Chef and cookbook author Geraldine Gilliland officially gave her new owner the keys to her Malibu hillside house more than a year after listing it for $18,000. Public documents show that Drederick Irving, the father of Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, paid $10.7 million, or roughly $7.4 million less than the original asking price, for the home. Irving is a former collegiate and professional basketball player.
Once Gilliland, the proprietor of Santa Monica’s Lula Cocina Mexicana restaurant, purchased the 40-acre property, known as “Rancho Chiquita,” it was utilised for weddings and parties, as well as for filming “The Voice” and a non-profit dog rescue. Since then, Gilliland has added more land to her holdings. Today, the gated compound comprises of a detached home and a main house built in the hacienda style, both set on a 225-acre plot with views of the mountains and ocean.
The main home, with its terracotta roof and stucco exterior, is about 6,700 square feet and has two stories of living space with wood beam ceilings, parquet and Saltillo tile floors, arched entrances, and clerestory windows all around. The main level features a gourmet kitchen with granite countertops, an eat-in island with built-in wine storage, high-end stainless appliances, a walk-in pantry, and a breakfast alcove. There is also a formal dining room with its own fireplace and a living room with a fireplace.
The bedrooms are spread across two distinct wings of the house, one with a master retreat overlooking the ocean, a custom fireplace, a private patio, a spacious walk-in closet lined with cedar, a separate sitting room by the fire, a loft area and an opulent bathroom that opens to a spa-filled terrace; the other with two bedrooms on the main level that connect to an outdoor palapa and a staff/guest suite on the lower level that has two bedrooms, an office, a living room and a kitchen.
The opulent outdoor spaces include an infinity-edge pool and Jacuzzi, a kitchen and bar and a number of spots perfect for al fresco dining and partying, such as a grassy area that can hold up to 250 people. A separate gated service entry that leads to a spacious motor court and an event staging area are among the extra amenities, which also include a three-car garage and parking for at least twenty vehicles.