La Belle Vie, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
May 31st 2009 at 1:01PM

When a woman can afford to lose a few million on a home she's never lived in then you know she's got some money to throw around. While arts philanthropist Iris Cantor is willing to reduce the price her four-bedroom penthouse in New York several million below what she paid for it (she paid $15 million in 2006, it is now listed at $11.9 million) so far her home in Bel Air, California hasn't had a price drop. Give it time, it's only been on the market a couple of months. At $53 million, it enjoys some pretty rarefied air at the top of the Los Angeles real estate market.

The home on St. Cloud Road bears the name La Belle Vie, and showcases a spectacularly lavish lifestyle. The home is approximately 35,000 square feet with nine bedrooms and 21 bathrooms. As the Real Estalker reported back in February, Iris Cantor and her husband, the late Bernie Cantor of Cantor Fitzgerald bought the land and built this house in the early 1990s. It's more house than any one couple could ever need and has three kitchens, 12 wood burning fireplaces and underground parking for up to 10 luxury automobiles. The decor is unbearably fancy aspiring to a Marie Antoinette level of fripperty and flounce, flawless in every detail but lacking even the vaguest nod to livability. Crystal chandeliers, marble floors and huge draperies give this home the look of a very elegant hotel. The home features fine sculpture and rooms include a family room, den, office, media room, billiard room and a beauty parlor. Will she get her price? She had the home on the market way back in 200 for $45 million but after two years there was no sale. It seems like she couldn't have picked a worse time to try again.

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Gallery: La Belle Vie