For almost 75 years, Casa Contenta remained in the hands of the same family. Now, the 1936 Hollywood Regency estate has been listed for US$12.699 million, bringing one of Bel-Air’s most intact private compounds back to the market.
Photography: courtesy of Gambino
Photography: courtesy of Gambino
Photography: courtesy of Gambino
Photography: courtesy of Gambino
Photography: courtesy of Gambino
Photography: courtesy of Gambino
Photography: courtesy of Gambino
Photography: courtesy of Gambino
Photography: courtesy of Gambino
Photography: courtesy of Gambino
Photography: courtesy of Gambino
Occupying 1.88 acres overlooking the Bel-Air Country Club, the estate was purchased by Texas oilman DD ‘Tex’ Feldman and his wife Jayne Poindexter Copp Feldman in the early 1950s. Over the following decades, the property became a regular setting for the couple’s large-scale entertaining, featuring figures from Hollywood, politics and music, including Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Lucille Ball and Burt Bacharach.
The compound comprises seven buildings centred on an 11-bedroom main residence. Alongside a north-south tennis court and pool, the grounds include a dedicated tennis pavilion, a 2,700sqft guest and pool house, staff accommodation, garages, gardens and a series of outdoor entertaining spaces. Many original interiors remain, including the circular salon, the copper-clad entertainment room and a rooftop lounge overlooking the golf course. The house was also published in Architectural Digest in 1951.
While the listing highlights redevelopment potential across its three legal lots, Casa Contenta’s significance lies elsewhere. Few of Bel-Air’s early estates remain so closely connected to the social life that helped define the neighbourhood, or preserve so much of the architecture created to accommodate it.
