'As if Kanye was never there': Buyer of Ye's Malibu home plans to fully restore mansion

The buyer of the Malibu mansion, which the artist formerly knew as Kanye West, scaled back his plans to restore the house to its original design, adding that some of musician Ye's moves were “stupid.”

The sale of the Tadao Ando-designed home on Malibu Road closed Thursday morning, said buyer Bo Belmont, who heads Belwood Investments. Belmont, like the artist from whom he buys the house, has a difficult history. He was once charged with attempted murder for a pitchfork attack in Napa County and was ultimately convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and spent three years in prison (“I shouldn't have brought a pitchfork to a fistfight,” Belmont told The Times). .

He bought the home for $21 million, down from the original offer of $53 million that Ye posted in December. You made headlines for removing windows, doors, electricity and plumbing in the house, and the man he hired to do the work said he “single-handedly destroyed this architectural masterpiece.”

Belmont plans to restore it.

“My goal is to make it like Kanye was never there. “The house will immediately be back to the condition it was in,” Belmont said in an interview with The Times.

Belmont said he searched the home and there wasn't too much damage to the structure. The changes Ye made were “largely cosmetic.” His biggest criticism is that the “No More Parties In LA” rapper removed the glass from the floors.

“That was a really stupid move. Really pointless,” Belmont said.

They had lots of ideas for what he wanted to do with the house, Belmont said, including turning the stairs into a slide, the floor into trampolines and camouflaging the entire exterior of the house.

“It would have needed a comprehensive review… There's a process and he does things his own way and the city of Malibu doesn't care who you are, they're going to hold you accountable,” Belmont said.

The home was previously owned by Richard Sachs, but was purchased by Ye in 2021 for $57 million. The deal, which closed Thursday, was negotiated between Belmont and Jason Oppenheim, who represented Ye in the sale.

Belmont said he plans to spend between $6 million and $8 million restoring the home. He will work with Marmol Radziner, who carried out the initial construction of the house. Belmont's goal is to flip the house at a profit to benefit his company's investors, allowing the public to invest in high-quality real estate.

According to Belmont, there are 500 investors in Ye House who have invested between $1,000 and $1 million.