The Complete Controversial Timeline of Kanye West’s Former $60 Million Tadao Ando–Designed Malibu Mansion

On a beachfront stretch of Malibu, Pritzker Prize–winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando crafted what would turn out to be one of his most controversial projects: The Sachs House. Completed in 2013, the modernist Southern California residence stands on massive caissons and features a concrete shell typical of Ando’s Brutalist-inflected architecture, with a network of ocean-facing terraces linked via outdoor staircases.

In 2021, fresh off his divorce from Kim Kardashian, disgraced rapper Kanye West (now legally named Ye) paid more than $57 million for the 4,000-square-foot house and began taking it down to the studs. He claimed to be “reimagining” the three-story structure but ultimately abandoned the project mid-demolition and sold it, thus leaving it uninhabitable for a new owner. Now, the property is once again making headlines for all the wrong reasons, as renovations have stalled due to non-payment, and it’s facing foreclosure. To untangle the saga, ELLE Decor goes back the beginning.

2013: The House Is Built

The story begins with financier Richard Sachs, a Bear Stearns alum and art-world fixture who once dated Ashley Olsen. In 2007 he enlisted Ando, along with Marmol Radziner’s Ron Radziner as executive architect, to design a house for him on an oceanfront parcel in Malibu. Construction kicked off in 2009 and wrapped up in 2013, requiring some 1,200 tons of poured concrete and 200 tons of steel. With its boxy silhouette, the minimalist four-bedroom house featured stainless-steel surfaces and floor-to-ceiling windows that framed views of the Pacific. Sachs listed the property in April 2020 for $75 million, per Zillow.

At the time, broker Branden Williams of Hilton & Hyland told The Real Deal that, “We were planning on listing the property in February… Then Covid hit a month later.” They opted to put the home on the market “before there was a rush of properties” for sale following pandemic restrictions.

2021: Kanye Buys the House

West enters the picture in September 2021, seven months after Kardashian filed for divorce in the wake of his scandal-tarred 2020 presidential campaign. West ended up paying $57.3 million for the Sachs House, nearly 24 percent off the asking price. He intended to “reimagine” the estate, per The New Yorker, calling Radziner back to the property in order to knock out the cabinetry and replace internal staircases with ramps. The architect demurred, leaving West and girlfriend Bianca Censori (who herself has a master’s degree in architecture) to find an alternative plan.

Instead, the same month that West bought the house, the couple enlisted contractor Tony Saxon to dismantle the interiors, apparently without a permit, for $20,000 per week. For a month and a half, Saxon (who slept on a mattress on the floor inside the barren home) led a team that used sledgehammers to shatter glass panes, marble walls, and concrete chimneys. West told him he wanted “no kitchen, bathrooms, A.C., windows, light fixtures, or heating.”

Even though Saxon delivered on gutting the house, a chasm developed in the relationship as West began turning his attention to the architectural enhancements and additions, including ramps that were not ADA accessible. On November 5, 2021, Saxon walked away from the project for good over an argument with West “about money, electricity, and Saxon’s apparent reluctance to take out the ocean-facing windows in the living room,” per The New Yorker.

September 2023: Saxon Files Suit

Project manager Katerina Salonikidi, left, and foreman Sergio Marin of Marmol Radziner survey the demolished interiors in March 2025.

Saxon filed suit against West in September 2023 for $1.7 million, alleging hazardous working conditions and failure to pay wages. He claimed he worked 16-hour days as a project manager, full-time security guard, and on-site caretaker, while maintaining that West ignored his complaints about the unsafe environment. He also claimed to have suffered a back injury as a result of working on the home.

December 2023: Kanye Lists the House

In late 2023, West called Radziner once again to see if he would help to repair the structure, at the time lacking windows and fully exposed to the harsh coastal elements. Radziner gave him an estimate north of $10 million, per The New Yorker, and West never responded. Instead, he put the whole thing on the market for $53 million with Selling Sunset broker Jason Oppenheim. They slashed the price down 26 percent, to $39 million, the following April.

September 2024: New Owner Steps In

The Sachs House (center) in March 2025.

An entity called Belwood Investments, founded by Steven “Bo” Belmont, acquired the crumbling, vacant property for $21 million in September 2024. (That’s roughly 60 percent cheaper than West’s original asking price.) According to the Wall Street Journal, Belmont’s plan was to spend $8.5 million on restoring the estate with the goal of flipping it for upwards of $50 million. Radziner also joined the project.

The business model for Belwood relied on fractional investors that paid as little as $1,000 each for a piece of the renovation, with their money (plus a share of expected profits) being returned to them once the house sold. In total, Belmont collected approximately $7.5 million from nearly 400 people. He also secured an $18.5 million acquisition loan from a group linked to Mike Nijjar, a California landlord who later faced accusations from California Attorney General Rob Bonta of exploiting tenants.

March 2025: Belmont Lists the House

Radziner stopped work due to non-payment in March 2025, and Belmont put the house on the market for $39 million, per Zillow. By the summer, a deal looked like it might materialize with Montana-based developer Andrew Mazzella for roughly $30 million. The sale, however, ended up falling through, and investors began worrying about the safety of their funding.

Shortly after, Belwood employee David Contreras sued the firm and contended it was running “nothing more than a Ponzi scheme.” The group defaulted on its acquisition loan in November 2025 and now faces foreclosure if Belmont cannot secure financing. He is alleged to have missed more than $800,000 in payments to his lender.

March 2026: Kanye Goes to Trial

Plaintiff Tony Saxon (L) arrives as US rapper and producer Kanye West and Australian model Bianca Censori are to testify at Los Angeles Superior Court in the civil trial related to his Malibu mansion in Los Angeles, California, on March 5, 2026.

While Belmont’s financial situation deteriorated, Saxon and West headed to trial in Los Angeles over their own dispute earlier this year. After Saxon’s initial $1.7 million civil suit, West counter-filed with his own litigation, stating that Saxon publicized “an unlawful mechanic’s lien” on the Sachs House. In March, a jury ordered West to pay Saxon $140,000 for lost wages and medical bills.

As the home’s current owner, Belmont is now racing to secure funding to avoid foreclosure. “I am working tirelessly to find a win in this situation,” he told the Wall Street Journal in March. The outlet reports that a March 19 auction is set to take place in Pomona, California, if he fails to do so. As of press time, the house is listed on Zillow as “pre-foreclosure.”

Geoffrey Montes is an associate editor at ELLE Decor with a serious love for all things real estate and design. Before that, he worked at Architectural Digest, Galerie, and Preservation magazines, covering everything from jaw-dropping listings to world-famous architects and design events like Salone del Mobile and Homo Faber.