Live like the King of Cool – if you have deep enough pockets – as the Malibu beach house once inhabited by Steve McQueen and his wife Ali McGraw hits the market for a cool $17m via Coldwell Banker Realty.
Admittedly the interiors of the five-bedroom oceanfront property are a far cry from the original coastal shack that McQueen and his new wife escaped to in the 1970s. Back then, its private beach access meant they could escape the glare of the Hollywood spotlight and walk along its shore unrecognised.
McQueen arrived in Hollywood in the late 1950s and quickly became one of the 20th century’s highest-paid and most revered actors, starring in The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape and garnering an Oscar nomination for his performance in The Sand Pebble. But following the poor reception of his dearest project, Le Mans, in 1971, he retreated to this peaceful 4,335 sq ft Malibu property with his new wife.
Credit: The Luxury Level
Credit: The Luxury Level
Credit: The Luxury Level
Credit: The Luxury Level
Credit: The Luxury Level
Credit: The Luxury Level
Credit: The Luxury Level
Today Malibu is one of California’s most expensive and popular beach towns, with actors such as Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Emma Stone owning properties there. But when McQueen lived there, it was still a remote area near Los Angeles, popular only with surfers and the locals. Trancas, as it was known, had two gas stations, one supermarket and a honky-tonk bar – providing precisely the kind of privacy and anonymity McQueen craved.
McGraw filled the home with flowers and classical music while McQueen enjoyed daytime television, ocean gazing and indulging his passion for anything with two or four wheels. The property’s three-car garage housed his Jaguar XKSS (The Green Rat), Porsche 911s and favourite Matisse motorcycle.
The couple split in the late 1970s, and in 1980, McQueen died of pleural mesothelioma aged 50.
The sun-baked Malibu property has been updated several times since McQueen lived there – his son Chad sold the home in 2020 to Maroon 5’s Ammar Malik for $8.35m. The songwriter spent millions implementing its current minimalist-modernist aesthetic. Its white-washed interiors seemingly float above the horizon, with panoramic views from Malibu to Broach Beach and Point Dume and a private staircase leading down to the beach.
Coldwell Banker’s Elizabeth Donovan holds the listing.
