Malibu Beach

A Malibu beach home once owned by actor-producer-director Robert Redford has come on the market for $13.8 million. The gated two-story, built in 1948 and extensively upgraded, has walls of glass, living areas that open to expansive patios, and stone and hardwood floors. There are five bedrooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms and two fireplaces in 5,329 square feet. The ocean view master bedroom features an attached spa. Redford, 73, received the first Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists award from the USC School of Theatre earlier this month for his social activism.

Santa Monica Pier and Surfrider Beach in Malibu earned spots on Heal the Bay's dreaded "Beach Bummer" list as the nonprofit water-watchdog group Wednesday issued its annual pollution report card. They were among the 10 worst of 23 state beaches that received an F grade for pollution. Los Angeles County had the worst overall beach water quality in California last year, according to the report. Overall dry-weather water quality in L.A.

Broad Beach has long been a scenic backdrop to Malibu's public access wars. The tranquil rhythm of surf has been routinely shattered by security guards and sheriff's deputies bouncing beachgoers who spread towels on the confusing mosaic of public and private sand. Today, Broad Beach has shrunk into a narrow sliver of its former self. And like other skinny Malibu icons, its slenderness qualified the beach for a different kind of trend-setting role: How California will deal with rising sea levels.

Nailing down the facts in two June brawls between paparazzi and Malibu locals would seem to be as easy as a mouse click. Video and still cameras captured the beach fracases from multiple angles, and the footage was posted online for all to see. But a month later, much remains unclear. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has not charged anyone in the incidents, and one surfer says a knife wielded by a paparazzo was edited out of the video sold to Internet gossip sites.

Nancy Daly Riordan, the estranged wife of former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, has sold a Malibu beach house for an estimated $68 million. It is believed to be the highest-priced home sale in Malibu, dwarfing the sale last year of the former Johnny Carson estate at $35 million.

When beachgoers head to Malibu, they often choose Zuma and Topanga as their destinations. But there are plenty more options for those who aren't scared off by signs saying "Private Beach" and "Right to Pass by Permission." Under California law, the shoreline is generally open to public access. Some of the no-trespassing signs posted by oceanfront homeowners have not been permitted by the state but can deter confused beachgoers anyway.

Pamela Anderson, the Playboy Playmate who went on to portray a lifeguard on "Baywatch," liked the beach so much that in 2000 she rented a home in Malibu for $16,000 a month. In 2001, she bought a house there. Now she has the itch to move again. She listed her 2,300-square-foot home, in the gated Malibu Colony, at $6.5 million. Has Anderson lost interest in the beach? Area real estate agents say she just wants more privacy.

Beachfront. Big-name architect. Beautiful. What else do you need to know? This is a house that could play itself in the movies -- cast as the quintessential Malibu beach mansion. Malibu architect Edward R. Niles, known for designing homes with sleek lines, spent five years expanding the original house to incorporate an adjacent lot acquired in 1995. The result is a contemporary home that knows better than to compete with Mother Nature. The property fronts 128 feet of prime Malibu Road beach.

WE'RE ON OUR porch, the baby and I, planning our escape. We've had it with cooking shows and family time. Last night, an argument over sleepovers woke bald eagles in tall trees 100 miles up the coast. When no one's looking, the baby and I plan on just walking away. "You go first," I tell him. "Me?" he says. "I'll be right behind you," I say. He is 2 now. When I comb his hair, pixie dust falls to the ground around his feet. His life so far is pretty much a fairy tale. Much like mine.

In a $180-million buying spree that began two years ago, Larry Ellison, chief executive and co-founder of software giant Oracle Corp., has purchased a dozen Malibu properties, all but two of which are residential. To top it off, the 60-year-old billionaire may have just begun to shop. Last week, rumor had it he was also eyeing a Malibu shopping center. But that may have been a case of mistaken billionaires, as sports mogul E. Stanley Kroenke purchased the Malibu Colony Plaza.