Henry Samuel, better known around the globe as four-time Grammy-winning singer-musician Seal, has plunked down a bit more than $3.5 million for a secluded mountaintop retreat near Topanga, Calif., in the scrubby, fire-scarred mountains above Malibu.
Behind gates and out of sight down a long driveway on roughly three landscaped acres with wrap-around mountain and peek-a-boo ocean views, the airy two-story contemporary has four en suite bedrooms and five sleekly updated bathrooms in just about 3,600 square feet. Gigantic windows, several skylights and cathedral ceilings fill crisp and spare, open-plan living spaces with natural light, and an integrated surround sound system efficiently pumps music throughout. In addition to spacious patios and a lap-lane saltwater swimming pool set into a flat-expanse of lawn, the property includes a children’s playground and a lighted tennis court. There’s also a kitchen garden protected by a screened enclosure that keeps mountain critters from late-night foraging. Private hiking paths wind around to quiet overlooks with panoramic vistas.
The property was listed with The Agency’s Sean Landon; Seal was represented by Jonathan Siegfried at Compass.
The British musician, who did three seasons as a judge on the Australian version of “The Voice,” most recently in 2017, and his mega-model-turned-reality-TV mogul ex-wife, Heidi Klum, previously owned a contemporary villa high in the mountains above Beverly Hills that they sold in 2006 for $5 million to Nick Lachey. They later owned an opulent mansion in a posh, guard-gated enclave in L.A.’s Brentwood, sold around the time of their 2014 divorce, for $24 million.