Inside Bel Air homes
Reaching the front door is a genuine part of the work up in these hills. Bellagio, Stone Canyon and the lanes running off Roscomare Road were cut to follow the contour, so they are narrow, blind on the turns and walled on both sides with nowhere to pull over. Many properties then open onto a private drive that climbs or falls again past the gate. We want the gate code, the call-box name and a parking position agreed in advance, not worked out over an intercom.
Then there are the houses. Six, eight or ten rooms across two and three floors is unremarkable, with stone and hardwood nearly everywhere and glass facing the canyon. Tree cover is dense, oak and eucalyptus and pine standing directly over roofs and terraces, which keeps the light beautiful and the outdoor surfaces permanently littered. All of it lies inside a very high fire hazard severity zone, so brush work happens each spring and the dust from it finds its way indoors.
Bel Air homes, structurally
Square footage runs from around 3,000 up past 10,000, on parcels measured in acres rather than feet. Plans step across a slope far more often than they sit flat, so a single house can hold three separate staircases and a lower level that only opens to the garden. Materials are stone, marble, wide-plank hardwood and a great deal of glass. Air conditioning runs most of the year, and pollen off the canopy loads the return filters quickly.