Brad Pitt Coughs Up A Whopping $40 Million For Historic Clifftop Mansion In California

Aug 04, 2022 by apost team

If home is where the heart is, then Brad Pitt’s ticker must be pretty comfortable right now after he scooped up a clifftop mansion in the heart of Carmel, California, for a cool $40 million, believed to be the most expensive property to ever be sold in the beach city.

There are few movie stars as universally recognized as Pitt. The man has been in countless iconic movies like “Thelma And Louise,” “Fight Club,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Once Upon A Time … In Hollywood.” And even though the actor turned 58 in December 2021, the star continues to act in critically acclaimed movies, with his latest blockbuster “Bullet Train” set for an August 2022 release. He has already produced two films in 2022 and has more projects in the pre-production or filming stages with no release dates available yet. As he nears his 60th birthday, it’s clear that Pitt has come a long way since he entered showbusiness in the late 1980s.

However, while Pitt has an impressive repertoire, the actor had revealed that he isn’t sure how much longer he’ll be in the acting industry. In fact, he considers himself to be on his last leg and is gearing up to slow down.

Speaking with GQ in June 2022, Pitt revealed that he isn’t sure how much longer he sees himself as a working star in the entertainment industry. He said:

“I consider myself on my last leg, this last semester or trimester. What is this section gonna be? And how do I wanna design that?”

So, could his newest property acquisition, in fact, be a luxurious retirement home?

Read on to see what else the residence offers that convinced Pitt to reportedly drop a whopping $40 million for.

The Hollywood superstar has been known to be quite the architectural buff, telling Vanity Fair magazine in 2004, “I’m really into architecture, structure and design. Give me anything, and I’ll design it. I’m a bit nutty with it.” So it comes as no surprise that, according to The Wall Street Journal, the latest property to fall under Pitt’s name is the stunning D.L. James House, also known as Seaward, built-in 1918.

Stretching 2.51 acres in the Carmel Highlands on the Monterey Peninsula coast, the house was the brainchild of renowned architect Charles Sumner Greene, who built the mansion for the writer it is named after. It was described by author Randell L. Makinson in his book “Greene & Greene: Architecture as a Fine Art : Furniture and Related Designs” as “The most creative and ambitious work of Charles Greene’s late career … The stone structure seems to have grown out of its site atop the rocky cliffs south of Carmel. At places it is difficult to ascertain just where nature’s rock has ended and man’s masonry genius has begun.” 

True enough, the foundations of the house look as if they were built into the cliff itself, helped in part by the elaborate stony facade of the building. It took five years to complete, with renovations going on decades later.

The 3,000-square-foot mansion was inherited by James’s son before falling into the hands of options and commodities trader Joe Ritchie, who passed away on February 22, 2022. It was reported that Ritchie had wanted to build a tunnel leading from the property down to the beach but was prevented from doing so by the California Coastal Commission.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that the property itself wasn’t listed for sale, and Pitt acquired it off-market. 

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A wall and door at the front of the house conceals the entirety of the property that boasts an unimpeded view of the Pacific Ocean and outdoors courtyards from which to enjoy it. Haus of T wrote that Greene “built up the outer walls so that they appear to be growing out of the cliffs, and the meandering plan defied the logic of the usual front, side, and rear elevations.” 

Realtor Nathan Reimer, who said he had worked on scaffolding refinishing the wooden exterior of the house, said “the home blends seamlessly into the cliffs as walls and arches appear to rise out of and back into the natural landscape. It is both magnificent and subtly humble in the way that it holds it’s post.”

In a 2004 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Pitt told her, “I love that architecture is this huge art piece you can be inside. I believe it lifts your soul and affects your mindset.” So it comes as no surprise that Pitt has gathered quite a collection of substantial real estate. Among them are his kids’ sprawling “childhood home” in Loz Feliz, Los Angeles, a Zen Hollywood Hills pad, a Santa Barbara vacation home and a $60 million villa in the south of France in the Château Miraval winery. Pitt and his ex-wife Angelina Jolie had purchased the winery and moved into its villa in 2008. They were married there in 2014. When the couple split, Jolie moved to sell her stake, but Pitt attempted to stop the move. The legal battle over the winery is still pending. 

So if Pitt was looking for a comfortable, spacious, private and architecturally significant home with magnificent views, we dare say he’s found it in Seaward.

What do you think of Brad Pitt’s new purchase? How wonderful do you think it would be to wake up to a 180-degree view of the ocean and nobody around? Let us know and pass this on to all the real estate aficionados you know!