Musician Alicia Keys and her husband, record producer Swizz Beatz, bought one of Southern California’s best-known architectural homes for $20.8 million (£16 million) in 2019. They paid nearly $10 million less than the original asking price before turning the oceanfront property into an art-filled family home. Known as the Razor House, the glass-and-concrete estate sits on a cliff in La Jolla, near San Diego, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. According to Architectural Digest, the 11,000-square-foot property was first listed for $30 million. The couple completed the purchase in late 2019. Two years later, the couple opened the doors of their cliffside home to show how they had turned the unusual building, which extends out over the landscape, into a peaceful retreat filled with art for themselves and their children.
Engineering on the La Jolla cliffs
Designed by well-known architect Wallace E. Cunningham and completed in 2007, the Razor House takes its name from the sharp-edged coastal cliff where it stands. The building features sweeping curves, floor-to-ceiling glass walls and solid concrete beams that extend outward over the ocean.According to architectural records cited by Architectural Digest, building the home required major engineering work to secure its heavy concrete frame to the coastal bedrock. The house covers several levels linked by a glass elevator. Its design gives almost every room clear, uninterrupted views of the sea. The property has six bedrooms, a main living pavilion, an underground garage that can hold up to eight vehicles, a private cinema and a guest house. Outside, an infinity-edge swimming pool creates the impression that it drops straight into the ocean below.
Curating an extensive art collection
After Keys and Swizz Beatz, whose real name is Kasseem Dean, took ownership of the home, they worked with interior designer Kelly Behun to bring warmth and personal touches to its modern concrete spaces. The couple used the large walls and open gallery spaces to display important works from the Dean Collection. Their private art collection includes contemporary pieces by Black artists and creators from around the world. In a feature published by Architectural Digest in late 2021, Keys explained how the home’s unusual shape and design influenced their choices of furniture and artwork. “When you choose a house like this, you have to respect its architecture,” Keys told Architectural Digest during the home tour. “We wanted to make sure it felt like a home, not just a museum.” The interiors now feature major works by Kehinde Wiley, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Gordon Parks and Nick Cave. The couple chose low-profile furniture covered in soft, textured materials such as velvet, wool and shearling. These pieces soften the exposed concrete surfaces without blocking the coastal views.
A long-cherished dream realized
Swizz Beatz revealed that he had used a picture of the Razor House as his phone’s screensaver for eight years before buying it. He had admired Cunningham’s architecture long before the property came up for sale. When the estate went into foreclosure and appeared on the market at a lower price in 2019, the couple moved quickly to buy it. “It’s a place where you can sit and contemplate, write, and create,” Swizz Beatz told Architectural Digest in the 2021 interview. He described the home as both a place for creative work and a comfortable family retreat. “It was meant to be our place of peace.” The main living room, which the family calls the “Dreamland” room, features a custom piano. Keys regularly uses it to compose music while looking out over the Pacific coastline.
Living in a modern architectural icon
Beyond serving as a private home, the Razor House has become a well-known part of popular culture. Its futuristic design and dramatic cliffside position have led many local residents and architecture fans to compare it to the fictional Malibu mansion of Marvel character Tony Stark. The estate also has large outdoor terraces, a rooftop entertainment deck with an outdoor kitchen and private paths leading towards the beach below. Custom lighting built into the concrete structure lights up the home after dark without creating glare on its floor-to-ceiling glass walls. Property records confirm that the $20.8 million sale ranks among the highest property sales ever recorded in La Jolla. The price reflects both the lasting value of Cunningham’s architectural design and the continued appeal of coastal California real estate.