Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith are preparing to leave their sprawling $100 million Malibu compound, bringing an end to 26 years at the coastal estate.
The former James Bond actor, 73, and Smith, 62, his wife of 24 years, currently divide their time between the California beachfront property and a second home in Kauai, Hawaii. Brosnan has now revealed that repeated wildfire scares, including the Los Angeles blazes in early 2025, helped convince them it is time to move on.
Speaking to The Times, he said: ‘We’ve been spared by the fires a few times now. But I think it’s time to move. Everything changes, everything falls apart…
‘We live by this body of earth’s water on a fault in a ring of earthquakes. That creates a fear.
‘I think the two of us are somewhat reclusive. It’s a long way into town. We have a small circle of friends here [but] people get divorced, they die, they move on. And we’re still here.’
Malibu was among the communities devastated by the January 2025 wildfires, which tore through parts of Los Angeles and destroyed homes belonging to several high-profile residents, including Jeff Bridges, Mel Gibson and Paris Hilton.
Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith are set to leave their $100 million Malibu compound after 26 years; the couple are pictured in 2025
Brosnan created the Southeast Asian-inspired estate after purchasing two neighboring Broad Beach properties for a combined $7.35 million in 2000, according to property records
The actor also acknowledged that maintaining the Malibu home has come with a significant financial burden, saying the costs sometimes pushed him to accept film roles he was not especially passionate about in order to meet expenses, including school fees for the couple’s two sons.
‘There have been doldrums. I have this beautiful house in Malibu. I have to pay the mortgage. There are school fees. There are definite moments of, oh, this boat is not quite sinking, but [it might] if we don’t get a job soon’, he said.
Asked whether that meant taking the ‘occasional turkey’, Brosnan replied: ‘Not many. But you make peace with that.
‘You make the commitment because you need the money, then you show up on time and do good work.’
He also revealed he loves living by the sea and does his best to get outside and keep fit, adding, ‘Keely keeps me on track. I walk away from some of the great stuff in life: the cocktails or the beer. I stay away from the bread and the butter and the pasta.
‘And I exercise: I walk the beach, go swimming, ride the bike, play tennis.’
Brosnan is a close neighbor of fellow Hollywood titan Nicolas Cage, whose palatial oceanfront home was rocked by a sinkhole that swallowed his driveway this week.
Our News Outlet has contacted representatives for Pierce Brosnan for further comment and has yet to hear back.
Brosnan developed the Southeast Asian-inspired compound after snapping up two adjacent properties for a combined $7.35 million in 2000, per property records.
The home is located in upscale Broad Beach, where stars including Dustin Hoffman, Ray Romano, Valerie Bertinelli and Mindy Kaling own multimillion dollar homes.
Covering over an acre, the estate is home to two residences with five bedrooms and 14 bathrooms total.
The James Bond star, 73, and his wife of 24 years, 62, currently split their time between the luxury home on the California coast and a secondary residence in Kauai, Hawaii but the actor has revealed the Malibu mansion has come close to being burnt to the ground several times
An aerial view of a worker next to homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire after wildfires cause damage and loss through the LA region on January 16, 2025 in Malibu, California
He has previously tried to sell the compound in 2021, but pulled the property off the market before a buyer could be found
Brosnan also admitted keeping the Malibu mansion costs him a lot of money and that he has had to take acting jobs he was not passionate about just to cover his bills and school fees for the couple’s two sons Paris and Dylan – pictured 2020
The main property, which took over a decade to craft, is called the Orchid House and covers nearly 12,500 square feet.
It features a theater, a climate-controlled wine cellar for roughly 200 bottles of wine, a gym, a music room and a travertine-wall spa with two soaking tubs.
The couple have listed the home several times before, even advertising the spot as a $120,000 a month rental back in 2004.
In 2015 a fire ripped through the mansion, causing $1million in damage.
The star and his family were home when the blaze erupted in the property’s garage, calling authorities and exiting the residence when they were alerted by a smoke alarm.
‘I love Malibu,’ Brosnan previously told the Wall Street Journal. ‘It has my heart,’ he added, while noting that now ‘home is very much here in the islands.’
He last tried to sell the compound in 2021 but pulled the property off the market before a buyer could be found.
Fellow actors who have fled California in recent years also include Superman actor Dean Cain, Rod Stewart, Mark Wahlberg and Josh Brolin.
