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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
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Emma Magnus

Cher’s iconic Malibu mansion with panic room, Turkish baths and wig room has been reduced by £8 million

Singer Cher’s iconic Malibu home has been relisted for sale after a £8 million ($10 million) price drop.

Now listed for £60.1 million ($75 million) with agents Carolwood Estates, the property has been for sale on and off the market at various intervals over the past decade.

Most recently, shortly after being showcased in Architectural Digest in September last year, the Italianate-style home was put on the market for £68.1 million ($85 million).

Overlooking California’s Pacific coast, the Malibu home has its own Turkish baths and temperature-controlled wig room.

Cher bought the 13,200 square-foot mansion in 1989 for £2.4 million ($2.95 million) and spent almost five years transforming it into her perfect home.

LA-based interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard was engaged to create the “Venetian-meets-Moorish” building with “exotic interiors”. Inside, according to Lawrence Bullard’s website, “a zen vibe mingles with dramatic furnishings, rare artworks and orientalist antiquities.”

The house, for example, draws on Venetian palazzos, Renaissance villas and the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain, in its design. Limestone and marble were imported from Italy and France to build it, while its bronze doors, hardware and tiles came from Spain and Morocco. An 18th century Venetian marble balustrade was even bought from businessman William Randolph Hearst’s collection at San Simeon, according to Architectural Digest.

(Getty Images)

The ceilings have been painted with Eastern motifs, whilst the silk-clad walls and drapery were reportedly stencilled with a mixture made of tea leaves, coffee, and umber paint pigments, recreating henna designs Cher once wore on her hands.

Large arched windows maximise views over the sea below. “Every room has two different views of the ocean,” Cher said. “This house wraps its arms around you.”

Spanning 1.7 acres, Cher’s gated property has seven bedrooms, as well as a separate gatehouse that can be used for guests. There is an infinity pool, tennis court, outdoor gym and a cinema. A hammam-inspired bath with Turkish wood screens. A palm tree-lined driveway. A meditation room. But best of all is the wig room.

“I have a wig room at home with about 25 wigs in there. They need to be taken care of and they are fragile, but sometimes I am really rough with them,” Cher told The Times last year. “If I had to pick my one favourite wig, it would be the old, down-to-my-butt, poker-straight one.”

Cher, born Cherilyn Sarkisian, moved to Los Angeles at 16, where she met entertainer and songwriter Sonny Bono, whom she went on to marry. They rose to fame together with their 1965 hit, I Got You Babe, and later TV show.

The Goddess of Pop, Cher is best known, of course, for Believe, released when she was 52. It earned her two Guinness World Records and sold over 11 million copies worldwide.

And then there is Cher’s acting career. She has starred in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Moonstruck and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, amongst many others.

(Getty Images)

Now 76, Cher is selling the house she has owned for 34 years. According to Realtor.com, the property was listed for sale in 2009 for £32.9 million ($41 million), before being removed from the market after a month.

Last year, Cher opened her Malibu home to Ukrainian refugees, where she said that they would be “safe and cared for”.

The latest £60.1 million ($75 million) listing is held by Robert Kass and Drew Fenton — who sold Cher’s former home, the Owlwood Estate, as well as the Playboy Mansion— at Carolwood Estates.

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