Last updated: October 2026
Holmby Hills real estate sits at the center of Los Angeles' Platinum Triangle, the stretch of the Westside it shares with Beverly Hills and Bel Air. The neighborhood is built around estates on lots that zoning allows to reach four acres, on curving streets with no sidewalks and English-style streetlamps from the 1920s. Privacy is the first draw. The address, a short drive from Westwood Village and Beverly Hills, comes second.
Most of what makes the area valuable is out of sight from the street, including long drives, mature hedges and houses set far back from the road. That is why the neighborhood has drawn film stars and business leaders for a century. Anyone looking at homes for sale in Holmby Hills is shopping a very small, closely held market.
Holmby Hills at a Glance
Topic | Quick takeaway |
|---|---|
Location | Westside of Los Angeles, between Bel Air and Wilshire Boulevard, next to Beverly Hills and Westwood |
City | Part of the City of Los Angeles, not the City of Beverly Hills |
ZIP code | 90077 for most of the neighborhood |
Homes | Gated estates, historic manors and new builds, often on one to four acres |
Landmarks | Playboy Mansion, The Manor, Owlwood, and the site of Walt Disney's backyard railroad |
Schools | LAUSD campuses nearby, plus Harvard-Westlake Middle School inside the neighborhood |
Outdoors | Holmby Park, the Armand Hammer pitch-and-putt course, and views of the Los Angeles Country Club |
Nearby | UCLA, Westwood Village, the Hammer Museum, Beverly Hills dining and Sunset Boulevard |
Market | Few sales each year, so one closing can change the averages |
Where Is Holmby Hills?
Holmby Hills is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles on the Westside. Beverly Hills borders it on the east, Bel Air on the north, Westwood on the west and Wilshire Boulevard on the south. It is not part of Beverly Hills, even though the two share a border and a reputation. Most addresses use ZIP code 90077.
Sunset Boulevard splits the neighborhood in two, and the halves feel different.
South of Sunset | North of Sunset | |
|---|---|---|
Setting | Flatter streets between Sunset, Club View Drive and Wilshire | Rising streets in the hills, between Beverly Glen Boulevard and the Beverly Hills border |
Neighbors | Los Angeles Country Club, Holmby Park, UCLA | Bel Air and Beverly Hills |
Character | Historic estates, no sidewalks, old streetlamps | Larger hillside parcels, canyon and city views |
Local Tip: When a listing says "Holmby Hills," check which side of Sunset it is on. Each side is served by its own homeowners association, and the two sides fall under different city planning areas.
Real Estate in Holmby Hills
Holmby Hills homes are mostly custom estates. Buyers find English manors and French châteaux from the 1930s, Georgian and Tuscan houses, mid-century modern work by well-known architects, and new construction rebuilt to current standards. Tennis courts, pools, guesthouses, screening rooms and full-scale gardens are standard rather than special.
Some properties are large enough to work as private compounds. Sales are infrequent, and the ones that close are usually eight figures, so published medians can swing sharply on a handful of closings. A buyer comparing two estates will learn more from the house, the parcel and its history than from a neighborhood average. Josh Flagg's notable sales include a $120 million Holmby Hills estate and 131 Delfern Drive at $55 million.
What tends to hold value here:
- Parcel size and depth. Larger lots with a long approach protect privacy and leave room for pools, courts and guesthouses.
- Provenance. A documented history adds appeal when it can be proven. How provenance and privacy shape value in Holmby Hills covers when a famous name matters and when it does not.
- Architect and condition. Houses by recognized architects, or ones rebuilt well inside a historic shell, draw the most attention.
- Street position. Cul-de-sacs and homes that back onto the Los Angeles Country Club or open land are especially hard to replace.
Main Takeaway: In a neighborhood with this few sales, price the house and the lot, then the story. Buyers can learn how to buy a luxury home before touring.
Famous Estates and Landmarks
Several Holmby Hills properties are known well beyond Los Angeles.
The Playboy Mansion (Charing Cross Road): The Tudor-style house was built in the 1920s for Arthur Letts Jr., the son of the neighborhood's founder. Hugh Hefner moved in during 1971 and stayed until his death in 2017. The mansion sold for $100 million in 2016 to Daren Metropoulos, who already owned the estate next door.
The Manor (Mapleton Drive): Built for Aaron and Candy Spelling, this French château-style home is one of the largest houses in Los Angeles. It sold for $85 million in 2011 and for $119.75 million in 2019.
Owlwood (South Carolwood Drive): The Tuscan-style estate on about 3.7 acres was finished in 1937. Tony Curtis owned it before Cher, who bought it with Sonny Bono and led a major redesign in the 1970s. It sold for $88 million in a private deal in late 2020 after being listed at $180 million in 2017.
Walt Disney's Carolwood home (North Carolwood Drive): Disney laid out the 2,615-foot Carolwood Pacific Railroad in his backyard here in 1950, with a one-eighth scale locomotive he named the Lilly Belle. The original house was later replaced. His railroad barn was moved in 1999 to the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum in Griffith Park.
Who Lives in Holmby Hills?
Holmby Hills has been a star address since the studio era, and much of the history is attached to specific houses.
Past residents and their homes include:
- Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, 232 South Mapleton Drive
- Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor, North Faring Road
- Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck and Clark Gable, North Carolwood Drive
- Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone, Charing Cross Road
- Michael Jackson, who rented a gated château at 100 North Carolwood Drive and died there in June 2009
More recent buyers have reportedly included investor Nicolas Berggruen and Kylie Jenner, and other owners keep estates here with little publicity. That discretion is the point. Neighbors rarely see each other's houses, and security is built into the property.
Schools Near Holmby Hills
Public school assignment follows the home address, so buyers should confirm it with LAUSD. Families in the area are generally zoned for Warner Avenue Elementary (grades K to 5, on Holmby Avenue), Emerson Middle School and University High School.
Private options are close. Harvard-Westlake Middle School (grades 7 to 9) sits on North Faring Road, inside the neighborhood, on the campus where Westlake School for Girls moved in 1927. Harvard-Westlake's upper school is in Studio City. UCLA is also close, and California residents benefit from in-state tuition.
Parks, Golf and Outdoor Space
Holmby Park, at 601 Club View Drive, is the neighborhood's public green space. It has playgrounds, picnic tables and barbecue pits, a jogging path and the Holmby Park Lawn Bowling Club, which has played here since 1927. The Armand Hammer course is a small, inexpensive nine-hole pitch-and-putt with no shot longer than about 50 yards.
The park runs along the edge of the Los Angeles Country Club (LACC), a private club on Wilshire Boulevard. LACC's North Course, designed by George C. Thomas Jr. and restored by Gil Hanse and Geoff Shackelford in 2010, hosted the 2017 Walker Cup and the 2023 U.S. Open, which Wyndham Clark won. The club is members-only, but some Holmby Hills estates look out over its fairways.
For trails and more open space, see hiking spots near Beverly Hills and the best golf courses around Beverly Hills.
Dining, Culture and Shopping Nearby
Holmby Hills is residential, with no storefronts inside it. Everything is a short drive away.
- Beverly Hills: Wolfgang Puck's CUT at the Beverly Wilshire and the Michelin-starred Nozawa Bar are among the dining rooms here. See the best restaurants in Beverly Hills for more.
- Westwood and UCLA: The Hammer Museum on Wilshire Boulevard is free to enter and closed on Mondays. Check hours and parking before a visit.
- Sunset Boulevard: The Sunset Strip has clubs, hotels and restaurants a few minutes east.
- Brentwood: Brentwood adds village-style shopping and cafes to the west.
Getting Around
The neighborhood is car-dependent by design. The lack of sidewalks, large lots and limited through traffic keep the streets quiet, and speed bumps on several key roads reinforce that. Sunset and Wilshire boulevards are the main east-west routes, Beverly Glen Boulevard runs north to south, and the 405 is a short drive west. Many estates add gated entries and long private drives on top of that.
The History of Holmby Hills
The land that became Holmby Hills was first home to the Tongva people. In 1843 the Mexican governor of California granted Rancho San José de Buenos Ayres to Maximo Alanis, and the land passed through several owners, including Los Angeles mayor Benjamin Davis Wilson and, later, the Wolfskill family.
Arthur Letts, the retailer who built The Broadway department store, bought the Wolfskill ranch lands in 1919 and named the planned estate district after Holdenby, the English village where he was born. Letts died suddenly in 1923. His son-in-law Harold Janss and the Janss Investment Company carried the project forward alongside Westwood.
The developers gave the streets British names, including Devon Avenue, Charing Cross Road and Conway Avenue, and added the English-style streetlamps that still line the neighborhood. Large houses began to appear through the 1930s, many of them for film industry figures,.
Buying or Selling in Holmby Hills
Holmby Hills is a market where the right introduction matters as much as the right listing, since many estates change hands quietly. Josh Flagg represents buyers and sellers across Holmby Hills, Bel Air and Beverly Hills. To start a private conversation about a purchase or a sale, contact Josh or request a seller consultation.
