Property Porn Of The Week: An Eco Estate For Tinsel Town’s Green Glitterati

When Douglas Busch, founder and president of Busch Design, an international design firm specializing in environmentally sustainable architecture, bought 5757 Trancas Canyon Road in 1995, he had one goal in mind: to create a healthy, environmentally responsible home of his own.
“You should put your money where your mouth is so I tried to make it as sustainable and healthy as possible,” quips Busch, also a renowned artist and photographer, of his personal residence.
The Malibu, C.A. mountainside estate is currently on the market for $9.495 million with luxe real estate broker-turned-Million Dollar Listing star, Chad Rogers. It’s high-end housing’s epitome of a green, clean, self-sustainable machine.  The seven bedroom, seven bath main house and accompanying guest house and work studio sit on 10 acres that overlook the Pacific Ocean from 360 degrees. It’s an undeniably breathtaking feature of the property, but the real draw for potential home buyers is the environmental factor.
The property’s three structures  are constructed of sustainable materials as well as steel and glass.  Busch took health into account too: zero volatile organic compound (VOC) paint colors the walls and only all natural cleaners have been employed in the day-to-day cleaning regimen.   While building, Busch even inserted metal shields into the walls to keep electromagnetic field (EMF) rays out.
The eco-chic estate boasts 235,000 gallons of water.  There’s a resort-sized salt water swimming pool (the third largest private residence pool in Los Angeles county as a matter of fact), a turtle and koi rescue pond, a rooftop reflection pool (with herb garden) and a “cooling” pond that keeps the guest house situated above it naturally air conditioned.
All this H2O comes from rain water collection and “grey” water — recycled water from the sink — reused.  The pool is heated using solar energy, piping out into sun-baked tubes running under the driveway.
The landscaping is drought-resistant and over 1,000 plants dapple the mountain terrain.  Flora specimens came from as far away as Madagascar and New Zealand.
Busch purchased the land in 1995, trudged through six laborious years getting permits, built for the next two years after that, and finally moved in in 2003.  Chad Rogers, an agent under the luxe  Hilton & Hyland brokerage umbrella, notes that a property comparable to this one would cost a minimum of $15 million just to build — and that’s if the Coastal Commission would even allow it today.
He says there’s been interest in the property since it hit the market at a reduced price under the representation of Rogers.  (The property had been listed previously with a different broker for a higher number.) “It’s people with an interest in sustainable living — buyers who want a showplace for this type of living,” explains Rogers.
So why is the eco-centric architect selling?  Because a smattering of environmentally sustainable community projects is bringing him and his design prowess to the East Coast  for the indefinite future, says Busch.

Property Porn Of The Week: An Eco Estate For Tinsel Town's Green Glitterati