Developer Bruce Makowsky is marketing his dazzling high-dollar speculation build in Bel Air.
The house represents a kind of turnkey Jay Gatsby lifestyle—minus the library of classics with uncut pages—but the $250 million price tag set in 2017 didn’t sell the place, and the deep-pocketed buyer with such extreme trophy-home aspirations remained stubbornly reticent even after a $62 million price slash a little less than a year later.
The newest price cut finds the ask settling at $150 million; reductions now total $100 million, or 40% of the original—and admittedly rather sanguine—ask for the 38,000 square-foot residential construction.
Part of the issue has to do with resale potential. The buyer pool for this kind of house isn’t a big one, and tying up nine figures into one massive investment is a classic case of one basket for one’s eggs, unless one is a bona fide multi-billionaire. The reduction is only remarkable for reinforcing this pattern in the stratospheric tier of residential home pricing.
The house’s compelling spaciousness and dizzying array of luxury amenities, details, and inclusions notwithstanding. How does a $30 million auto collection sound? The art collection is valued at another $10 million.
The home’s interiors are enthrallingly grandiose. Glassy, glistening and open, it’s as close as one can come to a perfect example of an American palace of this century. The ten en-suite bedrooms are topped by a pair of master suites; there are 21 baths all told. A huge home cinema, four-lane bowling alley, fitness center, spa and massage room, and a number of wet bars handle recreational needs.
The home’s jet-set appeal extends to air travel: the property works in a helipad on its grounds, as well as 17,000 square feet of outdoor living space. The home’s three kitchens should handle catering for massive events that will spill out and around the pool, where a retractable movie screen can emerge for showings.
$150 million.