No Longer Moonstruck With Beach

Cher has quietly put her Malibu home on the market at $25 million.

The actress-singer bought the land seven or eight years ago and just finished building the house, where she has been living while completing the work.

"It took 70 workmen two years to build the house, but I could see her touch--the artist's touch," said one of a few real estate licensees invited to tour the house. "Every tile was put in right, and the grout was perfect."

Cher is said to have hand-picked all the tile in the house, and she oversaw the installation of such special features as a hammered-copper ceiling in the dining room. "She used the highest quality fixtures and

The house has seven bedrooms, a wig room and a media room in just under 14,000 square feet. Local codes now limit house size to slightly more than 11,000 square feet. The master suite has two big walk-in closets.

Cher's house, which has unobstructed coastline views, is on 2.5 acres with a guest house, an infinity pool that appears to spill into the ocean and a tennis court, under which there is parking for six cars.

Observers describe the house style as a cross between a villa and a monastery. One said it looks like a medieval castle made of stone and iron but with many windows. "I was prepared not to like the house because I thought it would be dark," he said, "but I love the light that is in there."

Access to the house is from Pacific Coast Highway, but there is little or no street noise because the house "was so well built," he added.

Cher reportedly wants to downsize or move on to another project. She sold her former Malibu home in 1999 for about $3.75 million.

The Oscar-winning actress ("Moonstruck," 1987) received a Grammy for best dance recording for "Believe" (2000). Cher, 55, is expected to sing with Britney Spears at Spears' televised Las Vegas concert to air Nov. 16 on HBO.

Cher's Malibu home is not officially listed, but Nancy Sill of Prudential John Aaroe, Beverly Hills, and Ellen Francisco of Coldwell Banker Previews, Malibu, are showing the house, other Realtors said.

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The Malibu home of the late Mark Hughes, founder of Herbalife, has been sold for slightly more than $30 million, according to real estate sources not participating in the deal.

Escrow closed last week on the property, which includes an 18,000-square-foot main house on about 7.5 acres plus an adjacent 2.5-acre site where Hughes had planned to build a guest house with a gym.