It’s Hard To Build A Big, New House In Beverly Hills: This One Hits The Market For $75 Million

Building a new house in Beverly Hills, California, is a challenge. A Design Review Commission applies very stringent guidelines to every element of the design and construction, including the new home’s style, size, materials, building process, topography, how it looks to neighbors and how it fits into an existing neighborhood. 

Then there is the Mansionization Ordinance, first enacted in 2008 and updated and toughened in 2014. It attempts to keep over scaled, or mega structures from dominating established neighborhoods and casting existing adjacent houses into deep shade.

“It makes it very difficult to get a project approved,” says Bart Mendel, president of Stonemark Construction Management. “Beverly Hills has a very strict and detailed entitlement process.”

His company spent two years before city boards and commissions to secure approval for this property: a 16,360 square foot contemporary house across multiple levels, plus a 2,690-square-foot guest house and patio space. Sen Properties, a luxury home developer in Beverly Hills, built the ultra-modern estate on a lot measuring over one acre, with construction itself carried out by JD Group Inc. Once permits and approvals were secured, construction took another two and one-half years. Since the house’s completion, Adnan Sen and his wife, Begum, have been living there.  

Designed by Studio William Hefner, the home has seven bedrooms and ten baths; an additional two bedrooms and two baths are located in the guesthouse. In a community famous for its swimming pools, this one is extraordinary, wending its way in, out and around sections of the house, including an outdoor lounge, kitchen and dining area. One-inch glass mosaic tiles line the sides and bottom of the pool, making it sparkle in the California sun.

Louvers that cover the exterior of the second floor are an especially striking architectural feature, shading the interior while allowing natural light in.

“Some of them lift up, but most are stationary,” says Ali Salour, Senior Project Manager at Stonemark Construction Management. “Made of coated aluminum, they are primarily aesthetic.”

It may be harder to build a mansion than ever, but with the right staff of professionals, it can be done. This home is representative of a trend towards bigger and more expensive houses in Beverly Hills: In the 90210 ZIP Code, there have been five sales of $30 million or more this year.

Jason Oppenheim and Davina Potratz, the Oppenheim Group agents who star on Netflix’s Selling Sunset, hold the listing.

This post first appeared on Forbes.com. To see the original, click here.