Bassist Flea, aka Michael Balzary, the founding member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, has become a serial real estate player, and he has listed his ‘extraordinary’ Malibu estate back on the market for a whopping $7.99 million.Flea, 63, bought the estate in the 24/7 guarded gates of Malibu Colony, one of California’s most exclusive beachfront enclaves, in 2020, just a few months after he unloaded another Malibu home. Back then, Flea bought this estate for $7.55 million. Three years later, the four-bedroom property is back on the market for just under $8 million, according to Realtor.com. That’s not a huge gain over three years, which might explain why he first tried renting it out instead: $75,000 a month, if anyone was curious.
Pic credit: Realtor.com.
Flea first listed the Malibu estate in March this year for $8.5 million with Sandro Dazzan of The Agency. However, by the end of July, the asking price went down to just below $8 million, making it one of the ‘best priced houses in Malibu Colony’, as per the listing. And no, the property was untouched by the 2025 California wildfires.
What the buyer gets
Pic credit: Realtor.com
The main house sits on 3,180 square feet of carefully designed space, all floor-to-ceiling glass and warm wood that supposedly makes you feel “intimately connected” to nature (the listing’s words, not ours)! This home is thoughtfully built with a wellness package. It has a cedar hot tub, cold plunge and dry sauna. The property also comes with a detached guesthouse with rooftop views, an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and what the agent is calling a ‘fully private backyard paradise’. From the rooftop, one can get a breathtaking view of Surfrider Beach, Malibu Lagoon and the mountains.The real selling point, though, is access. You don’t actually get a beachfront here, but you get something almost better: a private gate to the Malibu Lagoon Trail, which leads straight to Surfrider Beach. That’s not nothing!
Pic credit: Realtor.com
Balzary has an impressive portfolio of some of the most amazing homes across California. He is hoping to sell this Malibu estate more easily than the other California property, which stayed on and off the market for two years before being withdrawn. That property, which was about an hour away in La Crescenta, sat on 5.7 acres of hilltop real estate. It was originally designed by Richard Neutra, the legendary architect, back in 1953. Later, Michael Maltzan, another major name, built an addition with seven sides, curved staircases, and enough architectural embellishments to make a design magazine sweat. But it didn’t move. The property was listed in February 2022 at $9.8 million, then the price dropped to $8.8 million by December. Then $8 million in 2023. Then, desperately, $6.8 million in March 2024. And yet nothing stuck. By September 2024, it was delisted entirely, which in real estate language means this isn’t happening.This time, Flea is banking on location. The gated-community appeal is doing the heavy lifting where architectural pedigree couldn’t. Whether that works will say something about California’s current appetite for celebrity real estate.