30553 Morning View Dr.

If you or or your child ever went to Malibu High School, chances are you’re well-acquainted with 30553 Morning View Dr. Chances are, you have a nickname for it.

For kids of my generation, the massive property just down the road from MHS was known as the the “Lion House”, sonamed for the two lion statues parked at the entrance of the home’s grand, if always slightly rusty, gate. Other nicknames are equally as neighborhoodly inoccuous — “White House” or the “Manor”. But real estate blog Curbed was a little kind when describing the mansion in a 2013 article, calling it a “gilded monstrosity.”

The home was built in 1993 for a Valley-based jeweler, and designed by Los Angeles architect Ronald Firestone. Firestore was well-known for his opulent aesthetic, inspired by European design from the 19th and 18th centuries. When it was completed, the palatial home on Morning View Dr. spanned 16,000 square feet and included 11 bedrooms, a 50-car motorcourt and horse stables.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, the owner’s wife eventually decided that the house was too far from Los Angeles, and the house was put on the market in 2009. In 2010 it it sold to an English businessman, who lived there with his young family until April of 2014, when the property was sold for $12,000,000.

It’s unclear if anyone is currently living at the house, which was purchased under an LLC. The home appears to be listed on photo shoot and film location rental websites.

Sales records seem to indicate the 2014 buyer is still the current owner of the 30553 Morning View Dr. Who exactly that is is anyone’s guess. The home was purchased by an LLC based in the City of Industry, which appears to have connections to a handful of other companies based in China. The CEO of the LLC did not respond to emails.

Today, 30553 Morning View Dr. appears to be used mainly as a filming location.

HOWARD HUGHES’ SECRET LAB