What does $400 million buy in Bel-Air? Thirty-nine bedrooms, 59 bathrooms, 70,000 square feet and a piece of history.
mega-mansion, which came up for sale this weekAttempting to become the most expensive home sale in US history. The current record is held by Ken Griffin, who paid $238 million for a New York City penthouse in 2019, while the California record belongs to Oakley founder James Jannard, who sold his Malibu mansion $210 million In 2024.
The house serves as the family compound of the Al-Thanis, an extremely wealthy family that has ruled the oil-rich nation of Qatar since the 19th century. This is just a small part of his international collection of assets, which includes hotels, resorts, yachts, thoroughbreds, a French football team and the Miramax film studio.
LA has long served as a luxury playground for the royal family. In 2011, the teenage prince, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, arrived at USC with a small army of servants for undergrads replete with luxury luxury suites, exotic cars and a full-time residence at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. (A Times investigation Questions were raised about his degree after he was allowed to skip class for security reasons and he received a master’s degree for a period in which he never stepped foot on campus.)
The eight-acre complex includes a tennis court and several pools with sweeping views.
(Simon Berlin)
Al-Thanis purchased the property as a vacant lot in 2010 for $35 million. According to real estate agent Jack Harris, who shares the listing with Michael Fahimian, he invested $430 million in the property over the course of nearly a decade, with an unlimited budget of time and money.
Harris could not disclose details about the owners, but said they wanted to create “the best home L.A. has ever seen.”
Completed in 2018, the complex sits on a sprawling eight acres overlooking the Bel-Air Country Club. There is a 23-bedroom main house, a 16-bedroom guesthouse and a range of amenities including a movie theatre, wellness facility, tennis courts and multiple swimming pools.
Outside, sculptured lawns provide views from Downtown LA to Catalina Island.
So why are they selling it after pouring millions of dollars into the property over the better part of a decade? “They don’t utilize the assets as much as expected,” Harris said.
The owner invested $430 million in the property over the course of nearly a decade.
(Simon Berlin)
As far as seeing if a single family home can command $400 million, or something.
A handful of Southern California properties have targeted similar prices over the past few years and have been significantly lower. In Beverly Hills, a 157-acre estate hit the market in 2018 for $1 billion, but an ownership battle sell at foreclosure auction For $100,000. In Bel-Air, an exclusive 105,000-square-foot home was marketed for $500 million, but by the time it was completed, it was already dilapidated and finished. Auctioned for 141 million dollars.
However, Harris said the price tag fits the property.
“$400 million seems like an aspirational asking price, but it’s the rare home where the money put into it outweighs the price,” he said. “I’ve been to all the top properties in L.A., there’s nothing special about this one.”
Harris said he has already received interest from several serious buyers, adding that despite the huge size, it would still be suitable for a small family.
“People hear about 70,000 square feet and automatically think it’s not accessible, but the house lives like a family home,” he said. “Don’t feel lonely.”
Since the property is located in downtown LA, the measure would subject the ULA to the “mansion tax”, a transfer tax imposed on all sales over $5.3 million. Assuming it brings in $400 million, the mansion tax alone would be $23.8 million.
