Kanye’s bombshelter shocker to cost him $21m – realestate.com.au

Kanye West has shocked the real estate world by demolishing a $US53 million ($A80 million) Malibu beachfront mansion, designed by a renowned Japanese architect.

According to the New York Post, the controversial rapper, also known as Ye, purchased the home in 2021.

The property, which was once a stunning blend of glass and nature, has seen its value drop by $US14 million ($A21 million) due to the destruction.

“This is going to be my bomb shelter. This is going to be my Batcave,” the musician reportedly told a labourer during the destruction process, as revealed in an interview with The New Yorker.

The Grammy winner’s ambitious renovation project never materialised. The mansion, designed by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, was left abandoned and is now a skeletal shell, stripped of plumbing, electricity and its iconic clouded glass windows.

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Kanye West’s multimillion-dollar beachfront home in Malibu. Picture: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner

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The property was abandoned for months. Picture: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner

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Last year, Ye parted ways with the house, initially listing it at $US53 million ($A80 million) — already $US4.5 million ($A6.7 million) less than he paid for it in 2021.

In April, the home received a whopping $US14 million ($A21 million) price cut, and is currently on the market for $39 million ($A58 million). It is likely to drop even further in the coming months, sources told the New York Post.

Despite efforts to sell the mansion, the property remains for sale.

Ando’s once-pristine design has been completely gutted, leaving only gaping hollows where bedrooms and galleries once stood.

The blackened exterior, perched on stilts above the golden sands, stands in stark contrast to neighbouring homes.

With his Australian wife Bianca Censori and a team of “gonzo” labourers, Ye transformed the mansion into a structure befitting his album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”

Censori, who holds degrees in architecture, helped steer the radical overhaul. The transformation included dismantling majestic staircases and replacing them with a foam slide.

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Kanye West and Bianca Censori planned to renovate the home before abandoning it. Picture: Instagram/jeen_Yuhs

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Labourer Saxon, who worked long hours gutting the home, told the New Yorker, “There was so much rebar in the concrete. It was absolutely brutal.” He described Ye’s vision as “simple, fresh and cleeeeeean.”

Saxon was tasked with painting over marble walls and tearing out expensive wooden cabinets, drastically altering the home’s original aesthetic.

The destruction extended to toppling chimneys, smashing marble bathroom walls and dismantling the glass balustrade.

The house was stripped of its kitchen, bathrooms, airconditioning, windows, light fixtures, heating, water and power, leaving it a barren shell.

Saxon, who has filed a lawsuit against Ye over unpaid wages, told the New Yorker he reached a breaking point when he was reluctant to change the floor-to-ceiling windows facing the ocean that had faded from the outside.

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The mansion was stripped. Picture: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner

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The house from above. Picture: Google Maps

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According to Saxon’s recollection, Ye demanded “If you don’t do what I asked you to do, I’m not going to be your friend anymore. You’re not going to work for me anymore. And you’re only going to see me on TV.” Saxon told the singer that he didn’t watch TV.

“And then I walked the f – k out.”

Before he ended up ditching the property entirely and listing the home, West’s vision for a “Batcave” included imposing ramps replacing stairways and the bomb shelter that he hoped would be the mansion’s standout feature.

Parts of this story first appeared in the New York Post and were republished with permission.