An estate of more than seven acres on the beach along Encinal Bluffs has sold for approximately $27 million, according to public records. The property was most recently listed at $29 million.

The transaction is by far the largest ever in Malibu, more than $10 million greater than the previous record of a neighboring property. Likely, it represents the largest home sale in California this year, the second largest ever in Southern California and one of the most sensational residential deals in American history. The seller is the widow of a Nevada casino mogul. The buyer owns a worldwide company that produces herbal and nutritional supplements. Agents involved in the transaction hailed from outside areas.

The deal reportedly included elaborate furnishings and perhaps other assets. The home is estimated at approximately 18,000 square feet. It has 13 bathrooms. Fireplaces number nine throughout the house, including the master bedroom, kitchen, den, guest house and outside patio. There is a nine-car garage.

Sitting dramatically on the bluffs, the estate accesses 300 feet of private beach. Views include the Channel Islands up the coast. The property, near Decker Canyon about three miles west of Zuma Beach, is walled and features a spectacular guarded entrance gate. Within the grounds are acres of gardens and lawns.

Though few were allowed to view the estate, it listed originally in spring 1997 for $40 million. A recent price reduction dropped the asking price from $33 million to its latest level. The sale was reported last week in the Multiple Listing Service at an undisclosed price. Document stamps for the property in public records suggest the total exchange amounted to $27 million.

The stunning transaction caps a very strong year for Malibu real estate that saw upper-end values reach all-time heights. Real estate values in general increased about 20 percent this year, locally. Indeed, the sale accents a remarkable century for property values along this coast (the Rindge family purchased all of Malibu for $133,000 just over 100 years ago) and a profound final commentary on Malibu real estate heading into the year 2000.

Virtually every amenity possible was accounted for in the two-story, Mediterranean-style manor, completed in 1993: large rooms with high ceilings and intricate finishes, framed with ocean views; expansive decks and terraces; a state-of-the-art screening room; wine cellar; tennis court and rose gardens; breathtaking pool and spa; and a beach lanai and cabana.

Claiming city bureaucrats have allowed the poor to become the targets of their wealthier neighbors, a Point Dume family told the City Council Monday that fishing expeditions to expose code violations and to raze long-standing structures amount to an “economic cleansing” of the city.

Deborah Purucker took the podium for the public comments portion of the meeting. She alleged city staff have engaged in selective enforcement aimed at the eviction of long-term residents. By insisting “guest houses” be brought up to code standards or be demolished, the city has created a “lose-lose” situation, she said, contending these homes traditionally are the only form of low-income housing in Malibu.

She urged the council to create an arbitration or mediation board to resolve disputes involving structures that predate the city’s incorporation. Another option, she said, is a grandfathering law, or a statute of limitations that would preserve structures that are now some 30 to 40 years old.

Mayor Carolyn Van Horn said the question of code enforcement proceedings brought for retaliatory motives would be added to the council’s quarterly meeting in January.

John Purucker seconded his wife’s remarks and described a letter he received from a neighbor’s attorney urging him to tear down the 750-square-foot structure in which he lives with his wife and four children.

He said the city ignores the neighbor’s use of a gully as a landfill. “There’s really nobody steering the boat,” said Purucker, in describing the city government. “We get bounced from one committee to another.” He said his family plans to build a 1200-square-foot structure at the 1-1/4 acre site, but city officials insist the present building be demolished even without approval of the new plans. He said the city planners also vacillate on whether a two-car garage must be built.

Purucker charged the bureaucracy pits neighbor against neighbor, and that many similarly situated long-term residents remain “hiding in the corners,” afraid to talk about the problem lest they become the target of retaliation. He also cited conflicting standards enforced by the California Coastal Commission.

City Planning Director Chuck Ewing said he was unaware of the specific facts but said there are pending some 1200 code enforcement cases in the city. “They’re not all the same,” he said, noting the city is seeking to lessen the paperwork. He added the city already has a liberal attitude on grandfathering existing structures.

Environmental and Building Official Victor Peterson suggested the city council was not an appropriate forum to discuss the matter and said staff was available to sit down to try and come up with a solution at any time.

“We are bound by the code,” warned Peterson, stressing the issue is whether the structure is a dwelling unit and not a chicken coop. He said much of the information supplied by the Puruckers was subjective and questioned the age of the structure.

Meanwhile, the council will likely take up in the year 2000 the plans of Point Dume resident Barbra Streisand to build a new blufftop home on Zumirez Drive. The appeal of neighbors Eric and Cheryl Jacobson was originally slated for the Dec. 13 meeting. The hearing will be held Jan. 10 to permit proper notice to the neighbors.

With only three members in attendance, the City Council voted Monday to reject a proposal to build six homes at a Point Dume site formerly approved by L.A. County for the construction of 28 condominiums.

The proposal was part of a settlement of an ongoing lawsuit. The compromise was hammered out between Layman Financial Services and city officials in October 1998. In return for permission to build six homes on the 3.75 acre parcel, Layman dropped any claims relating to the 1991 County Code that would have allowed the 28-unit condominium complex.

Neighbors at Monday’s meeting protested the lack of public notice about zoning changes, as well as the increased traffic caused by six homes on a private cul-de-sac. They insisted the city must enforce its RR-1 category of one home per one acre.

Andy Layman defended the formula worked out with city officials as a win-win situation for Malibu that would preserve a single-family buffer on the property that borders a commercial office building. Attorney Alan Block said his client “is attempting to be a good neighbor” and chose not to litigate his vested right to secure the 28-unit construction. Acting City Attorney Richard Terzian described the proposal as “an appropriate compromise.” Planning Director Chuck Ewing agreed the proposal was “better than hitting ourselves in the head with a larger hammer.”

Faced with questions from Walt Keller on whether the investors had considered the profit to be gleaned from three houses rather than six, Layman sought a continuance to come up with the necessary paperwork.

Mayor Carolyn Van Horn endorsed Keller’s approach, and remarked that with lower density, the “sense of community is maintained.” She stressed the site is on a slope and characterized it as a “wildlife corridor.”

Councilwoman Joan House favored a continuance, but as a tactic to secure reconsideration, voted with her colleagues to reject the proposed residential subdivision. She said she supported the compromise and would favor bringing the plans back to a subsequent council meeting at full strength.

“I’m being pushed back again,” said Layman, alluding to the loss of time. “I’m not a wealthy man,” he remarked, suggesting one option would be to sell the land to a major developer who could push the plans through.

The lights of Chanukah are twinkling all over Malibu, as the Jewish community celebrates the Festival of Lights Dec. 3 – 10 at Malibu Jewish Community Center & Synagogue.

The holiday of Chanukah commemorates the victory of a small band of Jews called the Macabbees over the Hellenistic armies of Syria and Rome in 168 BCE. The conquerors had desecrated the holy temple and forbidden the Jews to practice their faith. When the military force of the Jews prevailed, it was time to rededicate the temple, but there was only enough oil left for one day. The miracle was that the oil lasted for eight days while new oil was purified and the altar was restored. Therefore, we light candles for eight days, as we celebrate the power of a small amount of light in this time of seasonal darkness.

The annual MJC&S Latke Party and Chanukah Concert will be held Dec. 10, and all are invited to share the joy of the season with us. Latkes will be served at 6 p.m., followed by a Chanukah service and concert at 7:30 p.m. Cantor Shira Adler has prepared a program of Chanukah songs with the Adult and Youth Choir, and she will add her own special voice to a presentation of Lucas Richman’s Chanukah Festival Medley, which she is also performing at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino. Eight candles are lit on the final evening of Chanukah, and we will all join in sending our prayers and blessings out to all of Malibu on this special final Chanukah of the millennium.

All eight days of Chanukah have been a time of festivity for MJC&S. On the first night of Chanukah, MJC&S hosted more than 150 people in 10 homes for a “Shabbat/Chanukah” in the home, marking the essence of this family celebration. The event was coordinated by Tamar Freeman, our “Shabbat Queen.” On Sunday, the third grade participated in a family education day. Chanukah began early in our MJC&S Religious School. Third-grade teachers Karen Verham, Penni Seller and Tova Fagan began planning their focus holiday Chanukah Family Education Day in early November. Children read and sang in Hebrew the two candle blessings, as well as the “Shehehianu.” They practiced singing songs and told the story in bibliodrama, story or drawing. On Nov. 5, every single third grader –16 of them — had at least one parent with them to design and paint a ceramic latke platter for their family. The round or oval platters are being glazed for future use. Potatoes and onions were being grated, while eggs were whipped and oil was heating. There were latkes for everyone. Dreidels were spinning, as the game was played for buttons. Most of all, everyone learned that “not by might, and not by power, but by spirit alone,” all humanity can live in peace and religious freedom.

Every child learned Chanukah candle blessings, made crafts, played games, and celebrated holiday joy with all their senses. Before Thanksgiving, we were practicing Chanukah songs on Sunday mornings with Cantor Shira. On Tuesday, Chabad taught us how to press olive oil from olives. Confirmation discussions explored the deep moral values that Chanukah challenges us with every year. Each day, we light our chanukkiah as a school. Every child knows that 2164 years ago, “A Great Miracle Happened There.”

As part of our MJC&S intergenerational program, our preschool will be visiting the Jewish home for the Aging in Reseda. The children will be singing Chanukah songs along with our cantor and will be performing a Chanukah play. The preschoolers have made a beautiful Chanukah menorah and will be presenting it to the seniors as a gift.

Both the preschool and the religious school are coordinating with Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles to send special presents to children who are ill over the holidays. Gifts were donated by a toy company, Jakk’s Pacific, and the new toys will be wrapped by our students and sent with a special handmade card to more than 100 children this week. This program will continue with a pen-pal program between our students and the Children’s Hospital, so that an ongoing connection can be made throughout the year to children who could use a dose of care and attention. In this way, the light of Chanukah can continue to burn.

Please join us at MJC&S on Friday, at 6 p.m. for latkes (potato pancakes) and at 7:30 p.m. for a concert (no charge) to celebrate the joy of Chanukah.

Fire took The Malibu Colony Company early last Thursday morning, also destroying a portion of neighboring TraDiNoi restaurant. By mid-day, the charred structures were being torn down and the store’s employees, many looking shocked and weepy, were operating out of the Colony Co.’s neighboring annex, while cards, baskets of flowers and snacks, and offers of food and shelter began arriving.

Responding to a 3:19 a.m. report of a structure fire, signaled by a heat detector, the county fire department dispatched five engines, one paramedic squad, one truck company, one patrol and one battalion chief to the scene. One firefighter was injured, said Mark Whaling, public information officer for the L.A. County Fire Department.

By Friday, the Sheriff’s Arson Detail was still investigating the origin and cause of the fire but said it did not appear to be arson related. While no one would specifically point to a cause, sources indicated it was likely electrical.

The fire singed neighboring shrubbery several shops away. As visitors to the store noted, had the fire occurred the following morning, when strong winds were gusting, the results would have been even more disastrous.

Greg Kozak, property manager for The Malibu Country Mart stores, said repair and rebuilding work began immediately. The new Colony Co. building is currently being designed by a local architect.

Kozak said the city of Malibu is requiring a complete overhaul of the electrical system at TraDiNoi, but Kozak is filing for a Temporary Conditional Use Permit so the restaurant can operate under a tent on its patio area. Kozak expects the restaurant to be operational, “at a real stretch, in two weeks to a month.”

The Malibu Colony Co. store was 100 percent destroyed, said Kozak. While damage to TraDiNoi was not considered “total,” Kozak said, its roof and the common wall with the store were called a total loss, its floor was destroyed by excessive water, the air conditioning system was “roasted” and it suffered smoke damage.

Kozak was notified of the fire at 5 a.m. by a “911” page from the sheriff’s department. He said he took off down Pacific Coast Highway, where he was stopped and ticketed for speeding by an LAPD officer, despite showing his pager to the officer.

Friends and co-workers had tried to reach Tina Nicholls, manager of The Malibu Colony Co., but she had changed her telephone number. The Fire Department, which had recently visited the premises to update its records, had her new number and telephoned her at 6 a.m., informing her of the fire and asking her to come to the premises.

“He said, ‘Drive carefully,'” Nicholls recalled. “I put the phone down, threw on some jeans and ran out. My husband drove. All the way, I kept thinking, ‘It’s probably just one part.’ I drove up and saw the empty shell. That was it for me.”

For customers who had placed orders prior to the fire, The Colony Co. is shipping inventory from its Laguna store or providing refunds, at the customer’s option. Shipments of new items are still arriving, including orders placed earlier in the fall.

As for employees, Nicholls said, “They’re all staying with me. They’re all going to get paid.

“It took a tragedy like this to let us know Malibu people are good people. Flowers keep arriving, people keep calling. People have offered their houses. They’ve sent in food and food vouchers. People are coming in and buying, just for the sake of buying — cards, little things.” She keeps the community’s sympathy notes in the annex’s fireproof safe.