Nicolas Cage’s multimillion-dollar Malibu beach house is at the center of a serious coastal erosion emergency after the driveway outside the property collapsed into a massive hole Tuesday morning.
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The actor’s $10.5 million beachfront property was left dangerously close to the damage after asphalt and concrete gave way near the garage. Photos showed broken pavement, large pieces of concrete, fencing material, and a portable restroom inside the crater. The Malibu sinkhole was estimated to measure roughly 30 feet by 30 feet.The emergency was bigger than one damaged driveway. Los Angeles County firefighters and sheriff’s deputies responded to the 31600 block of Sea Level Drive around 5:45 a.m. after a suspected gas main problem was reported. Southern California Gas Company crews shut off the gas, and five homes had been red-tagged by Tuesday morning while officials evaluated the surrounding properties. No injuries were reported.
A Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesperson described the immediate situation to MyNewsLA, saying, “There is a sinkhole there, but the home is not occupied.” ABC7 later reported that erosion beneath the property damaged both a water line and gas line while crews worked below the driveway to protect neighboring homes.
The Malibu sinkhole developed while the coast was already under significant weather pressure. According to the National Weather Service, Malibu remained under high surf and coastal flood advisories through 11 p.m. Tuesday. Forecasters expected breaking waves between 4 and 7 feet, with some sets reaching 8 feet, along with elevated tides and dangerous currents.
Those conditions were tied to powerful Pacific swells generated by Hurricane Marie, which remained offshore but produced hazardous surf across Southern California. The storm had already generated dangerous waves, rip currents, and coastal flooding concerns across the region before Tuesday’s collapse.
For Malibu officials, the erosion problem did not begin this week. In August, the City of Malibu said rapidly worsening erosion was threatening portions of Pacific Coast Highway and nearby beachfront properties. Following inspections of 320 beachfront parcels, officials had identified 23 red-tagged parcels by August 10. The city said seawall failures, exposed utilities, and disappearing material beneath roadway embankments were among the concerns being monitored.
Malibu’s own 2026 Coastal Vulnerability Assessment gives the current Malibu sinkhole even more context. According to the city’s assessment, the coastline has repeatedly suffered flooding and erosion from major storm events, and Malibu’s south-facing shore is particularly exposed to powerful southern hemisphere swells. The report documents damaging coastal events stretching back decades and examines future threats from sea level rise, storm flooding and erosion.
The stretch near Cage’s home also has a history that makes Tuesday’s damage especially notable. According to a 1991 Los Angeles Times report, cottages built along Lechuza Beach were washed away by the tide in 1938. Decades later, development proposals in the same area sparked disputes over changing high tide lines, seawalls, and beach erosion.
Malibu has dealt with actual sinkholes from other causes as well. In 2014, the Los Angeles Times reported that a water main break near Pacific Coast Highway and Trancas Canyon Road caused a sinkhole to form beside the roadway. That incident was tied to a broken water line, while officials have attributed Tuesday’s Sea Level Drive collapse to coastal erosion, showing that ground failures around Malibu can develop through different mechanisms.
Cage bought the nearly 4,000-square-foot, four-level beachfront property in August 2024 for $10.5 million, according to Realtor.com. The home includes expansive glass walls, ocean-facing decks, a rooftop space, direct access to a secluded beach and an adjacent vacant lot. Seller Lenard Liberman confirmed the deal at the time, saying, “Yes, Nicolas Cage bought our home in Malibu.”
Liberman also shared the home’s personal history, telling the outlet, “My parents would go on weekends, and it was my father’s ‘happy place.’” After his father’s death, Liberman said the property became difficult for his mother to visit. “My father passed away, and my mom just couldn’t go to the house anymore. Too many memories,” he explained.
Now, just two years after Cage acquired the property, the Malibu sinkhole has turned attention from the home’s celebrity ownership and sweeping Pacific views to a much larger issue facing the coastline. With Malibu officials already documenting aggressive erosion, vulnerable beachfront parcels, and threats to infrastructure, Tuesday’s collapse is another visible example of how quickly the ocean can reshape one of California’s most valuable stretches of real estate.
