Much of Lower Bel Air — one of America’s priciest neighborhoods — looks more like a warzone these days than the genteel old money mansionville of yore. Blame it on the skyrocketing sale prices of contemporary LA mansions in recent years. Cash-flush developers are frothin’ at the mouth to build ever-bigger compounds on speculation — compounds so big they don’t even qualify as mega-mansions anymore. These beasts have graduated to giga-mansion status.
Just the other day, Yolanda received an email from someone who we’ll call Swingin’ Door Susie. Our gurl Susie squealed about a celebrity who she said will soon be constructin’ a big new contemporary Bel Air mansion — not on speculation, but as his personal residence. We’re referring to the superrich DJ Adam Wiles, better-known by his stage name Calvin Harris.
In all honesty, Yolanda doesn’t know Swingin’ Door Susie personally, and we have no clue how she’d know about Mr. Harris’s real estate doings. And so we were more than a wee bit skeptical when she pointed Yolanda to a vacant Bel Air lot that we also didn’t even know had recently been sold.
But just for giggles, we checked on the estate in question. Sure enough, records reveal ownership the land was very quietly transferred last month (September 2018) for a hardcore $13,800,000 in cash. Interestingly enough, the estate had been on the market, though it was suspiciously yanked off the MLS just prior to closing. When that happens, kiddies, it’s almost always the hallmark of a celebrity buyer.
And although we can’t prove Mr. Harris is the new owner, there is indeed circumstantial evidence linking him to this address.
Good gracious! Our Mr. Harris is now a certified real estate baller. With this lot and his three other multimillion dollar local mansions, he’s got well over $40 million sunk into LA luxury real estate. And keep in mind that Mr. Harris will have to invest millions more to construct his Bel Air dream home.
In case y’all are worried that the 6’6″ Mr. Harris may be overextended financially, don’t be. Not only has he been ranked as the world’s highest-paid DJ for years, the beancounters at Forbes say the mid-30s Scotsman hauled in an unfathomable $48 million over the last year. Yep, you read right. Forty-eight million bucks in just twelve months. That’s $131,506 per day. Yowza!
At least one website says that Mr. Harris is worth $220 million, nearly as much as his ex-girlfriend (and fellow property lover) Taylor Swift.
But we digress. About the Bel Air estate in question — it spans 2.34 acres of land. Because the property sits on a hillside slope, however, not all of that space is usable. The flat promontory y’all see above contains about an acre of space, which is still lots of room as LA estates go. Besides the grass and ugly black-topped driveway, the only other improvements currently on the property are a full-size tennis court and wee one-bedroom guesthouse.
Back in late 2014, the place was sold for just under $10 million to local investment group Paradigm Developers. At the time, the property sported a rather blah mid-century residence, but that was quickly demolished. Paradigm then commissioned prominent local architecture firm Harrison Design to draw up a new mansion for the promontory before flippin’ it back onto the market (with the Harrison plans included) in summer 2016 with an aggressive $20 million ask. It would take more than two years (and a couple realtor changes) before Mr. Harris paid the deeply-discounted $13.8 million.
The mansion imagined by Harrison is a nearly 18,000-square-foot glassy contemporary with 5 bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms. There’s a dramatic infinity-edged swimming pool surrounding most of the compound, and a mansion-sized garage tucked under the damn pool! Yolanda dug up an old listing says that the estate “can accommodate hundreds of partygoers“. Seems perfect for a wealthy young bachelor, right?
Apparently permits have already been pulled and approved for the property, so our boy Mr. Harris could theoretically start building this place tomorrow. (Maybe he’s already begun building?)
We imagine that the main reason Mr. Harris was drawn to this parcel is due to the extraordinary privacy it affords — it’s one of the most privately-situated estates in lower Bel Air, in fact. The promontory lies at the end of a hidden cul-de-sac just off one of the area’s main roads and has — essentially — no near neighbors. Yet it’s only a three-minute car ride to the uber-posh Hotel Bel Air.
And we also imagine that Mr. Harris needs a big new house partly because he’s got a massive (and still growing) car collection. Gotta have a place to park all the kids — er, automobiles.
While he’s awaiting the completion of his sexy new mega-mansion, Mr. Harris certainly has no shortage of multimillion-dollar “crash pads” scattered across LA in which to rest his lanky form. Three of them, in fact. He still owns his first California house, a contemporary compound in the Hollywood Hills just above the Sunset Strip. This property is currently being leased out.
According to records, Mr. Harris bought his starter home more than five years ago — in early 2013 — for exactly $7 million. And for unknown reasons, he’s also got another Hollywood Hills manse, this one much further up in the mountains and purchased from Steve Angello in late 2017 for just over $5 million.
Mr. Harris’s main residence, however, is his $15,000,000 compound way high up in the mountains above Beverly Hills, in an area known as Beverly Hills Post Office. Per previous reports, Mr. Harris purchased the multi-acre estate over the summer of 2014 and has since undertaken some renovatin’ of the property.
It is here, at Mr. Harris’s B.H.P.O. estate, where Swingin’ Door Susie — an expert on all things Calvin Harris, apparently — told us he’s got a couple full-time security guards whose sole job is to sit in their parked cars outside his driveway. All day and all night. Just sitting, waiting, watching, wishin’.
Listing agent: David Kramer, Hilton & Hyland
Calvin Harris’s agents: The Altman Brothers, Douglas Elliman