Water’s Fine at Malibu Homestead
David W. Tong, an architect from Hong Kong who graduated from the USC School of Architecture, designed this house for his father as a thank-you gift.
“It was kind of like repaying my school loan,” said the younger Tong, who envisioned his family in Hong Kong periodically coming to the house to visit. But while Tong was building the house, his father bought his own dream house in Hong Kong and started staying there more often.
Tong, 39, already had a home with his wife and young child near the beach in Santa Monica, so he listed this one. It incorporates “some basic feng shui,” he said.
About this house: Tong likens it to an armchair facing the ocean, noting that water features dominate. All six of the bedroom suites have ocean views, and there is a 50-foot pool, a spa and a pool pavilion. Outside, there are also gardens and a procession of promenades, courtyards and colonnaded verandas.
“Torrette Chiare dal Mare” (Light Towers by the Sea) was built to last many generations, because “it was intended for my father, our [extended] family and our children,” Tong said.
Asking price: $5,995,000
Size: Besides the six bedrooms, there are 6 1/2 bathrooms in 7,500 square feet. The house is on 1.33 acres.
Features: The home has five fireplaces, two family rooms, a two-story entry, a library, a projection theater/garden ballroom. The grounds also include an art gallery; a butler’s pantry, an office with a separate entry; a north/south tennis court with spectator area, a quarter-mile fitness/exercise trail and a cobbled, circular motor plaza with additional parking for four cars and two RVs. The site is zoned for horses and has access to trails, stables and a park.
Where: On a gated street in Malibu
Contact: Katie Bentzen, Pritchett-Rapf & Associates in Malibu, (310) 456-8839
