Bel-Air Mansion Will Be Most Expensive U.S. Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
May 14th 2010 at 6:01PM

The record set by Colorado's Bootjack Ranch for the most expensive property sold in the United States this year sure didn't last long. The Wall Street Journal reports that an Indonesian buyer is in contract to buy a ten-bedroom mansion in Bel Air, California for around $50 million. If the deal goes through it would set a record for the top sale in the U.S. besting the $46.5 million sale to of Bootjack Ranch to Texas energy executive Kelcy Warren.

We first checked out the property in 2009 when it was listed for a whopping $85 million. The home was built by Mohamed Hadid, a real estate developer who built Ritz-Carlton hotels in the 1980s but now creates lavish billionaire-ready estates like this one. The home known as Le Belvedere sits on 2.2 acres of prime land that includes staff quarters over the garage, a garage big enough for two limos, a swan pond, rose gardens, an infinity pool, large spa, outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven, fireplaces and courtyard dining for 100 guests. The home itself has 48,000 square feet of space and public rooms include a reception hall, formal living and dining rooms, an informal dining room, a family room with a bar lounge, a music room, a library, 5,000 bottle wine cellar and tasting room, a ballroom, commercial kitchen, screening room, game room and a Moroccan room. The main master bedroom suite including a sitting room, powder room, his and hers bathrooms and dressing rooms.

Last summer Hadid dropped the price to $72 million, a development that prompted Coldwell Banker listing agent Joyce Rey to remark at the time that at the price the home offered "a remarkable lifestyle and a great value." The $50 million sale price could be considered a deal considering that Hadid has said he spent $59 million to build the massive mansion.

Gallery: $85 Million in Bel Air