U2’s “Edge” Wants To Live on The Edge…of Malibu That Is
U2 guitarist David Evans, aka “The Edge” has BIG plans for Malibu, Ca. His nickname was supposedly coined by bandmate and U2 frontman Bono, for the sharp edges of his face and his ability to observe things from the edge. Er, ok.
I can just picture him and Bono back in the day at the pub, piss drunk from too many Guinnesses and Bono saying (imagine in Bono’s voice):
Bono: “Davey! Listen, you bleedin mule, and I ain’t sayin this ’cause I’m gunner-eyed and langers, but Jaysus you’re a ride, with sharp features, and your new name will be Edge. Now I need to do me pooley.”
David: “Sufferin ducks, You’re coddin’ me Bono?
Well I guess Bono wasn’t kidding, ’cause the name stuck and now the Edge will be, you guessed it, living on the edge in Malibu, on the beautiful Pacific coastline after plunking down over $15 mil, for a 120 acre lot in the Serra Retreat also known as Serra Canyon area back in 2006.
For all of you history buffs and geography nerds:
The Serra Retreat (also called Serra Canyon) is a wooded canyon area adjacent to Malibu Creek in Lower Malibu Canyon, as well as a portion of Sweetwater Mesa. Also home to the Malibu raquet Club.
The Franciscan friars’ Serra Retreat, named for Junipero Serra, the apostle of California and founder of the California missions.
Originally planned as the home of Malibu’s Rindge family, it was sold to the Franciscans in 1942.
Evans currently owns homes in Ireland and France, and also crashes in a multi-million dollar estate in the “conservative” (*snicker*) area of La Costa with his second wife Morleigh Steinberg, but has bigger plans to bust a move, and hob nob with residents of the Serra Retreat area.
The Edge said:
“My family and I love Malibu, having maintained a residence here for more than a decade,” he told the Times. “These homes will be some of the most environmentally sensitive ever designed in Malibu—or anywhere in the world. I’m disappointed that certain critics either don’t have the facts or have ulterior motives.”
There’s bick bucks in dem hills!
His new digs (if ok’ed) will put him perched above some heavy hitters in the celeb world. He will be close enough to trip over Dick Van Dykes ottoman, borrow a “cup of sugar” (*wink, wink*) from Kelsey Grammar, enjoy a couple of cocktails with Mel Gibson, (yes you heard me) or perhaps get into a spirited conversation with James Cameron (although I would’t piss Cameron off, I heard he has quite the short fuse, and he’ll sink you faster than the Titanic).
While Malibu is of considerable beauty, but like most things there’s a dark side to the pristine coastal town: out of control wildfires.
In October 2007, Cameron, Olivia Newton-John and Tanya Tucker, were evacuated due to the pending threat of the “Witch Fire” (named after Witch Creek Canyon ) in Southern Ca, along with many other not so famous, but wealthy home owners. California has been the home of devastating wild fires on an almost annual basis for the last several years.
I guess the threat of fire doesn’t scare Edge or other celebs, after all isn’t that what insurance is for?
So what will the design for this new crib, which supposedly can be seen from as fas as twenty miles away, look like? It’s supposed to simulate leaves falling down the hillside and have an “S” shaped pool for his band buddies to splash around in.
Edge's "Fallen leaf" look crib
Sounds cool enough, right? Well, there are a few teensy issues. Unfortunately of the environmental kind.
In order to construct this rocker’s dream-home, the top of the hillside will have to be squashed like a pancake. Residents are concerned it will spoil the view of natural landscape, and are unsure if Sweetwater Mesa Road can even handle traffic. Not to mention the water suppply pipes and electrical sources will need to be brought in, a new surface road, noise from heavy machinery, tons of dust, and of course the presence of a mega rock star could attract ogling fans. And most importantly, ALL of the major disruption planned, will likely be catastrophic to the local wild life.
So, why is any of this an issue? Aren’t famous people notorious for dropping tons of green to get what they want? Well, the issue here is U2 has a reputation for green crusading, but none of the Edge’s house plans are sounding too green to me.
It was not so much the big honking one story mansion that Evans want to build, that has local residents’ knickers in a bunch, but he also has plans to construct FOUR more homes, for a total of FIVE homes on this property
Most likely Edge and buddy, Irish real estate investor, Derek Quinlan, will take two of the homes and the other three homes will probably be sold off (’cause, you know, Edge needs the money)!
Malibu City Councilman Jefferson Wagner, told Canyon News:
“This raises environmental awareness because two homes would be more reasonable for the community, but five are a bit much. A wealthy individual can afford to hold on to homes on this type of financial feat,” Wagner adds. “European actors and actresses often move to America because the tax rules are more favorable and rewarding than they are in Europe.”
Wagner also told Eonline:
“The downside of this is a permanently scarred mountainside for the benefit of a very few that for many years all will view,” AND “For somebody so revered even to be orchestrating this type of development in such a sensitive area is hypocritical.”
Welcome to the world of the rich and famous, where it’s “do as I say, not as I do.”
The California Coastal Commission is expected to review the environmental impact of the project in June.
Here are some more LA Times snippets:
The properties he hopes to develop perch above Malibu’s city limits in Serra Canyon, on 156 acres in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County. The California Coastal Commission has “significant concerns” about the project, said Jack Ainsworth, deputy director of the panel’s South Central Coast District. Among them, he said, are damage to habitats, the high number of truck trips, landslide issues, the potential for hillside eyesores and the “growth-inducing impacts of pulling down a water line through other properties” that might then be developed.
Plans for extending the road call for sinking deep caissons through the slide plane, “a pretty significant undertaking from an engineering standpoint,” Ainsworth said.
The commission intends to take up the matter in June. When it does, the Edge will have an edge: his rights as a property owner. “Even if it’s considered an environmentally sensitive habitat,” Ainsworth said, “we’ve got to allow for some residential use to avoid a constitutional taking of property.”
Jim Vanden Berg, a representative for Evans and his partner in the venture, Irish real estate investor Derek Quinlan, countered that the rock musician is taking pains to ensure that the development will “create a sense of place that respects the environment [and] architecture that will stand the test of time.”
Each home, Vanden Berg said, has been tailored to the contours of its site and will be “notched into the hillside,” with boulder outcroppings and other natural elements incorporated into the designs.”
Needless to say, “Malibuites” aren’t happy campers these days about Evans chipping away more of their hillside. Apparently, this isn’t the first time that Edge hasn’t been chummy with his neighbors.
Eonline quoted:
“He and the rest of U2 came under fire in their hometown of Dublin for now defunct plans to build the so-called U2 Tower, a proposed skyscraper in the heart of the city that would’ve been the tallest in Ireland. Preservationists claimed the $220 million project would have resulted in the tearing down of four adjacent historic buildings.”
Youch! Tearing down historical buildings for a U2 skyscraper? That’s a bit full of themselves don’t ya think?
To Edge’s credit, back in 2003, he was named #24 as “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” by Rolling Stone Magazine. (eh!)
He was part of the force behind Music Rising, a campaign to replace musicians’ instruments destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Edge penned U2’s famous anti-violence anthem, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, and recently created the theme song for the animataed series of “The Batman.” If judged on his guitar merits alone, the Edge would be a prince of a guy, but this is the real world and the Edge isn’t living up to his princely reputation.
When developer Don Schmitz, who is in charge of this Edge fiasco, was asked about the project, he refused to comment, as has the Edge himself.
Frankly, IMO, I hope the ”Edge Project” does’t go through. I don’t like the idea of spoiling the beauty of a landscape simply for the sake of a celebrity wanting to do so, and the hampering of wildlife is extremely bothersome. There’s too much of that going on these days. Besides, it’s not like Edge needs yet ANOTHER house, for crying out loud.
I wonder why they sold such a huge amount of acreage to one person in the first place? Why don’t they limit the size of the property that can be bought, or ask the potential buyer for specific plans that can be reviewed before they up and sell it? DUH!
Well maybe Malibu has learned its lesson? ASK FIRST, AND SELL SMALLER.
It’s Edge’s “desire” to be “one” with the residents of Malibu and come to an agreement. I wonder if Malibu will “find what they’re Looking for”. Hopefully there there will be “peace on earth,” or at least in Malibu.
Ok, I’ll stop, I think you get it.
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gotta say, I find your coverage of the Hippie beating at Coachella to be offensive and uninformed, at best. The police are trained to deal with the mentally unstable, and this isn’t how they are supposed to handle it.
If you notice, there is a great deal of physical force used to subdue what was a decidedly subdued individual. The police who work these events relish the opportunity to stomp these “stoner troublemakers”. What’s worse, is that you condone it (likely after being taken in by a similarly offensive Huff Post article) and make fun of this guy, when he was in deep need of help.
And to highlight my point, you clearly don’t have any experience with Acid. The stuff is worse than cold water on a mans junk, hence this video really has no bearing on the actual size of his penis.
Comment by Joe — April 28, 2009 @ 12:44 pm
If the Edge was evacuated for the Witch Creek fire, that would have meant he was down in San Diego (La Costa). This post makes it sound as if the Witch Creek fire resulted in people in Malibu evacuating. They had their own fires to deal with, but it definitely wasn’t that particular blaze.
Comment by Joanie — April 28, 2009 @ 1:08 pm
That’s true, the Witch fires weren’t in Malibu but as you said San Diego. The writer was pointing out the ongoing hazard of fire to structures dotting the foothills of California, although the quote was a bit out of context, there have been many fires in the Malibu area as well. In fact, California in general seems to be suffering from a number of deadly fire eruptions in the past few years. Makes you wonder why anyone would invest SO much money into a structure with that kind of potential for disaster.
As for the Hippy post, I wrote that post and I stand by my statement that the guy getting tased was acting like a complete a-hole. Look, if you can’t handle your illegal drugs and simultaneously be a law-abiding citizen, then don’t do them. It’s not the cops fault that the guy was breaking the law and resisting arrest. They were cool until he grabbed at the cops holster, accident or not. If I were a cop and someone gross and naked were wrestling with me in an out of control manner and went for my holster, I would subdue them in any way possible. That cop had to consider the safety of everyone around him. Do you think people on drugs are always rational?
Also, there’s a HUGE difference between someone who is mentally unstable and person who willfully ingested toxic substances, and to make a comparison of the two shows a serious lack of insight on your part Joe. The only help that guy needed was to grow the fuck up and not take drugs he’s incapable of handling.
As for his shrinkage, PUHLEEZE, I don’t care if he ate an entire sheet of acid, dude’s penis was an embarrassment not only to himself but all of mankind. If you ain’t got it, don’t flaunt it. Besides, I don’t want to see ANYONE’s naked genitalia when I’ve paid good money for tickets to a concert. It was a music festival, not a damn orgy.
My experience with acid (how do you know that’s what he was on) is none of your business, but I don’t see what that has to do with someone’s penis. Unless that was YOUR penis, quit making excuses.
Comment by D — April 28, 2009 @ 1:47 pm
oh my, that’s the first time i have seen edge without that ridiculous ski hat on. good going, glosslip!!
Comment by sally — April 28, 2009 @ 5:18 pm
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Pingback by Celebrity Blog | Babelogs | Celebrity Gossip » Blog Archive » U2’s “Edge” Wants To Live on The Edge…of Malibu That Is — April 28, 2009 @ 10:04 pm
[...] and I ain’t sayin this ’cause I’m gunner-eyed and langers, but Jaysus you’re a ride click for more var gaJsHost = ((”https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : [...]
Pingback by U2’s “Edge” Wants To Live on The Edge…of Malibu That Is < It’s all about the trends — April 30, 2009 @ 12:48 am
D, yes, it was a bit confusing as far as the fires went and we never have just ONE here. I guess I’m just used to it by now. Living here, you pretty much keep a scorecard going at all times to stay on top of which fires are moving toward you and how quickly.
As for Joe jumpin’ your shit for that Coachella incident? I’m with you. I think the cops acted exceedingly polite (I’ve seen the video several times) and in the end, they responded in the most appropriate manner, with the rest of the festival-going crowd in mind. It was only a few people in the crowd who seemed intent on cop-baiting. Sad. Then again, they were probably drunk and high enough to not really get what was going on. Per the size of the junk: I actually think the problem was more swelling of his testicles. As a nurse, I’ve seen some doozies. That ranked up there. If you wanna talk millimeter peters, we can discuss “Hank” sometime. Email me, D. You’ll enjoy the tale.
Comment by Joanie — April 30, 2009 @ 4:49 am
[...] at all. Let’s not forget the house(s) that U2 guitarist Edge is building in Malibu CA., that I reported on earlier that had local residents wondering why he would want to build so many structures and [...]
Pingback by GlossLip » U2 Leaves Big Ass Footprints Behind! — July 16, 2009 @ 7:51 am
[...] at all. Let’s not forget the house(s) that U2 guitarist Edge is building in Malibu CA., that I reported on earlier that had local residents wondering why he would want to build so many structures and [...]
Pingback by Celebrity Blog | Babelogs | Celebrity Gossip » Blog Archive » U2 Leaves Big Ass Footprints Behind! — July 16, 2009 @ 5:22 pm
He wanted to make extensive changes to his main residence here in Killiney too and the local council wouldnt let him as the changes would have to damaging to the local infrastructure and so to get around this he simply bought a house that was on a hill overlooking the main road instead of being visible from it and so he was able to do all the rebuildig he wanted.They are very particular about changing exteriors in DALKEY AND killiney as these are heritage villages full of listed buildings.
Comment by darla — October 9, 2009 @ 2:29 pm