Glamorous, starry and extremely private: Nine images capturing 100 years of Bel-Air, LA's most exclusive suburb

The brainchild of a rancher-turned-oilman, it has evolved from a 1920s "gentlemen's haven" to a film-star refuge, a 1960s "groovy scene", and a high-end, low-profile enclave. This year the neighbourhood celebrates its centenary.

The Los Angeles neighbourhood of Bel-Air likely brings to mind the '90s TV sitcom with Will Smith as a teenager sent to live with rich relatives. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air left a vague, lingering impression of Bel-Air as extremely affluent, but didn't add much else. It wasn't even shot there. Unlike nearby hot spots like Beverly Hills or Hollywood, the area has no sharply defined image in the public consciousness.

But now a new book celebrating the area, Bel-Air: The Centennial, reveals its fascinating cultural and architectural history, from its founding in 1922, when Los Angeles still had vast empty spaces, to its status today as one of the most upscale places to live in California.

David Silverman, the book's author, tells the BBC, "When people visit LA, the tour buses go around Beverly Hills but they don't typically go to Bel-Air because you can't really see much. A lot of it is behind walls and bushes." It's a sign of the more private, residential character that accounts for the neighbourhood's lower profile.

Bel-Air itself was the brainchild of Alphonzo Bell, a rancher who became wealthy when he struck oil on his land. He bought nearly 18,000 acres then known as the Danziger Ranch, began developing and selling plots, and Bel-Air – meaning Beautiful Air and conveniently including Bell's name – appeared.

A gentlemen's haven (1920s)

When Alphonzo Bell began selling land in Bel-Air he was clear about what the new development would be – a gentlemen's haven. A Los Angeles Times advertisement crowed in 1923: "A Community of Gentlemen's Estates" for "the highest class of homeseekers". That idea sounds ludicrously snobbish, sexist and exclusionary today, but also speaks to the culture of the 1920s.

"Everyone assumed it was the men who were buying the property," Silverman says, and such language "was common in LA for fancy areas". The ad stipulated that new houses built must cost at least $15,000 (£11,300), the equivalent of about $300,000 (£227,000) today. Bell added stables, tennis courts and golf courses as an enticement, and his family moved into the 42-room Danziger mansion, renamed Capo di Monte (Top of the Mountain).

Bel-Air on horseback (1920s)

If you couldn't afford to keep a horse, you probably couldn't afford to live in Bel-Air in the 1920s. Bridle trails were everywhere, eventually about 65 miles (100km) of them meandering by the country club, along the golf course, and through many still-rustic areas. In addition to stables, Bell created underpasses along the trails, paths beneath bridges so the horses wouldn't have to cross the street. An article in the Los Angeles Time in 1922 said, "The invitation to visit Bel-Air on horseback is also extended to the general public."

Bel-Air was never a gated........

© BBC