MALIBU, Calif. — Kanye West, now known as Ye, once showed up unannounced at the gate of a Malibu compound quietly listed at $295 million, talked his way inside, and stayed for four days, according to a new book excerpted and reported by the New York Post on October 29, 2026.
Read the Post's report: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/kanye-west-arrived-unannounced-295m-162407032.html
The account comes from “Citizen Kim,” Jonathan Van Meter's new biography of Kim Kardashian, West's ex-wife.
The Buzzer at Paradise Cove
The property is a 42,000-square-foot white concrete compound on a bluff in Malibu's Paradise Cove, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando.
Art collectors Maria and Bill Bell spent 15 years building it. Bill Bell is a soap opera heir; his parents created “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.”
The home was being offered quietly, as a pocket listing, at $295 million, represented by celebrity broker Kurt Rappaport. West never called him.
Per Van Meter, West pulled up to the gate, rang the buzzer and introduced himself. When the owner hesitated, West compared the moment to Elvis Presley ringing your doorbell.
Van Meter writes that West stayed four days, set up his “office” by the pool and held meetings there, wanting to feel what it was like to work inside an Ando.
The book does not pin down the year; the Wall Street Journal reports the visit happened in 2022.
Big Ando, Little Ando
A year before that visit, in September 2021, West paid $57.25 million for a different Ando-designed beach house about 4 miles west, on Malibu Road.
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That home is 4,000 square feet of gray concrete, commissioned by money manager Richard Sachs and completed in 2013 after seven years of work.
In the architect's orbit, the Bells' compound was known as the “Big Ando.” West's house was the “Little Ando.”
Jay-Z and Beyoncé ultimately bought the Big Ando in 2023 for $200 million, then a California sales record.
The Little Ando, Gutted and in Limbo
West hired contractor Tony Saxon to gut his smaller house, intending a minimalist, bunker-style rebuild. The interiors were stripped down to a raw shell.
Saxon sued for $1.7 million. A Los Angeles jury awarded him $140,000 this past March, reportedly for lost wages and medical expenses.
West listed the shell for $53 million in December 2023. In 2024 it sold for $21 million to a crowdfunded real-estate firm led by Steven “Bo” Belmont, which relisted it at $39 million in 2025 before the property slid toward foreclosure.
Two auction dates have been set and postponed so far in 2026, and the house's fate is unresolved. In the meantime, artist Ryan Keeley has used the gutted home as an oceanfront art studio.
Belmont told the Post's Gimme Shelter this week that his focus is on the best outcome for everyone involved, especially the firm's investors.
Sources
New York Post, October 29, 2026 (via Yahoo): https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/kanye-west-arrived-unannounced-295m-162407032.html
“Citizen Kim” by Jonathan Van Meter; Wall Street Journal (2022 visit date)