La Belle Vie is on the market for $53 million

This is a love story, real-estate style. La Belle Vie, the famous Bel-Air residence, was built for Iris Cantor by her husband, Bernie -- that's B. Gerald Cantor, founder of the global securities firm Cantor Fitzgerald. The house -- more a palace than a house -- took almost six years to build, with minute attention paid to even the smallest detail.

By Ann Brenoff

February 23, 2009