At the height of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Casa Contenta’s grand dining table frequently sat the likes of Clint Eastwood, Cary Grant, Lucille Ball, and other stars synonymous with the glitz and gilt of 1950s California. The almost two-acre estate was home to some of the most glamorous fêtes of the era—from Academy Award afterparties to black tie political fundraisers to weekend tennis retreats—hosted by longtime owners D.D. “Tex” Feldman, a Texas oil magnate, and his wife, philanthropist Jayne Poindexter Copp Feldman.
After almost 80 years in the Feldman family, the Bel-Air mansion is now looking for a new owner. The nearly 11,000-square-foot mansion, shrouded in lush greenery, is listed for $12.7 million by real estate mogul Carl Gambino, as part of an estate housing seven structures that include a north-south tennis court and gym, pool, staff residence, and more. The interiors, by silent film star-turned-designer Tom Douglas, were featured in Architectural Digest in 1951, when the illustrious halls were covered in toile wallpaper. Vaulted ceilings, marble floors, and green carpeting in the main foyer further establish the estate’s Hollywood Regency glamour.
The house boasts 11 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms stretched out over its main building and its accompanying casita, the “Copper Room.” Situated next to the cerulean pool and spa, the 2,700-square-foot casita is more than a pool house: It serves as a private 35mm film screening room with a floor-to-ceiling tiled fireplace around which film executives once crowded for first run previews. It also features three guest suites and a party room with two bars and a dance floor—a cultural center in its own right—where stars like Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Audrey Hepburn rubbed elbows.
For David Feldman, son of D.D. and Jayne, growing up in Casa Contenta afforded him more than just a peek behind the curtain into the golden age’s most famous lives (although, he still chuckles at childhood memories of seeing celebrity guests fall into his pool after one too many flutes of champagne). Feldman remembers gathering with friends to watch Moby Dick on his birthday in the theater, seeing the wind blow through the wild California oaks in the gardens, and his father towing his car after he bedecked it with an anti-Ronald Reagan bumper sticker—right before the movie-star-turned-California-governor came around for dinner.
The midcentury glamour of the Copper Room and the parties it hosted did not, however, render the vibrant main residence of Casa Contenta forgone for a night of entertainment. Equipped with a restaurant-style kitchen and butler’s pantry, spacious dining room, extensive wine cellar, several libraries, and colorful lounges—all retained in their original, historical design—Casa Contenta refused to be upstaged by its sweeping views of Los Angeles and the Bel-Air Country Club’s 15th and 16th hole greens. The primary bedroom, among the most luxurious spots in the house, sports a gold finish over an Art Deco-inspired canopy bed with a large ensuite dressing room.
Feldman decided to list the mansion after the death of his parents. (His father passed away in the 1980s while his mother Jayne died at age 106 in 2024.) Casa Contenta, while a happy home, always felt too big for him. “It was built for a different era,” he said, one defined by his parent’s brimming social calendars. While Feldman may not be keeping that tradition alive, it’s important to him that the next custodians of the house do—along with Casa Contenta’s Hollywood Regency charm.
“I hope that the next owner preserves the spirit of the house and the integrity,” he said. “We have talked to many potential buyers who are developers wanting to level the place and create modern living boxes of steel, concrete, and glass. I hope that the property will be preserved in some way, particularly the many trees that grace the land.”
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