Bel Air is known globally as an affluent community where residents, many of them celebrities, treasure their privacy and a luxurious lifestyle. Just north of Sunset Boulevard, this neighborhood offers gated estates on large lots with private driveways and views of the city.

Some of the prime streets in Bel Air include Bel Air Road, Stone Canyon, Nimes Road, Perugia, Chalon Road, Bellagio Road and Stradella Road. Nestled within Bel Air is the exclusive neighborhood of Holmby Hills, which contains prestigious streets Carolwood, Mapleton, Delfern, Baroda and Faring Road.

The Bel Air community, defined by the “East Gate” and “West Gate” entrances, was established in 1923 by Alphonzo Bell, Senior and is part of what is known as the “Platinum Triangle.” This term refers to three affluent adjoining communities of Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills. Bel Air is bordered by UCLA along Sunset Boulevard and at the heart of the community is the exclusive Bel Air Country Club and the Hotel Bel Air. Elite private schools John Thomas Dye and Harvard Westlake are conveniently located there as well.

Residents of this area are largely high-profile individuals who have paid enormous sums of money to live there, including a recent sale of a mansion that sold for the highest price in the U.S. this year for more than $46,500,000. This was for a 48,000 square foot estate called “Le Belvedere” which was built by the developer of Ritz-Carlton Hotels. The mansion built in 2006 has 19 fireplaces, 10 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms and a three-flight elevator. There is a 5,000 bottle wine cellar, tasting room, grand ballroom, commercial kitchen, screening room, gym, Turkish steam bath and game room. The garage can hold 10 to 12 cars and the motor court provides generous outdoor parking. A swan pond, fountains and rose gardens grace the manicured grounds.

Currently on the market in Holmby Hills is the Aaron and Candy Spelling $150,000,000 Manor and Iris Cantor’s “Fleur de Lys” now on the market more than three years asking $125,000,000.