Steve Vai Lists Encino Compound with Studio for $11.8 Million

Guitarist Steve Vai and his wife Pia have listed their Encino, Los Angeles home for $11.8 million. The property, purchased in 1996, includes a backyard shack originally occupied by a deceased gardener, which Vai converted into a recording studio named The Harmony Hut. Over 30 years, he recorded albums including The Story of Light and Modern Primitive there. The 10,000-square-foot main house has five en-suite bedrooms, six bathrooms, a step-down family room with a Pennsylvania gray-blue stone fireplace, a formal dining room with a floating tapestry ceiling, a fluted Gonzala wood and labradorite bar, a skylit kitchen with Carrara marble and Wolf range, a primary suite with fountain patio, and an upstairs media room. Outdoor amenities include a pool, pool house, fire pit, open-air pavilion, gym, and tennis court. Vai, ranked by Rolling Stone among the 250 greatest guitarists, began lessons with Joe Satriani at 12, worked with Frank Zappa at 18, released his first solo album Flex-Able in 1984, toured with David Lee Roth and Whitesnake, collaborated with Mary J. Blige and Alice Cooper, sold over 15 million albums, and won three Grammys. The couple relocated to Rancho Santa Fe in early 2025. Jane Kellard of Sotheby's International Realty, Malibu Brokerage holds the listing.