East Gate Bel Air, Los Angeles

East Gate Bel Air (or Old Bel Air) is a small area within the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, California. It is made up of large, old estates developed mostly before World War II.

East Gate Bel Air
The East Gate entrance to Bel Air at Beverly Glen and Sunset Blvds.
East Gate Bel Air
Location within Western Los Angeles
Coordinates: 34.080833°N 118.435556°W / 34.080833; -118.435556
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountyLos Angeles
CityLos Angeles

Location

As shown in the “Bel Air First Residential Allotment” map from 1923, the original Bel Air tract of East Gate Old Bel Air founded and opened by Alphonzo E. Bell, Sr. was composed of 128 lots on Bel Air Road (which passes north from South Beverly Glen and Sunset Boulevards through the East Gate entrance[1]—and hence the logical East Gate name) and the five roads which branch from it: Saint Pierre, Saint Cloud, Bellagio (to Stone Canyon), Copa De Oro, and Nîmes Roads.[2] Though many of these 128 lots have since been combined into single properties, this original 1923 Bel Air allotment is what distinguishes East Gate Old Bel Air from the rest of present-day Bel Air, which was gradually added by Bell starting in 1931 with Stone Canyon (known then as Bel Air Woodland), and by 1937 Bel Air extended westward all the way to Sepulveda Boulevard (its westernmost boundary today).[3]

At its southernmost edge (where Copa de Oro Road meets Sunset Boulevard), East Gate Old Bel Air flanks the campus of UCLA. At its easternmost edge, it borders Holmby Hills. This combined contiguous area of East Gate Bel Air and Holmby Hills straddles North Beverly Glen Boulevard (at a bend of Saint Pierre Road and De Neve Square Park).

In general, the further one moves west from Saint Pierre Road to West Gate Lower Bel Air and north from Sunset Boulevard up the Santa Monica Mountains to Upper Bel Air, the smaller and the less flat the building lots and the more varied the styles and price ranges of the homes (with development fueled largely by postwar demand in the 1950s).

History

On the undeveloped hillsides of original Bel Air in 1922, Alphonzo Bell built water and sewage pipes, installed underground electric and telephone lines, and planted thousands of trees along winding streets traversing the hilly terrain.[2] Bell refused to sell the original East Gate Old Bel Air allotments to anyone in the film business, though changed his mind on all of Bel Air with the arrival of the Great Depression. A design committee existed (and still exists to the present day[3]) to preserve the “architectural harmony” of the community, with restrictions including low masses, horizontal lines, pitched roofs, and unobtrusive and harmonious colors,[2] and deed restrictions required land purchasers to spend a minimum of $20,000 on home construction.[1]

Notable residents

Beny Alagem
John Anderson (former)[4]
Stephen Bollenbach (former)[5]
Sonny Bono and Cher (former)
Franklin Otis Booth, Jr. (former)
Bruce Cabot (former)[6]
Nicolas Cage (former)[7]
B. Gerald Cantor (former)[8]
Johnny Carson (former) and Joanna Carson[9]
Marion Davies (former)[10]
Mac Davis (former)
Michael Eisner
Georgia Frontiere[7]
Zsa Zsa Gabor (former)
Judy Garland (former)
Brad Grey
Salma Hayek
Rick Hilton
Darby Hinton, Daryn Hinton and Ed Hinton (former)
Alfred Hitchcock (former)[11]
Alan Horn[12]
Howard Hughes (former)[13]
Ray Irani
Mick Jagger (former)[10][14]
Jonas Brothers (former)[15]
Tom Jones
Jordan Kerner (former)[15]
Otto Klemperer (former)[16]
Carole Lombard (former)[11]
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony (former)[17]
Dean Martin (former)
Louis Mayer (former)
Colleen Moore (former)
Bob Newhart
Jerry Perenchio
John Phillips (former)[14]
Tyrone Power, Linda Christian, Romina Power and Taryn Power (former)[18]
Elvis Presley (former)[13]
Prince Rainier of Monaco (former)[13]
Basil Rathbone (former)[19][20][21]
Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan (former)
Terry Semel[22]
Mark Spitznagel[23]
Elizabeth Taylor (former)[24]
Cheryl Tiegs[25]
Sir Peter Ustinov (former)
Johnny Weissmuller (former)[10]
Brian Wilson (former; see also Beach Boys Studio)

References

  1. "A part of the city, yet apart from it too," Los Angeles Times, Mar. 6, 2005
  2. Houses of Los Angeles, Volume II, Sam Watters, 2007. p.12,13
  3. "Bel Air Association website". Archived from the original on 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  4. BlockShopper website
  5. "The Sky’s the Limit", Los Angeles Magazine, Jan., 1998. p.52
  6. Big Time Listings website, Nov. 1, 2008
  7. "Big Time Listings website, Feb. 29, 2008". Archived from the original on 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  8. "Be The Reagans' Neighbor," Forbes, Dec., 2000
  9. King of the Night: The Life of Johnny Carson, Laurence Leamer, 2005. p.240
  10. Paul Revere Williams Project website
  11. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light, Patrick McGilligan, 2004. p.245
  12. The Huffington Post FundRace 2008 Contributions map Archived 2011-11-17 at the Wayback Machine
  13. "Legendary Estates". Archived from the original on 2009-12-19. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  14. "King of the wild frontier," The Observer, Mar. 15, 2009
  15. Real Estalker website, Oct. 21, 2008
  16. A Windfall of Musicians: Hitler's Emigres and Exiles in Southern California, Dorothy Lamb Crawford, 2009. p.45
  17. Real Estalker website, Nov. 21, 2008
  18. http://www.tyrone-power.com/article_portraits_1.html /Look Magazine December 2, 1952
  19. In And Out Of Character autobiography by Basil Rathbone
  20. Linda Finch, Basil Rathbone Memorial Society
  21. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Basil-Rathbone-Memorial-Society/119835868090128?ref=hl
  22. The Huffington Post FundRace 2008 Contributions map
  23. "J-Lo and Marc Anthony Sell In Los Angeles to Financier," The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 8, 2010
  24. Movie Star Homes , Judy Artunian, Mike Oldham 2004.
  25. The Huffington Post FundRace 2008 Contributions map
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