Malibu movers for the coast, the canyons and the Palisades
Malibu and Pacific Palisades share a coastline, a highway and, since January 2025, a recovery. On this stretch of coast the road decides as much as the house. A beach house on the sand may load from its own garage or the highway shoulder, a Point Dume ranch house from a long private drive, and a Castellammare home from a narrow, winding street above Pacific Coast Highway. Elite Moving & Storage plans each move around the house and around what PCH is doing that day.
The private walkthrough, in person or by video, covers the route as well as the rooms: which canyon road or stretch of PCH the truck will use, how far it will stand from the door, any gate rules, whether a shuttle vehicle is needed and what needs crating. It ends in an itemized inventory and a written estimate.
After the Palisades Fire: temporary homes, storage and moving back
The Palisades Fire started on January 7, 2025, and by the time it was contained on January 31 it had burned 23,448 acres and destroyed 6,845 structures, according to CAL FIRE. Most were in Pacific Palisades. In Malibu, the heaviest losses were in the eastern part of the city, including Big Rock and the homes along Pacific Coast Highway.
Rebuilding is under way in both communities, at different speeds. Pacific Palisades is part of the City of Los Angeles, which issues its rebuild permits; Malibu issues its own. The first rebuilt homes are finished and many more are under construction, but for most families the process takes years, and many are living in rentals in the meantime.
For moving, that usually means three separate jobs, often a year or more apart:
- Into a temporary home. A rental or a furnished house, set up with what the household needs day to day.
- Storage through the build. Furniture, art and household goods held for the length of the rebuild on an itemized inventory, with pieces delivered in stages when you need them.
- Into the rebuilt home. New rooms and a new floor plan, so placement is planned from the architect’s drawings rather than from how the old house was arranged.
We keep one inventory across all three. If your home was damaged rather than destroyed, contents can be packed and moved out so repairs can begin, then returned when the house is ready. Estate moving covers households with staff, a second residence or a move timed around a long project.
Pacific Palisades neighborhoods
Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles, and its parts move differently. The Riviera has hilltop estates with ocean views, where the approach and the driveway shape the truck plan. The Huntington mixes traditional houses with modern estates. The Alphabet Streets are known for bungalows and family homes, where planning starts with curb space. The El Medio Bluffs have spacious homes on tree-lined streets. Marquez Knolls is a hillside neighborhood, and Palisades Highlands lies higher in the mountains, reached by Palisades Drive. Castellammare, on the slopes above Pacific Coast Highway near the Getty Villa, has narrow, winding streets with Italian names.
On many Palisades streets, a move shares the road with rebuild crews and construction deliveries. We time trucks around the builder’s schedule, coordinate with the site superintendent when the destination is a new build, and keep the truck plan compact on streets where construction already takes the curb.
Malibu beach homes and gated communities
Malibu is its own city, strung along Pacific Coast Highway, and many of its best-known homes sit on the sand. Along Carbon Beach, houses stand in a row between the highway and the beach. Far to the west, past Point Dume toward Trancas, Broad Beach homes are reached from Broad Beach Road. Parking is tight, highway shoulders are narrow and Caltrans does not allow parking in its work zones, so we size vehicles to the driveway and shuttle when the truck cannot stand close.
Malibu Colony, a gated community beside Malibu Lagoon State Beach, has about a hundred closely spaced homes on small lots behind its gate. Serra Retreat, a guard-gated community on a knoll west of Cross Creek Road, is reached by two guard-gated drives. Gated communities set their own rules for vendor access, certificates and move hours, and we collect them at the walkthrough and file them before move day.
Point Dume, the canyons and the hillside estates
Point Dume, on its headland, has spacious interior lots with a rural, ranch-like feel, away from the traffic of Pacific Coast Highway. Inland, homes off Malibu Canyon Road, Kanan Dume Road and the smaller canyon roads come with steep grades and tight turns. On large lots and hillside drives alike, a move often needs a smaller shuttle vehicle between the street and the door, extra crew time for long carries, and a plan made at the walkthrough rather than on the day.
These homes often hold the things that take the most care: wine collections, large paintings, sculpture and outdoor pieces. We plan them in from the start. See fine art moving and art installation for collections, and wine storage for a cellar that needs a home during a rebuild. Moving over the hill? We also serve Calabasas and Hidden Hills, and Santa Monica for families renting closer to town while they rebuild.
