The famed Colony is the most exclusive community Malibu has to offer. Located behind the gates, it is home to a who 19s who in Hollywood. The Colony is located centrally in Malibu, close to shops, restaurants and an easy commute into the city. To establish Malibu as a desirable location, starting in 1926 Mrs. Rindge offered beach lots to movie stars of the day, working with Art Jones to handle the leasing. To maintain control, there were no sales but thirty feet of ocean frontage could be leased for $30.00 per month on a ten year lease ($1/foot/month was the promotion). Swedish silent film star Anna Q. Nielson was the first to sign up followed quickly by Clara Bow, Ronald Colman, Bing Crosby, Harold Lloyd, Delores del Rio, Warner Baxter, Constance Bennett, Gary Cooper, Jack Warner, Mervyn Leroy, John Gilbert, Gloria Swanson, Barbara Stanwyck and many others. Studio carpenters were brought in to build cottages, at an average cost of $2600, and the "Malibu Beach Motion Picture Colony" was born.

Screenwriter and celebrity journalist Adela Rogers St. Johns, who calls herself the "World's Greatest Girl Reporter," wrote of how she first came to Malibu to interview Anna Q. Nielson. She passed the guarded gate at Las Flores, then followed the one-lane dirt road that would become PCH to a "small weathered grocery store and lunch counter and bar and Art Jones' real estate office." Across the street was the entrance to another dirt road leading to a few cottages at the beach. She met with Nielson and fell in love with Malibu.

Her son, Richard St. Johns, remembers:

I went from the hospital where I was born to the Malibu Colony in 1929. Mama loved the beach and her house 14 No. 104 14 was the third or fourth built.

Ten years later the original Malibu Colony leases expired and residents were able to purchase their lots. Ownership led to expansion including larger homes, tennis courts and other luxuries. The Malibu Colony became and remains world famous as the beach retreat of movie, TV and rock stars, along with other wealthy personalities from the entertainment and business worlds.

If you have any questions about this area or would like to view available properties, please feel free to contact Ishita Ganguly-Morrison at 424 234 0975 or Ishita@PacificGreatEstates.com.