But lately, an uncivil war between the north and the south of Beverly Park has broken out, a kind of battle between the estates.

The crisis erupted last year when northerners started restricting access through their community. Residents of South Beverly can still get through, but their visitors, gardeners, construction crews and nannies cannot. From North Beverly Park’s gate at Mulholland Drive, the visitors and workers are forced to go east to Coldwater Canyon Drive or west to Benedict Canyon Drive – a detour of seven miles along narrow and often crowded streets.

And so the southerners have responded with a lawsuit. That pits North Beverly Park residents, including media barons Sumner Redstone and Haim Saban and aviation titan Steven Udvar-Hazy, against South Beverly Park residents, including basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson and producer Richard Zanuck.

Residents in the north say the restrictive policy is necessary because the southerners have refused to pay for upkeep of the private street, even though they use the street regularly. They claim the service staff and guests of southern residents often drove too fast and got access to the private street when they had no intention of stopping at any homes in the south, using it as a shortcut for commuting.

“Their gardeners were coming through on off days,” said Michael Scott, a retired real estate investor who has lived in North Beverly for six years. “At what point does it become abusive?”

Southerners would not comment, but in court papers they claimed there is no basis for them to pay for upkeep of the north’s streets.

A key hearing in the multiparty case is scheduled in Superior Court in Santa Monica later this week, with a jury trial to follow in the months ahead.

If the case does make it to trial, some of the city’s wealthiest residents will likely be called to testify about the comings and goings of their domestic workers, providing a glimpse into the oasis that is Beverly Park: an intensely private enclave of luxurious estates.

“It was planned as an exclusive community, and it certainly has lived up to its expectations,” said Joyce Rey, a Beverly Hills real estate agent who followed the development of the community since it began in the mid-1980s. “I have a client now who specifically wants that area.”

The valley is dotted with 61 Italian- and French-inspired villas that range in size from 10,000 to 40,000 square feet. The monumental mansions are outfitted with gyms, home theaters, pools and tennis courts. The price for such luxury is staggering.

For example, Ronald Tutor, chief executive of building contractor Tutor-Saliba Corp., last month bought a not-yet-completed 27,000-square foot house in North Beverly for $36 million. Tutor’s purchase eclipsed the $30 million that a 35,000-square-foot mansion garnered in 2004 from an unidentified buyer.

Beverly Park was developed in two phases. South Beverly was built in 1984, and North Beverly in 1989. There are separate homeowners associations.