Featured image credit: Atwater Village Newbie
In a city as unconventional as Los Angeles, mansions for sale tend to find distinction well beyond the square footage, number of bedrooms, and the swimming pool. Between billionaires competing for bragging rights and over a century of entertainment industry eccentricity, luxury amenities push the definition beyond the accepted boundaries. We’re talking about features that make chef’s kitchens and walk-in closets seem downright elementary. Today, we examine some of the most jaw-dropping, eyebrow-raising extras to be attached to LA’s most lavish estates.
A 6-Acre Vineyard with Its Own Private Label
Arguably the hottest of LA’s mansions for sale over the last few decades, Palazzi di Amore is a 53,000-square-foot Mediterranean enclave nestled in Beverly Hills. It was built at the behest of billionaire investor Jeff Greene to his very exacting tastes, inspiring plenty of gossip with its opulence. Sure, there’s the 50-seat movie theater. And, yes, the bowling alley. But these don’t hold a candle to Palazzi di Amore’s private discotheque, further distinguished by its rotating dance floor.
Perhaps the most impressive feature of Palazzi di Amore isn’t even within the sprawling mansion’s walls. We’re referring to the grounds’ six-acre vineyard, producing Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese under the private Beverly Hills Vineyards label. Leaning into this distinct amenity, the mansion hosts a 10,000-bottle wine tasting room. Palazzi di Amore also features a Turkish-style spa and a 128-foot reflecting pool, all doing their part to support the dizzying $195 million listing price when the mansion hit the market most recently in 2025.
An Elevator… for a Car Collection
Another of the recent mansions for sale to turn heads on the LA market was the 24,000-square-foot, five-story Hollywood Hills compound of music producer Alex Da Kid. Perhaps no home in LA has the same amenity-to-square-foot ratio, but who would expect anything less from an entertainer? Want to go for a swim? Well, you’ll need to decide which of the home’s eight swimming pools fits your mood. Or, you could kill some time at the two-lane bowling alley, the indoor basketball half-court, the 40-person theater, or the breezy rooftop terrace with retractable movie screen.
Yet none of these features stand out quite like the 65-foot glass car elevator protruding up through a private nightclub. Guests watch these collectible cars rise and fall through the club like a priceless art installation. This property also leans into the growing trend of wellness features in luxury homes with a cryotherapy machine, cold plunge pool, sauna, hot tub, and dedicated massage room wreathed in hemlock.
A Dedicated Gift-Wrapping Room in One of the Most Historic LA Mansions for Sale
For a while, no name in Hollywood spelled decadence quite like that of Aaron Spelling. Possibly the most famous of his mansions for sale over the years, “The Manor”, most recently sold to Google CEO Eric Schmidt for $110 million. And with its gorgeous French chateau-inspired architecture, 56,500-square feet of living space, and enviable Holmby Hills location, we can see the appeal. Spelling’s penchant for excess is still evident throughout the mansion in features like the bowling alley or the beauty salon, with its massage and sun-tanning rooms.
But it also had some dedicated areas that were a little less conventional. For example, the gift-wrapping room. Or the room for storing silver, augmented with precise humidity-control features. We’re not even sure if the modern buyer would know how to use these areas as designed. But one that might have been a bit more intuitive was the built-in dog-grooming area. It’s also worth mentioning that “The Manor” could accommodate parking for up to 100 vehicles. Perhaps that’s not surprising, considering the property even dwarves the White House by several thousand square feet.
More Parking Than a Lot
Since parking is such a hot commodity in Los Angeles, we’ll end our list of the oddest features in LA’s mansions for sale with a trip back to Palazzi di Amore. Why? Because this lavish estate even outdid Aaron Spelling with its accommodation for 150 vehicles. Keep in mind that an average commercial parking lot can support somewhere around 50 to 60 vehicles. Perhaps more impressively, this plentitude of parking heralds Palazzi di Amore’s capacity to host up to 1,000 guests, making it sometimes feel more akin to a venue than a home.
The Changing Face of Opulence
This doesn’t mean that every buyer interested in mansions for sale in Los Angeles wants the most indulgent or perplexing amenities imaginable. But there is still that niche pocket of buyers drawn to the unconventional, even as the parameters of “unusual” shift with the times. Bowling alleys and screening rooms speak more to the decadence of decades past.
Today’s luxury buyers are more likely to be enchanted by built-in wellness infrastructure, like cryotherapy chambers, cold plunge pools, and dedicated spa floors. So, yes, it’s safe to say Alex Da Kid’s cryotherapy machine would hold more sway on today’s luxury market than Aaron Spelling’s gift-wrapping room. But one aspect of the LA luxury market appears to be timeless. And that’s the idea of the home as a statement.
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