard garden, across the infinity-edge pool and over the ocean, while the family room, with windows on three walls, feels almost as if it’s floating on the water. Other notable features are a surprisingly white and bright kitchen, a state-of-the-art home theater, an indoor/outdoor gym, and — the most Cher feature of them all! — a temperature-controlled wig room said to hold more than 100 of the always elaborately tressed entertainer’s hairpieces.