Fashion Nova’s Richard Saghian Spends $40 Million on Carbon Beach Mansion

While many other billionaire homebuyers have retreated from the market, Richard Saghian is still out bargain-hunting. Nine months ago, the founder and CEO of apparel mega-juggernaut Fashion Nova paid $126 million for Bel Air’s infamous “The One” estate, a steep discount off the $250 million ask.

Unsurprisingly, Saghian has also been wanting to upgrade his Malibu residential circumstances. Though he already owns a swank vacation home on La Costa Beach, he’s now splashed out $40 million on a much more impressive mansion sited atop exclusive Carbon Beach, a sandy strip of land known sometimes known as “Billionaires’ Beach” due to its many Forbes-listed homeowners. The Real Deal first reported the hefty transaction.

Originally offered at $69 million last June, the home’s asking price was slashed all the way down to $49 million before Saghian finally came calling. The seller was nursing home mogul Lee Samson, who owns dozens of Windsor Healthcare facilities scattered across California and Arizona.

Sited right next door to one of Larry Ellison’s many homes, the Carbon Beach mansion was built in the 1970s and designed by modernist specialists Buff & Hensman. Samson bought the house in 2015, paying $22 million, and gave the place a multimillion-dollar remodel spearheaded by famous architect Richard Landry and his associate Todd Riley. Newly reinvigorated and completed in 2021, the striking structure features interiors by Joan Behnke and a soothing blend of white, gold and gray colors that give visual supremacy to the blue sea.

Towering above Pacific Coast Highway, the residence’s fortress-like exterior is sheathed in textured cast aluminum panels, with a buttress-like stucco sail adding visual oomph. The entirely windowless façade isn’t just for style — it serves to keep the house private and largely soundproof, despite the bustling highway out front. The rear is an entirely different story, with walls of glass flooding every room with natural light and unobstructed ocean views.

There are a total of six bedrooms, six full baths and two powder rooms in more than 6,000 square feet of living space. A central great room marries the fireplace-equipped living room with a top-of-the-line chef’s kitchen, and glass sliding doors seamlessly connect that vast indoor space to an al fresco dining terrace. A staircase hewn from bronze and steel heads upstairs, where Saghian will enjoy a master retreat with a private office and balcony, plus a separate gym with its own beverage refrigerator and dumbwaiter.

Out front, a relatively large motorcourt hosts an automated car turntable, and the courtyard’s reflecting pool and all-steel sculpture is sure to impress guests. Just off the courtyard lies a “hidden” movie theater; out back lies 70 feet of ocean frontage, plus a desirable private swimming pool and spa. Still not enough? Head up to the rooftop terrace, which flaunts 360-degree views and comes equipped with a built-in BBQ center, wet bar, jacuzzi and fire-pit.

It seems likely Saghian will soon sell his “spare” Malibu house, a $14 million oceanfront estate acquired less than two years ago from Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and his wife Nicole Avant. And in addition to those Malibu homes and The One, Saghian still owns a $17 million mansion in the Bird Streets, previously owned by the late Avicii.

Gayle Pritchett of Pritchett-Rapf & Associates and Chris Cortazzo of Compass held the Carbon Beach listing; Stuart Vetterick of Hilton & Hyland and Branden Williams of The Beverly Hills Estates jointly repped the buyer.