Yahoo Sports Malibu’s Only Robert Skinner-Designed Home Sells to a Prominent Video Game Exec
Upon relocating to California over six decades ago, German-born physicist Gisela Eckhardt—best known as co-inventor of the Raman laser—was looking to put down stakes in the Los Angeles area. She wound up falling in love with a Robert Skinner-designed house in the Trousdale Estates neighborhood of Beverly Hills and subsequently enlisted the modernist architect to create a ranch-style home for her in the eastern reaches of Malibu, directly above Big Rock Beach.
Completed in 1966 and sold for $4 million in late 2020 after Eckhardt’s passing to a real estate developer with Maison d’Artiste—complete with a staunch promise he had made to her that he would preserve the place in keeping with Skinner’s original design—the extensively restored property popped up on the market again in late 2022, asking a speck under $12 million.
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Now, a little over a year and several price reductions later, the residence has traded hands once more, this time going for $9 million to digital media and technology veteran Javier Ferreira, co-CEO of the interactive entertainment company and mobile games publisher Scopely.
Skinner’s one and only Malibu creation, the midcentury gem is aptly known as the “Eckhardt House,” and features four bedrooms and three bathrooms in roughly 2,700 square feet of open-concept living space boasting newer terrazzo floors paired with whitewashed interiors, block walls and natural oak accents. Vast expanses of glass also provide sweeping city lights and ocean views from almost every room.
Resting amid a bluff-top parcel spanning nearly 3 acres, and protected by a security system, the striking all-white structure is fronted by a motorcourt and an attached two-car garage. Double doors open into an entry foyer that flows to a sunken living room sporting a decorative floating-hearth fireplace, while an adjacent dining area adorned with a massive mural adjoins an eat-in kitchen outfitted with bespoke cabinetry, Corian countertops, and top-tier Fisher & Paykel and Miele appliances.
Elsewhere is a glass-lined primary suite flaunting a built-in desk, private sauna and walk-in closet, as well as a spa-inspired bath equipped with dual vanities and a custom waterfall shower. Outdoors, the terraced backyard hosts a large white-bottom pool, fire-pit, “strolling gardens,” and numerous patios ideal for al fresco lounging and entertaining.
The listing was held by Elizabeth Donovan of Coldwell Banker Realty; David Caskey and Jeremy Robinson of eXp Realty of California repped Ferreira.
Click here for more photos of Javier Ferreira’s Malibu house.
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