Kanye West’s mansion — a Tadao Ando-designed masterpiece that the rapper gutted — has a new owner, and he’s not a fan of what Ye did with the place.
Bo Belmont, CEO of California-based real estate crowdfunding firm Belwood Investments, has been revealed as the new owner of West’s gutted Malibu manse, which was built by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Ando for art collector and financier Richard Sachs in 2013.
“We are incredibly excited about the acquisition of this property,” Belmont, who paid “under $22 million” for the oceanfront home, said in a press release. “This is not just a phenomenal real estate investment; it is an opportunity to revitalize and preserve an architectural gem by the renowned Tadao Ando, ensuring it remains a jewel of Malibu.”
While Belmont has great respect for the approximately 4,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, five-bathroom compound, he does not like the changes Ye made there after buying it for $57.25 million in 2021.
(The rapper initially listed the domicile for $53 million this January before cutting the price down to $39 million in April.)
“My goal is to make it as though Kanye was never there. The house will be restored right back to what it was,” Belmont — who was once charged with attempted murder for a pitchfork attach that he ultimately served three years in prison for — recently told the Los Angeles Times.
Of all the changes West made, including the taking out the structure’s windows, doors, electric and plumbing, Belmont takes greatest issue with the removal of the floors’ glazing.
“That was a really dumb move. Really no purpose,” he told the Times.
Luckily, Belmont says the residence’s structure was left generally unharmed by the “mostly cosmetic” renovations West was able to make.
Many of Ye’s unrealized ideas for the building, however, were much more than cosmetic, and at one point included transforming the stairs into a slide, the floors into trampolines and making the facade camouflage, the publication reported.
