Malibu, California

It's no wonder that so many celebrities want to call Malibu home. Sitting along 21 miles of prime beachfront land, minutes from the Pacific Coast Highway which can take them anywhere, either towards the city or the mountains, great weather and the chance to live among their peers, Malibu offers the perfect escape after a hard day's work, is far enough away from that work for comfort, yet is also small enough for a feeling of security and camaraderie.

The current city of Malibu owes The story of a family. The Rindge family owned all the land that now sits Malibu get everything in 1891. The family more or less wanted everyone to keep to ourselves, but the State had other ideas, especially the construction of the road through the property. Once the state has the claim, which began in May Rindge, the matriarch of the family, the sale of parts of the site for housing. Malibu Colony was one of the first residential areas are populated, and many early movie stars homesthere along the beach. Eventually, needing more money once the stock market crashed, she sold the rest of it, and it quickly started to grow into what it's become today. The Adamson House (named after her daughter Rhonda) is actually a historic monument that's a part of Malibu Lagoon State Park, along with Malibu Potteries, a business May tried to start, which was very successful until the downturn in the economy.

Many of Malibu's residents live in houses containing beachfront property; It 's a good thing there are a lot. There are several beaches, some of which are: Surfrider Beach, Zuma Beach, Malibu State Beach and Topanga State Beach. There are also numerous parks in the area, including: Malibu Bluffs Park, Legacy Park, Malibu Creek State Park, Leo Carillo State Beach and Park Point Mugu State Park, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, and Robert H. Price Meyer Memorial State Beach.

Strangely, as the area is beautiful, and as close asto the ocean as it is, Malibu is also home to many large fires, which have consumed many homes in the area from time to time. The city has strict fire control laws, but fires still happen from time to time. There are also worries sometimes of mudslides every once in awhile when it rains heavily.

Still, the rich, famous, and powerful continue living in Malibu, and if you wanted to go sight seeing, or hit the beaches looking for local celebrities, you're likely to find many of them. Some of the celebrities who either still live here or have lived here include: Herb Alpert; Jeff Bridges; Charles Bronson; Mel Brooks; Pierce Brosnan; Dyan Cannon; Johnny Carson; Cher; Dick Clark; Danny DeVito; Robert Downey, Jr; Robert Duvall; Bob Dylan; Emilio Estevez; Sally Field; Mel Gibson; Larry Hagman; Tom Hanks; Goldie Hawn; Michael Landon; Rob Lowe; Shirley MacLaine; Walter Matthau; Demi Moore; Bill Murray; Sean Penn; Michelle Pfeiffer; Robert Redford; Burt Reynolds; Linda Ronstadt; Jane Seymour; Martin Sheen; Charlie Sheen; Sting; Barbra Streisand; Dick Van Dyke; and Bruce Willis. And there's plenty more!

As you can imagine, housing in Malibu is pretty steep. The median price for homes in the area is $1.79 million. Yet, because of the current real estate problems, there are plenty of homes available, which has actually brought the average price per home down around $600,000. That may not mean much when it comes to trying to buy Cher's home, which is on the market for around $45 million, but in general, homes just under a million dollars are now available in some areas of Malibu. And there's plenty of opportunities to lease properties also, if you choose to be among the stars, but don't quite have the money to purchase a home.