Bel Air Chateau Could Be Biggest US Home Sale This Year

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The bananas chateau that homebuilder Mohamed Hadid built himself in Bel Air is in contract, and the Wall Street Journal says the deal is for "around $50 million." Hadid says he laid out $59 million building the 48,000 square foot house and its ballroom, movie theater, and Turkish hammam, and he first put it on the market in February 2009 at $85 million. He slashed the price in August to $72 million. An unknown Indonesian is the potential buyer, and "If the deal closes, it would set what brokers believe to be a new record for the biggest residential real-estate sale in the U.S. to date this year." It would also make the $35 million Jeffrey Katzenberg paid for a house in Beverly Hills last year--one of the biggest LA home sales of 2009--look almost like some gold foil flakes Hadid might find at the bottom of his hammam.
· Indonesian Agrees to Buy Bel-Air Mansion for $50 Million [WSJ]
· PriceChopper: Big French Chateau Slims Down [Curbed LA]