By Wendy Bowman | Variety
Though Joe Montana is still looking to hand off his lavish 500-acre Napa Valley estate to a new owner — recently slashing the price to $24.5 million, a 50% drop from the original $49 million ask of 2009 — the former San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback is expanding his real estate holdings elsewhere. Property records show that Montana and his former model-actress turned jewelry designer wife Jennifer have scooped up a Malibu home, paying nearly $7.4 million in an off-market deal for an oceanfront cottage nestled along a sandy stretch of beach just steps from the Malibu Pier.
The relatively modest home’s appeal unarguably lies in the sweeping coastline views overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Queen’s Necklace and Catalina Island. But the traditional-style residence itself was built way back in 1950 and doesn’t look to have been updated much through the years, if dated listing photos are any indication. Owned for decades by the late “Leave It to Beaver” actress Barbara Billingsley, the property is a queintessential diamond in the rough, offering a modest 1,382 square feet of original living space.
Sited on a heavily traveled strip of Pacific Coast Highway, and fronted by a wall and a two-car garage, the home’s unassuming front door opens into a small foyer before flowing into light and airy interiors sporting a mix of carpet and hardwood floors. Especially standing out is a combination living and dining area highlighted by floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that open to a spacious wood deck sporting those aforementioned killer views.
There’s also an all-white galley-style kitchen with open shelving, plus three bedrooms and two colorfully hued baths; elsewhere on the grounds are a walled courtyard and plenty of under-the-house storage space for surfboards and and other water-related toys.
Montana, 65, played 16 seasons as a professional quarterback, mainly with the 49ers. Known as the “Comeback Kid,” the NFL Hall of Famer led his teams to 31 fourth-quarter come-from-behind wins, including a 92-yard drive in the closing seconds of Super Bowl XXIII. Today, he operates the San Francisco-based venture capital firm Liquid 2 Ventures and is reported to have an estimated net worth around $80 million.
