Robert Chartoff's Knockout in Malibu

SELLERS: Robert and Vanessa Chartoff
LOCATION: Grayfox Street, Malibu, CA
PRICE: $8,750,000
SIZE: 3,220 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Sun drenched Cliff May Mediterranean ranch home. Dwellings total 4,500 S.F., consisting of 3 BR. + 2.5 BA. 3,200 S.F. main house, det. maid's quarters, det. guest suite + 1 BR. guest house overlooking terraced walking trail-orchard with lush, mature fruit trees. All rooms exposed to abundant light from the courtyard, gardens and English rose garden. Includes private beach rights to Riviera 3...

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: As we perused through the magnificent Malee-boo listings over the weekend day-dreaming of a house where we could be lulled to sleep at night listening to the roiling surf, Your Mama came across a high priced puppy on Point Dume designed by the legendary architect Cliff May, a man known as the big Kahuna of Kalifornia ranch style homes who championed and pioneered the classic California indoor/outdoor lifestyle. Being a born and raised Calee-for-ñun who grew up barefoot on the beach, Your Mama is a huge fan of Mister May's long and low sprawlers. But unfortunately, due to its dream killing $8,750,000 asking price, we can't touch this knockout of a property with a ten foot pole.

Therefore we pacified our thwarted real estate longing with a few pokes and prods around in the public property records, and lo and behold we found that the Cliff May designed Mediterranean on Malee-boo's Grayfox Street is owned by another legend of a different stripe. According to all the 411 Your Mama dug up, this house is owned by legendary film producer Robert Chartoff and his wifey Vanessa. In case the children don't know or are too lazy to take to the interweb themselves, Mister Chartoff is the Academy Award winning man responsible for such big box office hits as The Right Stuff, Raging Bull, and of course, the Rocky franchise, which has inexplicably ballooned to include six money making feature films.

While Your Mama would bet our long bodied bitches Linda and Beverly that Mister Sylvester Stallone is exceedingly grateful for Mister Chartoff's three decade plus commitment to making movies about that dumb ass boxer Rocky Balboa, we find Mister Stallone difficult to stomach as an actor and we have zee-ro interest in paying good money to sit through a movie that revolves around inarticulate grown men smacking each other around, even if they are muscled and nearly nood. But, as usual, we digress...

Information provided to Your Mama by a secret source we'll call the Malibu Minx indicates that Mister and Missus Chartoff purchased their Malee-boo mini-manse in February of 2002 for $2,500,000. A quick flick of the beads on our trusty and bejeweled abacus reveals that with it's current asking price of $8,750,000, Mister and Missus Chartoff are looking to multiply their money by 3.5 in just six or seven years. It remains to be seen whether the property will sell for any where near that asking price, but children, be honest, doesn't everyone wish they dumped a little cash into the Malee-boo market 8 or 10 years ago? We know we do.

Listing information and public records for the 1 acre property indicate that the main house was built in 1960, measures in at a modest 3,220 square feet and includes 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. Other features and amenities in the main house include a gated motor court, living and dining rooms, natch, 2 fireplaces, a wine cellar and an office. A central courtyard, into which many of the main rooms open, contains a heated trapezoidal swimming pool perfect for skinny dipping when the Pacific Ocean is too cold...which it is usually is.

Listing information also indicates that in addition to the bedrooms and and bathrooms in the main house, there are also detached maid's quarters with bath (isn't it really more modern to call it a staff suite?), a detached guest suite with bath plus a privately located one bedroom guest house at the rear of the estate that over looks the property's terraced and fruit tree planted hillside. A small ravine that runs down to the exclusive and often difficult to access sands of Point Dume although it's unclear to Your Mama is the Chartoff estate has any access to the pathway that runs along the bottom of the ravine to the beach. In the event that it does not, the Chartoff residence does include deeded beach access to the private Riviera 3 beach, a lovely and often expensive bonus.

Photos of the property are the seriously slim side which is a little strange when you consider that one of the listing agents appears to be one of Mister and Missus Chartoff's male children...someone we would imagine has unfettered photographic access to the property.

The Point Dume neighborhood with is winding streets and semi-rural vibe has always had it's fair share of super star home owners including long time Point Dumer Babs Streisand who owns at least three contiguous ocean front estates on Zumirez Drive. Other notable nearby neighbors to the Chartoff house on Grayfox Street include (but are by no means limited to) Kid Rock over on Bison Court, smoking hot Matthew McConaughey and his baby momma Camila Alves who shack up on Wildlife Road and, of course, everyone knows that toothy Oscar winning actress Julia Roberts recently completed a colossal cliff top Craftsman style "green" built house spread across two luscious lots at the tail end Grayfox Street.

In what may or may not be a coincidence, property records and listing information reveal that one of Mister Chartoff's female children has listed her house on the Howland Canal in Venice with an asking price of $3,150,000. Interestingly, it is not listed with the property pushing sibling mentioned above.