History
Bel-Air was founded as a neighborhood when Alphonzo Bell, an entrepreneurial businessman and oil tycoon, bought 600 acres of land in west Los Angeles. To create a more exclusive neighborhood he named it Bel-Air, or Beautiful Air, from the original Mexican Land Grant named Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres (Saint Joseph of Good Air) and the Italian word Bellissima meaning beautiful.
When Clarke Gable bought property in the area, others followed. Other well-known residents have included Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Burt Reynolds. In more recent times, our neighborhood has been home to Kareem Adbul Jabar, Serena Williams, Jaclyn Smith, and many other high-profile celebrities as well as film and music executives.
To manage the creation of his vision, Bell built an estate-planning office nestled in the canyons. This building is now the Hotel Bel-Air. The current Bel-Air Association, however, is located at the corner of Bel Air Road and Sunset Boulevard at 100 Bel Air Road.
Bel-Air now encompasses more than 2,000 properties, with rough boundaries from Mulholland to the north, Sunset to the south, Beverly Glen Boulevard to the east, and Sepulveda Boulevard to the west.
An Abridged History of: Bel-Air
The majority of the area now known as Bel-Air was originally a rancho, granted to Maximo Alanis by the Mexican Governor of Californias, Manuel Micheltorena on February 24, 1843. The rancho’s name was “Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres” (Saint Joseph of Good Air).
In 1922 Alphonzo Bell, a farmer who had struck oil a few years prior in Whittier, CA, purchased the Danzinger family estate. It is from those 1,700 acres that Mr. Bell began the original subdivision of a Westside Community that his wife named: Bel-Air.
Mrs. Bell’s appreciation for Italy was highlighted in the naming of the streets, most with Italian names like Bellagio, Nimes, St. Pierre, Cuesta and Capello. While often believed that Alphonzo Bell’s last name was the inspiration for the name Bel-Air, it’s been rumored the original rancho “Saint Joseph of Good Air” and Mrs. Bell’s love of Italy was the actual inspiration for our namesake: A combination of the Italian word for “good” or Bello and the English word for “Ayres” or Air, hence, Bel-Air.
The first Tract for the new community of Bel-Air was filed in 1923 and consisted of 128 lots for homes to be built. In 1925, a second tract was filed expanding the community considerably. In the following years, the institutions that helped define our world-renown community were:
In 1924 the Bel-Air Country Club was incorporated.
In 1931 the Bel-Air Garden Club was organized.
In 1942 the Bel-Air Association was formed.
In 1946 the Hotel Bel-Air opened.
Much of the grandeur and idyllic nature the name Bel-Air evokes stems from the early masters that designed and built our homes. Notable Architects who developed early estate properties in Bel-Air include: Summer Spaulding, Burton Schutt, Gerard Colcord, Butts and Butts, Wurdeman and Beckett, Roland Pearson, Paul Williams, Deman Scott, Robert Finkelhor, Roland Coate, James Delano, Paul Hunter, Wallace Neff, Gordon Kaufman, George Allison, John Byers, H. Roy Kelley and J. Pierpoint Davis.
Despite Mr. Bell’s infamous policy of not allowing Hollywood actors to purchase property in Bel-Air, the community nevertheless has been called home by some of the biggest movie stars and entertainment moguls the world has seen. From the Beatles to Ronald Regan, Bel-Air has been the peaceful retreat for many.
