Kendrick Lamar Buys 1950s Home in Bel Air for $16 Million

Rapper Kendrick Lamar’s real estate portfolio is growing. Reports are that the Compton-born musician dropped $15.9 million on a Bel Air house, adding to his personal housing stock which includes a $9.7 million Manhattan Beach house, a $2.65 million investment property in Calabasas, and a four-bedroom house in Eastvale, California.

Located in East Gate—Bel Air’s oldest and most prestigious section, containing the neighborhood’s largest estates—Lamar’s latest purchase sits on almost three-quarters of an acre. With just over 8,000 square feet of living space, the property is shared by a main house and a double-level guesthouse, for a grand total of seven-bedrooms and eight-bathrooms between the two. Built in 1951 by prolific California architect Edward Fickett, the L-shaped house is marked by numerous windows, glass walls, and interesting rooflines, all signatures of Fickett’s work.  

Tucked behind high walls and tall, shady foliage, the home’s facade is a calming mixture of cream-colored wood and light red brick accents. Inside, white walls reflect the natural light that beams through all of the glass, including numerous skylights both large and small in the living areas and kitchen. An updated kitchen with white cabinetry plays perfectly with walls and polished plank-wood floors can be found throughout the house. 

From the primary bedroom,  which has a fireplace and a seating area, large windows allow pleasant views of the heavily-treed compound; the primary bathroom features white subway tile flooring, dual vanities, a clawfoot bathtub, and somewhat unusually, direct access to the outdoors. Other rooms include a study, a movie theater, wine cellar, and a gym. In the stone-tiled backyard are a small pool with a spa, a koi pond (as per Dirt), and room for dining, all surrounded by colorful plants, trees, and hedges.

Lamar, the first musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to win a Pulitzer prize, told San Francisco’s Wild 94.9 station: “I really like to buy property, whether it’s apartments, whether it’s buildings, whether it’s houses,” so we fully expect to see the “Humble” rapper’s real estate portfolio continue to expand.