Bel Air

When Alphonso E. Bell acquired his first 600 (of an eventual 4500) green canyon acres along the southern slope of the Santa Monica Mountains in 1922, he envisioned an upscale, exclusive neighborhood of grand estate properties, which he named “Bel-Air.” Subdividing the land into one-acre-or-larger parcels, he added impressive iron gates, roads, and utilities and established his planning office in what is today the main building of the Hotel Bel-Air. He added lush tropical vegetation to the native California chaparral, the Bel-Air Country Club was built in 1927 as part of Bell’s original development, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Bel Air, like neighboring Beverly Hills and Brentwood, is made up of both hillside and flat properties and is home to a wide assortment of architectural styles. Many homes have spectacular city, canyon and even ocean views, and some are surprisingly spacious, concealing expanses of interior and exterior space behind narrow frontage perched right on the street.

Located about 12 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, Bel Air sits just above the UCLA campus, minutes from Westwood, Beverly Hills, and Brentwood, and easily accessible to the studios and communities of the San Fernando Valley. The J. Paul Getty Museum of Art at the Getty Center and the gated residential development Bel Air Crest are located on the western edge of Bel Air.
According to DataQuick Information Services, the median price for Bel Air homes (zip code 90077) was $1,328,000 in December 2005.