Le Belvedere was the most expensive home sale of 2010. The sandstone mansion nestled in the exclusive Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles fetched an estimated $50 million. It marked the beginning of a post-recession comeback for ultra luxury real estate. Now, two years later, the developer of that record-breaking manse is again trying his hand at flipping another huge Los Angeles-area home — this time in nearby Beverly Hills.
The Crescent Palace, as the newly listed estate is called, asks $58 million. The price tag makes it one of America’s most expensive homes currently for sale. It is co-listed with Stacey Gottula and Joyce Rey of Coldwell Banker Previews International.
“This was built for me personally, but I did it with the thought in mind that there is one person out there that would love to have this house for his own use,” says Mohamed Hadid, owner of the newly finished ‘palace’. In real estate circles, Hadid made his name developing Ritz Carlton Hotels, but Bravo reality TV junkies will recognize him from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” as the friend of Lisa Vanderpump.
see photosJeff Elson
Click for full photo gallery: Inside Beverly Hills' $58 Million Crescent Palace
Hadid says the Crescent Palace took him about 15 months to create. It’s quite the construction feat for a 48,000-square foot limestone mansion touting three levels of rare materials including Iranian marble and an assortment of outrageous amenities. It sits next to the Beverly Hills Hotel, occupying a single acre.
So what does that hefty $58 million price tag fetch?The French chateau-style house has seven bedrooms and 11 interior bathrooms. There’s a formal reception hall, a 90-foot gallery for displaying art work, formal and informal dining rooms, a family room with bar lounge, a leather-paneled library, and an etched-glass front door. The third-floor master suite has a chandelier-bedecked balcony and dual bathrooms — the “hers” touting a fireplace and the “his” touting a secret staircase leading to a 3,800-square foot rooftop garden.
Hadid also carved out a subterranean level boasting a 5,000-bottle wine cellar with dining room, a ballroom with commercial kitchen that can seat up to 200 guests, a full gym, a 40-person screening room and a 12-car garage. Like Le Belvedere, Hadid included touches likely inspired by his Middle Eastern heritage: a Moroccan-themed lounge and a Turkish hammam with 30-foot indoor pool and steam room with an attached massage area.
Outside, the open air entertaining options abound. There’s a 60-foot infinity pool, a 20-person hot tub, an outdoor kitchen, a dining area for 100 guests, three additional bathrooms, three outdoor fireplaces and two cabanas decorated with beds and sparkling chandeliers. The grounds are also home to four rose gardens, olive and magnolia trees, two fountains and a pond actually inhabited by real-life swans.
“That seems to be his signature on a couple of houses,” says Stacy Gottula, the co-listing agent for Crescent Palace. She admits that the swans have been known to make their way into the swimming pool, striking a “beautiful setting” at night.
“I build castles as homes, but I make sure they are warm,” adds Hadid. He says his favorite room is the kitchen, a communal space that peddles a commercial-sized freezer, a glass walk-in pantry, even a fireplace-bedecked sitting area.
Gottula and her co-listing partner, Joyce Rey, have represented Hadid’s creations before. Including Le Belvedere, the team has sold more than $200 million worth of real estate for the developer. They remain confident the Crescent Palace will lure a moneyed buyer, most likely from abroad. “Foreign buyers love new construction and unique one-of-a-kind construction is particularly appealing to them,” explains Rey, who recently helped sell another opulent Beverly Hills estate called the Wehba Mansion to a Chinese investor for an estimated $35 million.
LA-area properties priced $20 million and up have enjoyed renewed buyer activity. Sales are up 17% from last year, according to Coldwell Banker Previews International.
Celebrity Developer Asking $58 Million For His Most Opulent Mansion Yet in Beverly Hills.
Posted on: Beverly Hills Real Estate-Beverly Hills Homes For Sale
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