Johnny Carson’s Malibu Estate Is Back on the Market — But Why the Sky-High Price?

The Malibu mansion once belonging to Johnny Carson, located near Little Dume Beach, is now up for sale.

The late television host, comedian, and writer left behind a home that is almost 7,100 square feet and designed in 1978 by architect Ed Niles, known for its futuristic and angular design, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A Legend’s Former Home

Listed at $110 million, the price is more than double what the current owners, venture capitalist Riaz Valani and Hard Rock Cafe heiress Augusta Tigrett, paid in 2019.

The property has changed hands several times since Carson’s death in 2005. He had owned the home for more than 20 years.

Mansion Global reported in 2018 that Carson purchased the home in 1984, shortly after it was built.

According to The Los Angeles Times, he spent about $9.5 million at the time, which, adjusting for inflation, is roughly equivalent to $30.2 million today, based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator.

In 2007, just two years after his passing, fashion tycoon and film producer Sidney Kimmel and his wife, Caroline, became the estate’s second owners when they bought it from Carson’s widow, Alexis, for about $46 million. Handling the billionaire couple’s listing were Chris Cortazzo of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury and Linda May of Hilton & Hyland.

The Kimmels listed the property for $81.5 million in October 2017 before selling it to Valani and Tigrett in June 2019.

The estate includes a two-bedroom 843-square-foot guesthouse, a living room with a copper-and-glass sunken fireplace, and a tennis pavilion with two additional guest rooms. It has a bench from Wimbledon, which reportedly was given to Carson by NBC as a retirement gift in 1992.

The major selling point is the view outside of Little Dume Beach.

The four-acre estate accesses rocky outcrops and ocean views and includes a koi pond and swimming pool.

Carson, the third host of “The Tonight Show,” helmed the program from 1962 to 1992.

He was dubbed the “king of late night” for modernizing the format.

His version of ”The Tonight Show” helped popularize today’s format of late show, including sharp opening monologues, guest-focused interviews rather than gimmicks, and recurring comedy sketches that became cultural reference points for millions of Americans who tuned in nightly.

He paved the way for comedians who got their first mainstream exposure on gis show, including David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, and Joan Rivers.

His influence also helped define late-night hosting for future comedians such as Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel.