Two decades after his death, Johnny Carson’s former oceanfront compound in Malibu has returned to the market with a show-stopping $110 million ask. Originally purchased for $9.5 million in the mid-1980s, the Point Dume estate was passed to Carson’s widow, Alexis, before it was sold in 2007 for $46 million to billionaire-turned-Hollywood producer Sidney Kimmel and his wife, Caroline.
The estate changed hands again in 2019 when the Kimmels transferred ownership to venture capitalist Riaz Valani and his wife, Augusta Tigrett. Valani, who gained early wealth through investments in Juul, snapped up the Malibu compound in a low-profile deal conducted entirely outside the open market. The off-market deal was sealed for $40 million in cash, an eye-popping discount from its prior asking price of $81.5 million.
Augusta Tigrett is the daughter of Hard Rock Café co-founder Isaac Tigrett and Maureen Starkey, who was previously married to Ringo Starr. Built in the early 1980s and redesigned in later years, the oceanfront compound occupies more than 1.6 hectares divided by a public roadway. A gated drive leads to a sharply angled, two-bedroom primary residence by architect Ed Niles that sits at the cliff’s edge with uninterrupted views of the Pacific.
Courtesy of Johnny Carson/YouTube
Another gated entrance opens to a three-car garage, a guardhouse, and a broad motor court with capacity for up to forty vehicles. The main residence spans 660 square meters and rises up three levels, accessed through an atrium filled with mature trees. The principal living and entertaining hall rises to a 9-meter ceiling clad in glass and wood and centers on a sunken fireplace crafted from copper and glass with surrounding built-in seating. Sliding doors open to a koi pond and an ocean-facing terrace.
An elevated dining hall adjoins a black marble bar, while a remodeled kitchen contains a substantial island and a butler’s pantry. The entire top floor is dedicated to the primary suite. The quarters contain a bedroom with a fireplace, a private balcony, dual offices, dressing rooms, and separate baths. The lower level provides a private screening room, a climate-controlled wine cellar, a wet bar, and access to an additional terrace with ocean views. The landscaped grounds incorporate a saltwater swimming pool with a waterfall grotto, a spa, a sauna, and a cold plunge.
Courtesy of Johnny Carson/YouTube
Across the street sits the second parcel, which offers a professional-grade tennis court and a 250-square-meter viewing pavilion. The pavilion holds two guest suites, a fireside lounge, a kitchen, and a locker room fitted with a sauna. Additional structures on the grounds comprise a guesthouse, a greenhouse, a fruit orchard, and an aviary, rounding out the compound’s wide-ranging amenities. Carson reached international fame as host of NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, earning the title of King of Late Night Television.
Over the course of his career, he received six Primetime Emmy Awards, the Television Academy’s 1980 Governor’s Award, and a Peabody Award in 1985. In 1987, he was welcomed into the Television Academy Hall of Fame, a fitting tribute to his decades of late-night brilliance. Carson later received the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1992, followed by a Kennedy Center Honor in 1993. He passed away on January 23, 2005, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from respiratory failure caused by emphysema.
