THE MALIBU BEACH HOUSE
AND THE MINX
1931
To establish Malibu as a desirable
location, starting in 1926 Mrs.
Rindge offered beach lots to movie
stars of the day, working with Art
Jones to handle the leasing. To
maintain control, there were no
sales but thirty feet of ocean
frontage could be leased for $30.00
per month on a ten year lease
($1/foot/month was the
promotion). Swedish silent film
star Anna Q. Nielson was the first
to sign up followed quickly by
Clara Bow, Ronald Colman, Bing
Crosby, Harold Lloyd, Delores del
Rio, Warner Baxter, Constance
Bennett, Gary Cooper, Jack
Warner, Mervyn Leroy, John
Gilbert, Gloria Swanson, Barbara
Stanwyck and many others. Studio
carpenters were brought in to
build cottages, at an average cost
of $2600, and the "Malibu Beach
Motion Picture Colony" was born.
The Malibu Beach Motion Picture Colony
Screenwriter and celebrity journalist Adela Rogers St. Johns, who calls herself the "World's Greatest Girl
Reporter," wrote of how she first came to Malibu to interview Anna Q. Nielson. She passed the guarded gate at
Las Flores, then followed the one-lane dirt road that would become PCH to a "small weathered grocery store
and lunch counter and bar and Art Jones' real estate office." Across the street was the entrance to another dirt
road leading to a few cottages at the beach. She met with Nielson and fell in love with Malibu.

Ten years later the original Malibu Colony leases expired and residents were able to purchase their lots.
Ownership led to expansion including larger homes, tennis courts and other luxuries. The Malibu Colony
became and remains world famous as the beach retreat of movie, TV and rock stars, along with other wealthy
personalities from the entertainment and business worlds.
For more Malibu Beach Motion Picture Colony
history and the rest of this story click HERE