Inside Mohamed Hadid's unfinished Bel Air mansion as it's finally demolished


It was supposed to ‘last forever’ in the words of the man who built it, Palestinian-American tycoon Mohamed Hadid.

But instead, the mega-mansion in the ritzy Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles – which he planned to sell for $100million – now lies in ruins, with a demolition crew and mechanical excavator tearing down its walls.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, the 73-year-old developer – father of supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid and star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills – said Thursday that he’s not sad to see the house he envisaged as a monument to luxury and elegance reduced to a pile of rubble.

‘I’ve moved on with my life – that’s all behind me now,’ he said. ‘I wish the people who bought it well and I wish them well with whatever they build there in its place.

‘I have other projects I am involved with now.’

Real estate developer Mohamed Hadid's hopes to sell his 30,000 square-foot Bel Air mansion for $100million were dashed for good after demolition crews began tearing the property down earlier this week

Real estate developer Mohamed Hadid’s hopes to sell his 30,000 square-foot Bel Air mansion for $100million were dashed for good after demolition crews began tearing the property down earlier this week

Hadid's ambitious - and illegal - plans for the property came back to haunt him in 2019 after a judge declared the home a 'clear and present danger' to the local community and ordered it to be torn down. Pictured above is a stainless steel staircase Hadid had designed for the home

Hadid’s ambitious – and illegal – plans for the property came back to haunt him in 2019 after a judge declared the home a ‘clear and present danger’ to the local community and ordered it to be torn down. Pictured above is a stainless steel staircase Hadid had designed for the home

The staircase that would have been elaborately decorated instead is now splintered and crumbling

The staircase that would have been elaborately decorated instead is now splintered and crumbling

Contractors working on the demolition of Mohamed Hadid's Bel Air mega-mansion discovered the rotting hulk was far from the glistening hilltop palace the supermodels' dad had planned

 Contractors working on the demolition of Mohamed Hadid’s Bel Air mega-mansion discovered the rotting hulk was far from the glistening hilltop palace the supermodels’ dad had planned

Hadid pictured outside the Santa Monica courthouse last August

The 73-year-old Palestinian-American tycoon is the father of supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid

The 73-year-old Palestinian-American tycoon, who is the father of supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid, was seen outside court in Santa Monica during his trial last August 

While he may have put the mammoth house on Strada Vecchia Road in his rearview mirror, he’s not finished with Joe Horacek, the 80 year-old neighbor who sued him – and feuded bitterly with him – over the mansion that dominates the Bel Air skyline.

‘I will continue to fight him – I’m not going to stop. I’m going to file a new lawsuit against Joe Horacek for malicious prosecution and lies – and I will win,’ vowed Hadid.

He said he bears no malice toward John and Judith Bedrosian – the elderly neighbors who also sued him – nor the judge who more than two years ago ordered the illegally-built mansion to be torn down, saying it was a ‘clear and present danger’ to the community it towers over.

‘The Bedrosians really didn’t know anything about anything – they were duped by Joe Horacek into joining the lawsuit against me,’ he added

‘And the judge was duped by Horacek into ordering my house to be torn down, before there was even a trial in the case.’

Before: Hadid had shared his vision for the home during its construction on social media with photos of innovative designs and structural pieces

Before: Hadid had shared his vision for the home during its construction on social media with photos of innovative designs and structural pieces

After: The half-constructed rooms are now waiting for saws to take down its concrete walls

After: The half-constructed rooms are now waiting for saws to take down its concrete walls

Plans for the house included an elaborate Turkish bath, complete with ornate wood carvings, colorful tiles and marble and mirrored walls

Plans for the house included an elaborate Turkish bath, complete with ornate wood carvings, colorful tiles and marble and mirrored walls

Those rooms are now covered in dust, waiting for the axe

Those rooms are now covered in dust, waiting for the axe 

The inevitable court battle over the home took place over six weeks last year and ended with Horacek and his wife Bibi and the Bedrosians being awarded a combined total of $2.9million in damages – less than a third of what the neighbors estimated they spent on legal fees fighting Hadid in court.

The demolition of the property has been a long-awaited dream for neighbors, Joe (pictured) and Bibi Horacek and John and Judy Bedrosian

The demolition of the property has been a long-awaited dream for neighbors, Joe (pictured) and Bibi Horacek and John and Judy Bedrosian

During the trial, Hadid, who has filed an appeal against that judgment, claimed in a counter suit that Horacek – a retired entertainment layer whose clients included movie star Michael Douglas and TV’s Dr. Phil – tried to ‘extort’ $3.5million in exchange for dropping his opposition to the mansion that looms over his home below.

The developer’s extortion counter-suit was dismissed – but Hadid repeated the allegation in this new interview, telling DailyMail.com: ‘If I had paid Joe Horacek that $3.5million the house would be standing and beautiful right now.

‘But Horacek made it his job to stop me. He harassed the city of Los Angeles non-stop with complaints to get my house destroyed.

‘He tried to destroy my life too. You think I am going to let him get away with the horrible things he has done to me?’

As he did at the trial, Hadid vehemently denied that his hilltop mansion – which wasn’t built according to local building codes – was a danger to nearby homes below. 

The real estate tycoon had plans to include a 70-seat IMAX theater and a huge wine cellar that were not part of the original construction plans

The real estate tycoon had plans to include a 70-seat IMAX theater and a huge wine cellar that were not part of the original construction plans

A huge entertainment room lined with marble walls and a 10-foot marble fireplace lies empty and ready to be taken apart

A huge entertainment room lined with marble walls and a 10-foot marble fireplace lies empty and ready to be taken apart

Inside the once magnificent structure, in place of the opulence and extravagance that Hadid had intended, there are only ruins

Inside the once magnificent structure, in place of the opulence and extravagance that Hadid had intended, there are only ruins

Hadid planned elaborate sculptures for the grounds of his now-destroyed magnificent mansion

Hadid planned elaborate sculptures for the grounds of his now-destroyed magnificent mansion

‘That’s ridiculous – the house was in immaculate condition and it has not moved a quarter of an inch,’ he said.

And as for that quote – ‘This house will last forever – Bel Air will fall before this will’ – which he gave during a magazine interview several years ago, Hadid added: ‘What I meant was that if there was an 8.7 (Richter Scale) earthquake, this house would survive it. It was built to last.’

But to his dismay, the house only lasted until this week when a 10-man demo team and a mechanical excavator moved in to start tearing it down.

Sahara Construction, the company demolishing the home, invited DailyMail.com to the demolition site Tuesday for an exclusive, first-hand look at how the massive mansion is being reduced to rubble and dust. 

Ripping down the stucco walls of the top floor of the 30,000 square-foot home revealed an interior that was supposed to be the very height of opulence and extravagance.

The centerpiece in the spectacular house is a huge entertainment area – with 15-foot ceilings and a 10-foot sculpted marble fireplace – that was to have been the scene of many glittering parties for the rich and famous.

With both the floor and walls lined with off-white marble, the vast space also boasts giant floor-to-ceiling windows that offer imposing, panoramic views over ritzy Bel Air and even to the Pacific Ocean on clear days. 

Hadid had been determined to finish the property despite the mounting legal threats from neighbors and city officials

Hadid had been determined to finish the property despite the mounting legal threats from neighbors and city officials

Sahara Construction invited DailyMail.com in this week for an exclusive, first-hand look at how the massive mansion is being reduced to rubble

Sahara Construction invited DailyMail.com in this week for an exclusive, first-hand look at how the massive mansion is being reduced to rubble

Due to the house's size and position on the hill, contractors must work carefully to prevent pieces of rubble and masonry from endangering properties below

Due to the house’s size and position on the hill, contractors must work carefully to prevent pieces of rubble and masonry from endangering properties below

To one side of this massive room is a 12-foot-long bar, made from a single piece of marble, that swivels to allow revelers entrance into an IMax movie theater.

That was to have seated film-goers in 70 red velvet chairs. But it’s now just a dark, cold cavern, waiting for saws to carve up its concrete walls and haul the pieces to a dump.

The same fate awaits the nearby wine cellar which was to have housed thousand of bottles of vintage vino.

With a nod to his Middle-eastern background, Hadid included an elaborate Turkish bath, complete with ornate wood carvings, colorful colorful ceramic tiles and walls covered in marble and mirrors.

‘It was a magnificent house – quite beautiful,’ he said. 

Horacek refused to respond to Hadid’s new comments about him but his wife Bibi told DailyMail.com: ‘Hadid is con artist and he’s a pathological liar. It’s time for him to pay up and face the consequences.’  

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