Newly Listed for $3.9 Million, a Modular Malibu Home Points to a Prefab Future
by David Hay
August 2025
It was November 2018. Long-time Malibu, Calif., residents Susan Tellem and Marshall Thompson were standing outside their home high above the town’s northern beaches. They were frightened.
In the distance, flames and smoke from what came to be known as the Woolsey Fire were coming their way. They knew they had to evacuate and get to the safety of the beach. The problem was: they weren’t alone.
Since 1997, Tellem and Thompson had run American Tortoise Rescue, the organization they founded seven years prior, from their Malibu home. On that day in November, they were housing nearly 100 turtles and tortoises, ranging from two to two hundred pounds. The couple quickly loaded the smaller ones into their car but had no way to transport the larger ones.
“We had to leave them behind,” she recalled. “We had no choice.”
Their only option was to secure them inside small hutches built from recycled wood and hope for the best.
Later that night, Tellem and Thompson huddled with neighbors down along Zuma Beach and watched in silent horror as the fire, fed by the chapparal high above them, consumed every home in its path.
When they were allowed to return to the property two days later, they confirmed that their home was gone—but, to their amazement, their beloved reptilian rescues had survived, along with the statue of St. Francis that stood out front. How? Evidently, the hutches proved just as fire resistant as the manufacturers claimed they would be (although, Tellem still believes the Patron Saint of Animals had something to do with it).
When it came time to rebuild, their turtles’ miraculous survival inspired the couple to make sure their new home could withstand a similar catastrophe. Their solution: a strikingly modern dwelling constructed from prefabricated modular units made of fire-resistant material and assembled on-site. Not only is the property now on the market for $3.9 million—with Pamela Conley Ulich, a Malibu-based Sports & Entertainment broker at Douglas Elliman representing the listing—but such modular prefab houses have become prized as sustainably manufactured, efficiently constructed, and aesthetically appealing new builds for owners and buyers.
When we spoke in late July, Tellem told me that the loss of their house made the couple eligible for a modular home designed and built by Connect:Homes, then based in nearby San Bernardino.
“We went and looked over the models they had on display,” she recalled. “We chose this one because of its floor-to-ceiling windows and open interior.”
At a cost of nearly $1 million (“we had a wonderful insurance carrier,” she shared), the new home was the thirtieth of more than 500 to be built in this much sought after area. It takes full advantage of the spectacular views of the mountains behind and the ocean and beaches below. And it was all assembled and erected in just seven hours.
It also became a home that the couple loved instantly. With its expansive windows and wraparound deck made from fire-resistant wood, the 1,300-square-foot home hovers above this special 1.2-acre parcel of California earth, inviting inhabitants to feel at one with nature’s wonders. It’s a piece of paradise refitted for the future. California at its most ingenious. Pacific Ocean living at its purest.
Ulich says homebuyers in Southern California recognize the value of these sustainable and fire-resistant properties.
“Because of how it’s built and because so much of this new, climate-sensitive housing is now in urgent need, homes like theirs are very much in demand,” she said. “I have many clients who have lost their homes asking about sustainable, modular options so they can rebuild their homes quickly.”
Ulich noted that the shortage of houses in the area has been further exacerbated by a shortage of construction workers.
(Clockwise from top left) Susan Tellem and friend; St. Francis; and a view of the Zuma Ridge Trail.
“Even if people want to rebuild in the traditional way, there may not be enough construction crews to build new homes,” she said. “These prefab houses are made off-site, some as far away as Washington, so hopefully they can give those who lost homes a cost- and time and energy-efficient alternative to getting back home quickly.”
Touting the Tellem-Thompson home’s proximity to the Zuma Ridge Trail, horse riding, and newly built schools (including the extraordinary Malibu High, with its own commanding views of the ocean), Ulich added that its modest footprint makes it likely the new owner would be allowed to put an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Units) on the property.
While Tellem and Thompson, now in their 70s, will be moving on, alas, their longtime cohabitants will not be joining them. Happily, a good friend who maintains a turtle rescue two hours to north recently picked them up and took them to a new playground. Tellem will visit them, of course—perhaps in celebration of World Turtle Day, which the couple successfully launched in 2000 to promote awareness of the constant threats the reptiles face. It falls on May 23, she added proudly. “My birthday!”
David Hay is a well-known architectural writer and playwright. His stories have been featured in The New York Times, Dwell and New York.
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