Champagne Wishes and Home Buying Dreams

The real estate market may be taking a beating in the rest of the country, but if you're looking to buy a new home in the 90210 zip code, you better bring your real estate agent and your acting coach. Local brokers say that despite whatever is going on in the rest of the U.S., the mega-rich still want their mega-homes, and that there are currently more than 20 20,000-plus square-foot homes being built in Los Angeles's  "platinum triangle," an area that includes Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Holmby Hills. These massive mansions include everything from bowling alleys to gift-wrapping rooms. We always assumed the rich had gifts wrapped for them—could a gift-wrapper come with the home?

What's with the continuing Tinseltown allure? Ever since the Clampets took root in Beverly Hills, starry-eyed hopefuls have been relocating to the area in hopes of striking their own symbolic oil. Will Smith came from West Philladelphia to live with Aunt Viv and Uncle Phil. The Walshes came from Minnesota to attend West Beverly High. And so it goes with the financiers who are building mega-mansions in the hills.

These fictional characters may have made some of us believe that the grass is always greener in Southern California, but don't forget about the beauty that exists in your own back yard. For the price those guys are paying for their mansions, you could probably buy a neighborhood for your entire family. [LA Times]