Name: Inside a $195 Million Bel Air Estate With Secret Tunnels | On the Market | Architectural Digest
Uploaded: 2026-01-21T07:40:47.000Z
Duration: 13 min 13 s
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Welcome to Chartwell, one of the most incredible iconic properties in all of Los Angeles, if not all of California.

It's situated on 10.4 acres with views from downtown Los Angeles all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

The estate features an authentic French chateau with six bedrooms and 13 baths, complete with canyon trails and golf cart paths, the secret tunnels, the pool and pool house, the tennis court, the French gardens, the garden pavilion, the redwood grove, the 40 car motor gallery, the 12,000 bottle wine cellar, the coy pond stream, and

to top it all off, a five bedroom Wallace Neff guest house.

This is one of a kind in so many ways, but

it will also be nearly impossible to ever put four contiguous properties together like this in the heart of Bel Air.

This home was built in 1930 and the late Jerry Perenchio bought it in 1986.

He shortly thereafter purchased three contiguous lots amassing 10.4 acres, which is completely unheard of and probably never to be duplicated again.

When you drive up Bel Air Road, you come to the most amazing stone wall that has these gorgeous lollipop trees in front of them.

This estate has 4/10 of a mile of street frontage.

Playboy mansion, half that Spelling Manor, half that.

Bordering the front lawns of Chartwell are these phenomenal carob trees that have been pleached to give this continuous shape effect.

Arriving at the front of the house, you might recognize it from the iconic TV show, the Beverly Hillbillies.

This house is 25,000 square feet and completely symmetrical in nature.

Mr. Perenchio wanted to create an authentic replica of an 18th century chateau.

And in doing so, he reconfigured the entire interior.

The only thing that was left standing were the four outer walls.

He brought in interior designer Henri Samuel.

And it took them five years to complete this work.

An elegant, sophisticated space with beautiful staircases, limestone and black marble flooring that enters right into the main salon.

Presidents, ambassadors, foreign dignitaries, all would come enter through the foyer into the main salon.

It's 18th century and it took the French artisans three months to install.

And from here we're heading to the dining room.

But what's incredible about this room are the panels.

These were commissioned for the Prime Minister of England, then Restored, shipped here and attached.

And if you look closely at these wood instruments, you'll see strings on them.

The staff would bring in food during an event from the kitchen that's located in this particular wing.

I feel like I'm in one of the Harry's bars in anywhere around the world.

Television pops up and back with all the people that have visited this house during all the entertaining events.

If the walls could speak, they would tell incredible stories.

Coming down from the bar into the living room area that transitions into a ballroom.

This ballroom also doubles as a screening room as well.

The panels slide open, revealing huge speakers.

He would have legendary musicians who played at sold out arenas around the world grace this very stage.

The room would be completely cleared out, emptied of furniture, emptied of antiques.

And then tables would be set up for dining.

Guests would eat, they would drink and listen to incredible artists play.

And through these double doors, guests could just step out and enjoy the view.

Fabulous lawns, grand fountain, the redwood trees.

And on this estate is a phenomenal rose garden to the left and to the right, a beautiful veggie garden as well.

Let me take you down one of these cascades.

Trust me, you've never seen anything like it.

Mr. Perenchio hired French architects to create this phenomenal landscape effect with these water fountains cascading down.

During the renovation, he brought in 22,000 trees and plants onto the ground.

Seeing it in the daytime is one thing, seeing it at night, something completely else.

And here we arrive at the grand fountain, huge in size.

And when you look up at the facade of the home, you see the symmetry and the beautiful pleach trees along the side.

And if you notice these four statues, they represent the four seasons.

And on the other end, you have a matching cascading water fountain.

And it's like a maze leading you to the next destination, which is the pool.

There's a 75 foot length swimming pool and a pool house.

During a birthday party, they had a swimming competition.

Right before the starting gun went off, one of the competitors pulled out and asked for a replacement.

Needless to say, anyone who swam that day didn't get higher than a silver medal.

Cascading rock garden that leads you to the pool area.

To this beautiful indoor outdoor pool house.

You have a round bar over here and a great hangout area.

You can bring all your things here, put them in the lockers, go swim, hang out, come back afterwards, change and shower.

And these are the secret underground tunnels that lead you from the pool to the house to the outer walking grounds.