Malibu’s Hollywood dream is under water as powerful tides batter celebrity homes

M alibu’s most exclusive oceanfront neighborhood is accustomed to Hollywood drama. But this time, the destruction is not happening on a movie set. Residents of Malibu Colony, the guard-gated enclave that has served as a retreat for celebrities, filmmakers and entertainment executives for generations, spent Saturday cleaning up after powerful waves and unusually high tides tore apart beachfront decks, ripped away staircases and sent seawater and sand into multimillion-dollar homes.

The aftermath of Tropical Storm Rachel left wood planks and rusty nails swirling in the surf, while shattered glass from blown-out windows littered battered outdoor decks. Other homeowners were left mopping up seawater inside their houses and prized tea rooms. The resident also warned that strong winds could trigger further power outages, adding to the difficulties facing a community still recovering from devastating wildfires.

The latest damage is more than a cleanup problem. It is another blow to a luxury real estate market already struggling with uncertainty, as prospective buyers reconsider multimillion-dollar purchases and sellers wait for the market to recover.

Hollywood’s beachfront playground takes another hit

Known simply as the Colony , or the original Malibu, the neighborhood has been a Hollywood power base since the era of Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Its celebrity connections continued through the decades, with residents including studio mogul Jack Warner, Bing Crosby, Jane Fonda and Frank Capra.

More recent and current residents have included Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Ridley Scott, Chris Columbus, Spike Jonze, Jim Carrey, Ed Norton and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea. The enclave's appeal is easy to understand. Its homes sit close to the Pacific, offering ocean views, direct beach access and a degree of privacy that is difficult to find elsewhere along Southern California's coast. But that proximity to the water has become a growing liability.

The latest waves tore away many oceanfront decks and beach staircases, leaving exposed structures and debris along the shoreline. Although Malibu Colony reportedly escaped some of the more severe flooding experienced in Newport Beach and Long Beach, where waves overtopped seawalls and inundated streets, the damage has left residents bracing for what comes next.

Even a neighborhood accustomed to expensive renovations and elaborate properties is confronting a difficult question: How much uncertainty are buyers willing to accept when a home's greatest selling point is also a source of risk?

Celebrity homes worth millions are struggling to find buyers

The weather has arrived at an especially difficult time for the Colony's luxury property market. Some sellers are holding firm on asking prices, while potential buyers are waiting to see how the coastline fares through the coming months. Among the properties on the market is a home owned by Oscar-winning filmmaker Spike Jonze, known for directing Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Where the Wild Things Are and Her.

Jonze purchased the five-bedroom Cape Cod-style house for $18 million in 2023. The property, built in 1963, is now listed for $22 million. Its features include ocean views, a swimming pool, a rarity in the Colony, and a main suite with a fireplace, sitting areas, a sundeck and a skylight. A third-floor space could serve as a screening lounge, home office or additional sleeping area, while beamed ceilings and indoor-outdoor entertaining spaces add to its appeal.

Yet even an attractive property with a famous owner is not immune to concerns about coastal flooding. One prospective buyer told the New York Post's Gimme Shelter column that the recent weather had changed their plans. The home's listing broker, Damon Skelton of Compass, declined to comment.

Flea, whose real name is Michael Peter Balzary, is also trying to sell his Colony property. The Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist has reduced the asking price of his four-bedroom home to $7.995 million from $8.495 million in March. Flea purchased the house, built in 1959, for $7.55 million in 2020. Listing brokers Sandro Dazzan and Irene Dazzan-Palmer of The Agency declined to comment.

Wildfires have already devastated Malibu

The coastal damage comes on top of another disaster that has reshaped the community: the wildfires that swept through the region in 2025. Roughly 700 homes within Malibu city limits were destroyed in the Palisades Fire, leaving residents to navigate rebuilding, insurance complications and the loss of homes and neighborhoods.

Malibu is frequently described as North America's wildfire capital, a reputation reinforced by the combination of dry vegetation, steep terrain and powerful Santa Ana winds. On Thursday afternoon, the threat returned when the Bryson Fire broke out in brush near Encinal Canyon Road and Mulholland Highway . Fanned by strong winds, the fire had burned approximately 200 acres by that evening, with no containment reported at the time.

Evacuation orders and warnings were issued for parts of the area, although no structures had burned and no injuries had been reported at the time of the account. For some Colony resident s, the sequence of disasters has created a sense that the community cannot catch a break.

One resident complained that Malibu often receives less sympathy than other fire-affected areas because of its wealth, even though many local homeowners also lost their properties. The comment captures a difficult tension surrounding Malibu's recovery: its residents include some of the wealthiest people in the entertainment industry, but the destruction of homes and the threat of repeated natural disasters affect the community regardless of property values.