Mansions in the City of Beverly Hills sit in three zoning areas, and each one limits how much house a lot can hold: 14 feet tall in Trousdale Estates, 15,000 square feet including basements on the hillside without a special permit, and 1,500 square feet plus 40% of the lot in the flats. Zillow's typical home value in The Flats was $10,277,281 in September 2026, and the biggest sale the Wall Street Journal found in the city between 2020 and April 2025 was $51.75 million.
You're weighing a mansion or estate lot in Beverly Hills and need to know which part of the city it's in, how large a house the rules allow and what it costs to buy and keep.
At a glance
| City | Beverly Hills (incorporated 1914) |
|---|---|
| Land area | 5.708 sq mi (Census 2020) |
| Single-family zones | Central Area, Hillside Area, Trousdale Estates |
| Trousdale height limit | 14 feet |
| Hillside floor-area cap without permit | 15,000 sq ft including basements |
| Measure ULA | Does not apply inside the city |
Where are the mansions in Beverly Hills?
Before you compare two Beverly Hills mansions, find out which of the city's three zoning areas each one sits in. The city splits its single-family land into the Central Area (Article 24 of its zoning code), the Hillside Area (Article 25) and Trousdale Estates (Article 26). The zone decides how tall and how big the house can be, and that matters more to an estate's value than any finish.
The flats: mansions in the Central Area
The Central Area runs south of Sunset Boulevard, split by Santa Monica Boulevard into a northern and a southern part. Any part of a house visible from the street goes through the city's design review. North of Santa Monica, height tops out at 28 feet, or up to 34 feet with a sloped, ridged roof and side yards of at least 10 feet. Our guide to the Beverly Hills flats covers the streets and lots.
Hillside mansions north of Sunset
The Hillside Area generally sits north of Sunset Boulevard, though the line varies. There's no design review here, but there are floor-area, grading and view limits, and the city says the area north of Sunset is a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.
Trousdale Estates
Paul Trousdale developed this hilltop tract from 1954 into the 1970s, on most of the original Greystone land, with houses by architects including Wallace Neff, Paul R. Williams and A. Quincy Jones. The Beverly Hills Courier reported that all 599 single-family lots are limited to 14 feet, and that 14 properties have full or partial second stories. Read the Trousdale Estates guide before you bid on a view lot there.
Beverly Hills addresses outside the city
A 90210 mailing address isn't proof of the city. The 2020 Census puts 37.8% of the ZIP's land in the City of Beverly Hills and 60.5% in the City of Los Angeles. The Census geocoder places North Beverly Park's entrance in Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Times maps Beverly Crest as a City of Los Angeles neighborhood. Those mansions follow Los Angeles rules (see mansions across Los Angeles), and our Beverly Park page explains what that means for a buyer.
How big can a Beverly Hills mansion be?
Every Beverly Hills house must be at least 1,600 square feet. There's no single maximum, but each zone has a formula, and going past it means a Planning Commission review or a special permit.
| Zone | Floor area | Height | Other limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Area (flats) | 1,500 sq ft + 40% of the lot | 28 ft, up to 34 ft north of Santa Monica Blvd; 25 to 32 ft south of it | Design review for street-facing parts |
| Hillside Area | 40% of the level pad + 10% of the slope (sites up to 15,000 sq ft); 15,000 sq ft total cap with basements | 26 ft, or 30 ft within an envelope | 3,000 cu yd of earth moved per five years |
| Trousdale Estates | 1,500 sq ft + 40% of the lot | 14 ft | Nothing beyond the level pad; no raising the pad |
Floor area in the flats: a worked example
The flats formula is simple enough to run on a listing sheet. A 20,000 square foot lot allows 1,500 plus 8,000, or 9,500 square feet of house. A full acre (43,560 square feet) allows 18,924. If the existing house is already near that figure, you're paying for the building, because the lot can't hold much more. If it's well under, part of the price is the right to build.
Hillside mansions: pad, slope and the 15,000 square foot cap
On the hillside the level pad counts for far more than the slope. A 15,000 square foot site with a 10,000 square foot pad and 5,000 square feet of slope gets 4,000 plus 500, or 4,500 square feet; sites of 15,001 to 25,000 square feet use 37% of the pad instead. No hillside house, basements included, may pass 15,000 square feet without a Hillside R-1 permit, though up to 1,600 square feet of basement garage and 300 of mechanical space don't count.
Basements are no shortcut. The dirt you dig out counts toward the grading limit of 3,000 cubic yards in any five years, or 1,500 on a street narrower than 24 feet.
Trousdale: one story and the level pad
Trousdale's rule is the strictest. Nothing may rise above 14 feet, nothing may extend past the level pad, and no one may regrade to raise the pad. Houses that were legally taller on October 15, 1987 can be rebuilt to their old height, and anyone asking to go higher must first put up story poles that show the bulk.
View rules that bind your trees
Two city rules protect views across the Los Angeles basin. On the hillside, nothing may exceed 14 feet without a permit if the extra height would block a basin view from a neighbor's pad within 300 feet. In Trousdale, a 2011 ordinance lets owners seek trimming of a neighbor's foliage that blocks city-light or ocean views. Neither rule reaches past the city line.
What does a Beverly Hills mansion cost?
Citywide figures describe ordinary houses, not estates. Zillow's typical home value for the City of Beverly Hills was $3,676,482 in September 2026, and Redfin's median sale price that month was $4,029,331 on 73 sales. Elliman's Q4 2025 report put the city's single-family median at $6,022,500 on 48 sales. A mansion is priced by its lot and zone, so look at the neighborhood figures and the reported sales instead.
Typical values by Beverly Hills neighborhood
| Zillow neighborhood | Typical home value, September 2026 | Change over 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| Beverly Hills Gateway | $11,549,534 | +17.4% |
| The Flats | $10,277,281 | +15.8% |
| Trousdale Estates | $7,906,445 | +8.6% |
| Roxbury Park | $3,132,041 | +10.1% |
| Southeast Doheny | $2,710,407 | +9.2% |
These are Zillow's own boundaries and cover the middle third of each area's homes, so the estate end of every neighborhood sells well above them.
Reported Beverly Hills mansion sales, 2024 to 2026
Outlets call any 90210 sale "Beverly Hills," on either side of the city line, so check the parcel before you use one as a comparable.
| Price | Area | Year | Reported by | Asking price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $51,750,000 | Beverly Hills | 2025 | The Wall Street Journal (via iTiger) | $62M in Oct 2024 |
| $47,750,000 | Benedict Canyon, Beverly Hills | 2026 | Casino.org, citing Mansion Global | $110M in 2021 |
| $46,950,000 | Trousdale Estates | 2026 | Outlook Luxe | $68M in Jun 2024 |
| $41,300,000 | Benedict Canyon, Beverly Hills (off-market) | 2026 | EntertainmentNow, citing Realtor.com | None public |
| $30,100,000 | Beverly Hills (spec house) | 2024 | Inman | $39.9M in 2020 |
| $16,500,000 | Beverly Hills | 2025 | Reality Tea, citing TMZ | $25M in Mar 2025 |
Redfin's citywide sale-to-list ratio was 95.1% in September 2026. At mansion prices the gap is wider: the five sales above with a public asking price closed about 17% to 57% under it. Price an estate from closed sales, and treat the ask as an opening figure. For the citywide and countywide records, see the priciest houses ever sold in Los Angeles.
What it costs to own a Beverly Hills mansion
Inside the city line, buying and keeping a mansion costs less in transfer tax and about the same in property tax as across the line in Los Angeles. Run your own figures in the property tax estimator for Beverly Hills.
Transfer tax without Measure ULA
Beverly Hills is its own city, so the City of Los Angeles' Measure ULA doesn't apply to sales inside it. On a $20 million sale in Bel Air, ULA alone is $1.1 million under the rates in force since July 1, 2026; in the Beverly Hills flats it's zero. Sellers here still pay the county's $1.10 per $1,000; ask escrow whether any city amount applies. How that plays out at each price step is in our ultra-luxury homes tiers. The Beverly Hills and Los Angeles transfer tax calculator runs both, and Beverly Hills vs Bel Air sets the two cities side by side.
Property tax, fire zones and insurance
Central Beverly Hills (tax rate area 2410) carries a 2026-27 rate of 1.189084%, so a $20 million purchase means about $237,817 a year before direct assessments. Fire zoning splits the city: north of Sunset is a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, with brush inspections from April 1 each year, while a county map point in the flats isn't zoned. Ask each insurer how the zone changes the quote. Read insuring a Beverly Hills estate and confirm cover with a licensed broker.
City services and the school district check
The city runs its own police and fire departments. The fire department has three stations, answers over 8,600 incidents a year and holds an ISO Class 1 rating. Schools are a separate check: enter the address in the BHUSD School Finder, and if it returns no result, the home is outside the district. Our Beverly Hills schools guide covers both districts.
Historic Beverly Hills mansions and landmark estates
The city's estate history is public record, and its best-known mansion is a city park.
Greystone Mansion
Gordon B. Kaufmann designed Greystone for Ned Doheny. Work began in February 1927, the family moved in by September 1928, and the estate cost $3,166,578.12. The house has 46,054 square feet and 55 livable rooms. The city bought it in 1965 and opened the 18.3-acre site as a park in 1971, and it now runs garden visits, Music in the Mansion and monthly Inside the Mansion programs.
Virginia Robinson Gardens
Built in 1911 for Virginia and Harry Robinson of the J.W. Robinson Co. department store, it's described as the first luxury estate built in Beverly Hills. Mrs. Robinson willed the six-and-a-half-acre estate to Los Angeles County before her death in 1977.
Estates on the city's landmark register
Beverly Hills keeps a local register of historic properties, numbered to 45. It includes the Harry Cohn Estate (Robert Farquhar, 1927), the McGilvray House (Wallace Neff, 1927), the Helms Estate (Gordon Kaufmann, 1928), the David O. Selznick Residence (Roland E. Coate, 1935) and the Kronish Residence (Richard Neutra, 1954). Pickfair, which Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford remade from a hunting lodge in 1919, started the move of film stars to the city. If a house you're looking at is on the register, ask the city's planning staff which changes need review before you price a remodel.
Buying a mansion in Beverly Hills: five checks before you offer
Run these before you write an offer. Each one can move the value of an estate by more than a bidding round.
- Confirm the city. Look the address up in the Census geocoder or on the tax bill; a 90210 address may be in Los Angeles.
- Find the zone: Central Area, Hillside Area or Trousdale Estates.
- Do the floor-area math against the existing house, so you know if the price pays for a building or for the right to build one.
- Check the school district with the BHUSD School Finder.
- Get a written insurance quote, especially north of Sunset.
Some estates never reach the open market. Our private estate search covers those, and you can compare notes with the agent we recommend for Beverly Hills mansions. For prices across the whole city, see Beverly Hills homes for sale.
Beverly Hills mansion FAQs
How much does a mansion in Beverly Hills cost?
Zillow's typical home value was $10,277,281 in The Flats and $11,549,534 in Beverly Hills Gateway in September 2026, and reported mansion sales from 2024 to 2026 ranged from $16.5 million to $51.75 million. The Wall Street Journal called the $51.75 million sale in 2025 the city's biggest since 2020.
Can you build a two-story house in Trousdale Estates?
Generally no. The Beverly Hills code caps every structure in Trousdale Estates at 14 feet and keeps buildings on the level pad. Houses that were legally taller on October 15, 1987 can be rebuilt to that height, and the Beverly Hills Courier reported that 14 properties have full or partial second stories. Anyone asking to exceed the limit must first put up story poles.
How big a house can I build on a Beverly Hills hillside lot?
It depends on the level pad and slope. Sites up to 15,000 square feet get 40% of the pad plus 10% of the slope; sites from 15,001 to 25,000 square feet get 37% of the pad plus 10% of the slope. No hillside house, with basements, may exceed 15,000 square feet without a Hillside R-1 permit. Confirm your lot's numbers with the city's planning desk.
Do Beverly Hills mansions pay the mansion tax?
Not inside the City of Beverly Hills. Measure ULA is a City of Los Angeles tax, so it applies to 90210 homes on the Los Angeles side, such as Beverly Park and Beverly Crest, but not to sales inside Beverly Hills. Sellers in the city still pay the county's documentary transfer tax; ask escrow whether any city amount applies.
Is Beverly Park in Beverly Hills?
Not by city. Beverly Park has a Beverly Hills 90210 mailing address, but the U.S. Census geocoder places North Beverly Park's entrance in the City of Los Angeles. That means Los Angeles zoning and Measure ULA on sales above $5.4 million. Check any individual parcel on its tax bill.
How big is Greystone Mansion?
Greystone has 46,054 square feet of living space and 55 livable rooms, according to the City of Beverly Hills. Gordon B. Kaufmann designed it for Ned Doheny, and the family moved in by September 1928. The city bought the estate in 1965 and dedicated the 18.3-acre site as a public park in 1971.
Can you tour a mansion in Beverly Hills?
Yes. Greystone Mansion and Gardens is owned and run by the City of Beverly Hills, which offers its terraced gardens, Music in the Mansion concerts and monthly Inside the Mansion programs. The house itself, 46,054 square feet designed by Gordon B. Kaufmann, opens for those programs. Check the city's Greystone pages for current times.
Sources
- City of Beverly Hills: Single-Family Regulations
- City of Beverly Hills: General Plan 2021-2029 Housing Element, Appendix B
- Beverly Hills Municipal Code Art. 24, Central Area (gocodebook copy)
- Beverly Hills Municipal Code Art. 25, Hillside Area (gocodebook copy)
- Beverly Hills Municipal Code Art. 26, Trousdale Estates (gocodebook copy)
- Beverly Hills Courier: Commission rejects zone text amendment proposal (16 Nov 2023)
- City of Beverly Hills: Trousdale Estates View Restoration Guidelines
- Los Angeles Conservancy: Trousdale Estates
- U.S. Census Bureau: 2020 ZCTA5 to Place relationship file
- U.S. Census Bureau: 2020 Gazetteer, California places
- U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder: North Beverly Park entrance
- Los Angeles Times: Mapping L.A., Beverly Crest
- Zillow Research: Zillow Home Value Index data (September 2026)
- Redfin Data Center: city market data (September 2026)
- Douglas Elliman / Miller Samuel: Elliman Report Q4-2025 Greater Los Angeles
- Dow Jones / WSJ via iTiger: Beverly Hills home sells for $51.75M (16 Apr 2025)
- Casino.org: Wynn's Beverly Hills mansion sale (27 Jul 2026)
- Outlook Luxe: James Jannard sells Beverly Hills mansion (6 Jul 2026)
- EntertainmentNow: former Bruce Willis home sells (16 Apr 2026)
- Inman: Beverly Hills spec mansion sells for $30.1M (28 Feb 2024)
- Reality Tea: Dubrow Beverly Hills home sells under asking (12 Aug 2025)
- City of Los Angeles Office of Finance: Measure ULA FAQ
- City of Beverly Hills FAQ: When was the City incorporated?
- Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk: Documentary Transfer Taxes
- Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller: Tax Rates by TRA
- City of Beverly Hills FAQ: What and where is the VHFHSZ?
- City of Beverly Hills: Brush Clearance Program
- Los Angeles County GIS: Fire Hazard Severity Zones LRA layer
- City of Beverly Hills: Fire Department
- City of Beverly Hills: About the Fire Department (ISO Class 1)
- City of Beverly Hills: About Beverly Hills
- BHUSD: School Finder
- City of Beverly Hills: History of Greystone
- City of Beverly Hills: About Greystone
- Friends of Robinson Gardens: About
- City of Beverly Hills: Local Register of Historic Properties
- City of Beverly Hills: History of Beverly Hills