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Robert Downey Jr.’s Houses Have Always Been Whimsical and Unexpected
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Downey and his wife and business partner, Susan, paid $5.6 million in 2009 for a modern home in Venice, California, to serve as a base for their production company, Team Downey. The 7,500-square-foot structure was built in 2007 and features a nearly all-glass façade, a rooftop deck with an infinity pool, and a home theater. According to listing details, the top floor is designed for personal living, while the ground floor has a 1,600-square-foot art gallery or office space. A 2010 Rolling Stone feature described the space as “a concrete modernist aboveground bunker whose main floor resembles a mellow war room.”The Downeys still seem to do business out of the three-story dwelling. The Oppenheimer star is no stranger to the beach town; according to the archived Venice Beach website, the Sherlock Holmes star had an apartment on the boardwalk back in the ’90s.Malibu estateThe actor and his wife bought a Malibu compound in 2009 for $13.4 million. The four-bedroom country-style cottage spans 3,500 square feet and rests on a seven-acre plot with pastures, animal enclosures, a tennis court, and a barn converted into a two-bedroom guesthouse.In 2013, the Downeys commissioned architect Nicolò Bini to build a 6,500-square-foot concrete clubhouse on the property. Bini, the son of industrial designer Dante Bini, uses his father’s technique to construct Binishells: domed bungalows made by inflating neoprene-coated air bladders topped with steel-reinforced concrete. The thin-shelled building, which sits in one corner of the property alongside a kidney-shaped pool, serves as a place for the Downeys to entertain and house guests. “We wanted to try something that hadn’t been done before,” Susan told The New York Times. “Plus, we love a character.” The unique abode was inflated into shape in 2015, but sat empty for about two years until the couple tapped AD100 designer Joe Nahem, along with architect Ben Goodman, to decorate the dwelling with furniture and decor befitting of a Binishell. A saltwater aquarium, a breakfast nook tucked behind a retro screen comprised of giant fiberglass beads, cork flooring, and organically shaped round windows are among some of the fun furnishings.According to an interview with Purist, Downey had the property rigged with wind turbines and solar-generated water systems to offset energy consumption. The eco-friendly home still serves as the family’s primary residence.Spare Malibu padIn 2017, the Los Angeles Times reported that Downey paid $3.8 million for a 1970s beach house in Malibu. The 3,400-square-foot single-story pad features three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a great room with sliding glass doors leading out to a spacious deck with an ocean view. A detached garage with a studio, an outdoor kitchen, a putting green, a swimming pool, a cabana, and a fire pit round out the stone-paved backyard.Downey still owns the home, though it seems he bought it for family rather than for his use.Hamptons windmill houseDowney’s Hamptons living room. Photo: Francois Dischinger
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