The Top of The Platinum Triangle™
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.
Platinum-Triangle
