The 5 Most Expensive Houses in the World
How much is the most expensive house in the world worth? You won’t believe the answer…
How much did your house cost? Two hundred thousand? Three hundred thousand? Or maybe you are one of the lucky ones who can afford to spend $500 thousand or $1 million on your home. But don’t be too proud of yourself — that is just a drop in the bucket, compared to the most expensive houses in the world.
But how much is too much? I can’t answer that for you, but I can tell you how much other people are willing to pay.
Coming in at number five….
The Hearst Mansion, features a whopping 29 bedrooms, and three pools. Look familiar? This house was featured in The Godfather movie. Another great fact about this house: JFK stayed here during his honeymoon, and close-by neighbors include Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes, and the Posh and Becks.
Source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2688/4321052153_4ba896b119.jpg
Drum roll please…number four…..
This girl’s prep school turned refurbished Victorian Villa was remodeled in 2006. An impressive home, located in London’s Kensington Palace Gardens, is five storey’s, underground swimming pool, gym, sauna and cinema.
Source: http://newshousedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Franchuk-Villa-Kensington-6.jpg
The third most expensive house in the world…
…is actually not a house at all.
The most expensive flat in the world is also the third most expensive home: a penthouse located at One Hyde Park in London. This isn’t your average apartment, however — more like someplace to live if you are afraid for your life! In the most expensive penthouses, the windows are made of bulletproof glass, ventilation systems purify the air, and you can choose other features such as panic rooms! There is also an underground passage that leads to a nearby hotel, just in case your building is attacked by aliens and your best method of escape is to pose as a guest at the Mandarin Oriental.
Although the penthouses aren’t expected to be complete until the end of 2010, we already know that they are valued at £6,000 per square foot. This gives the priciest penthouse a price tag of $200 million!
Source http://www.hauteliving.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/OneHydePark-300×205.jpg
The runner up…
The second most expensive house in the world is the Villa Leopolda, a beautiful estate on the French Riviera. Unsurprisingly, this beautiful home was built by royalty: A Belgian king built it in 1902. Can you guess his name? King Leopold II, of course!
At 80,000 square feet and with 19 bedrooms, this is far from the largest house in the world, but hey — it does have more than one kitchen and dining room, its own bowling alley, and its own movie theater. Nothing to sneeze at! The house is also beautifully furnished in period antiques, which probably are worth a pretty penny in their own rights.
The sprawling home, which is now valued at $506 million, was a present for the king’s mistress. Although perhaps not as starkly impressive as the more modern penthouses in One Hyde Park, there is something about the old-fashioned house and grounds that makes me think I ought to reconsider who I’ve been dating!
Source: Villa Leopolda http://farm1.static.flickr.com/8/8371345_7b893920d2.jpg
And the winner is…
The most expensive house in the entire world is a glass skyscraper in Mumbai, India. Yes, the entire skyscraper is one big mansion! The first six stories are a parking garage, and the house itself is 27 stories tall. However, since every floor has soaring ceilings, the building is the equivalent of 60 stories tall, and is equipped with its own helipads on the roof. The house also has its own ballroom, theater, and health spa, not to mention more than one swimming pool.
How do you clean and manage a house this size? Well, with 600 servants, of course. But as big as this house is, it might be time to upgrade soon! There are only 150 spaces in Antilla’s garage, and the house’s owner — Indian business tycoon Mukesh Ambani — is reported to have 168 cars in his personal collection. What does he do with the 18 cars that don’t fit in the garage, I wonder?
This towering glass monstrosity is worth a shocking $1 billion, nearly twice what the Villa Leopolda is valued at. Since this is far and above the value of any of the other homes I’ve mentioned, I think it is pretty safe to say that Antilla will remain the uncontested king for quite a while.
Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Ambani_house_mumbai.jpg
About the Author:
Vern is an avid Facebook-er, blogger/writer, and native Californian. He loves writing about travel and real estate, especially La Jolla homes and Real Estate trends (his hometown).
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I used to think that the pictures of Tiger Wood’s home in Florida were impressive. These homes put his to shame. I wonder if the homes in these European countries have property taxes of some sort. Can you imagine how high those taxes would be if these places were in NY? Yikes. Maybe that would take care of the state’s debt crisis.
Hey, just to inform you that I had recently been to Mumbai in India and saw this mansion of business tycoon Mukesh Ambani but did not go inside or rather did not have the opportunity to do so. I came to know to that Mr. Mukesh Ambani’s brother Anil also owns such expensive mansions and is also a business tycoon. However, this one is really sky-high. Another I have heard about is Mittal mansion in London which is also an expensive one. Do you have good information about that house ?
I didn’t expect that someone would spend that much for a house.. That is pretty amazing for someone to own that house.. impressive:)
Question is only for what I need 30 bedrooms. With maid rooms, rooms for dogs and cats and everything I would never use more than 12 rooms total.
WoooW! Quite the places to live. I don’t know about that last one, the most expensive one, it’s hideous! Eck! Well being a female, you know, I prefer a more Victorian look like the #4. That’s a house I would consider living in. But everyone has their personal style.
Great post.
These homes do blow Tiger’s away. Very interesting post and thank you!
I’ll take the villa please, very nice too!
I think Syon park in west London must rank somewhere… or maybe Buckingham Palace lol
There was a recent article in Dallas about the most expensive homes in the area and the top one came in at $41,000,000. The owner was Tom Hicks. Mark Cuban was #9 at $17 mm.
I’ll go for the Hearst Mansion. It looks really luxurious with all those glossy walls and floors. The color of the Hearst Mansion seems refreshing and cool. I also like the Villa Leopolda. Extremely classy. The glass skyscraper appears more like an edifice not a common-looking mansion or house. Anyway, the all look brilliant and obviously expensive.
If I were rich I would build the house of my dreams. Everybody’s dream house is different though. Even I’m pretty sure the most expensive house is in Mumbai (India). Rich people don’t always work for their money. In fact as the saying goes; nice guys finish last. If you want to be rich you have to have rich parents or be extremely lucky, own shares (get paid dividends for doing nothing), and usually take advantage of others, lie, cheat, etc. Most people get rich as shareholders of emerging companies.
Very interesting post, so Mukesh Ambani own the most expensive house in the world, I guess, he will also own the most expensive car as well, with a collection of 168 cars for just one person. I guess there is no property tax in India.
Lol there is no reason for one human-being to have that much money, I mean what would you do with all that house and land when 90% of the time you aren’t home your in a different city or country… Ok I admit I’m totally jealous..
lol
Awesome article Danny. I scour the web for real estate articles all the time to share with my twitter userers and found this one. The Mumbai skyscraper takes the cake!! I’ve never seen anyone live in a skyscraper!
hey, you have mentioned owner of just one house, who owns the others, I expect some kings or queens..But Surprised at the last one. 600 servants!! what do they do?
I love this house…lol. the Hearst Mansion is just a little over the top.
These are some beautiful houses, but I’m definitely going the direction of more practical. Give me small town Midwest, where I can be 30 miles from a large city and get a new 2 bedroom home for under 50k!
Surprise to find that the most expensive home can be found in Asia. Skyscraper for a home? that’s really awesome! That guy must be so rich to have that kind of the house, he must be one of the richest.
Eka,
Hey none of these houses could compare to the palace of King Solomon described in the Bible, he reamins the undisputed richest man in the world.
I reminded my mother of something similar to this when she recently told me that God does not like rich people..Solomon and David before him were incredibly rich!
It is not money that is the root of evil, it is the way some people use it
Yes I agree Caleb although there are many wealthy people who are very charitable with their money and some not so much.
India has really come up! I wonder if this guy owns call center companies I keep reaching whenever I dial customer service for like ANYTHING?!
Isnt that Mukesh Ambani the one who had some financial issues with his brother. Money cant buy everything but sure can but the worlds most expensive house though I dont think it looks that expensive.
I hope they want to give alms to the poor..
Wow!!! These houses are unbelievable!!! How I wish I could visit one of those. But grand dreams like that most probably won’t come true. I can’t even get to buy my own house! Yet. But I’ll get there. I’ll make it cozy and I’ll make sure that I will still get to see the people that gets to live there! LOL. I mean, with houses that big and grand, do people tha live there even meet each other everyday or get to eat dinner together? Just wondering.
great house for rich peoples lol I cant afford that house,.I am very must comfortable with a small home with a happy family,.maybe your house is full of gold designs but I will never exchange my happiness that my family gives
These houses are actually awesome but I feel our true happiness lies within ourselves. We can be happy in a small house provided we are contented with whatever we possess. A great house could probably bring you comfort and luxury but certainly not the peace of mind which is very essential for leading a happy life.
No doubt they are so expensive, they are worth the price. Spectacular view and nice investment!
Yes these houses are great. But also have a look at St Tropez Villas. They are situated in Cote ‘d Azure region of South of France. Yes, they are expensive but they worth their values.
This is not called luxury homes it is called as mansions or we can compare it as palace.
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Amazing and equally beautiful houses…
No doubt they are so expensive, they are worth the price. Spectacular view and nice investment!
Fabulous houses! How I wish I could have that, ..in my dreams. These houses were really have a great designs. Perhaps the architecture was very imaginative and creative. It was really looked so expensive but definitely beautiful.
I like the new constructed home of Mr.Ambani from the all 5
:O thoose are some fantastic houses, im not jelous…..much
Wow. truly amazing houses, rather excessive… not that I’d be complaining.
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hi,,
For me I considered as a palace especially the palace of King Leopold………..
Super beautiful…..
Nice post…………….. Know more about the different residential and commercial projects in Mumbai,The Hub City Of India..
Ya there is no doubt that these houses are very expensive and beautiful. i have bookmarked this blog. Everybody want to like same houses. Really nice pic of beautiful houses .Mukesh ambani house is the one of the expensive and beautiful house in the world.Thanks for share this nice post .
The one in india does not make sense to me. No one needs a skyscrapper and they over look some of the poorest areas. I saw hearst castle and it was something to see. Not sure how much it really cost since the property is in the middle of no where but the antiques cost the most money i think. the pool is the best part not the indoor one the out door one is somethin gto see.
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The Villa Leopolda is my favorite. There is something so romantic about the French Riviera. The square footage blows my mind, that is so much space. I could not imagine trying to sell this estate. Great post.
I just read about the 27 story billion dollar “house” in India and while I am all for enjoying the fruits of your labors it just doesn’t make sense to me why anyone would build something like that in one of the poorest parts of the world.
Mike
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Wow! I was really amazed. Is anybody would spend that much in a house?
Wow! As if a glass skyscraper was not awesome enough he also has 168 cars too? Being a bit of a car fanatic I can only imagine the long list of supercars he probably has and how little they might be driven over the course of a year. Oh well at least he has a great range of vehicles to choose from. A bit like us really.
Wow….. My jaw dropped at number 5!! These are beautiful homes and I will forever live in these homes…in my dreams! Who needs all those bedrooms anyway? Do you know if the owners use their property as rentals or just when they feel like they would like a quick getaway?
I just saw a Yahoo slide show of the most expensive homes in the world that complements this article. man, it must be nice to have money
Every real estate transaction has certain tax effects upon the parties involved. Often there are steps that can be taken to reduce or postpone taxes.
All I can say is “Lucky”! Those mansions are incredible as well as the owners who have spend lot of bucks just to buy it. Surely it takes a lot of bucks as well in maintaining its cleanliness and beauty am I right?
Lucky man is what we called for that. Opportunity is such a great if you can have that mansions as your’s. The important is your family have smooth relationship and harmonious way of living. A home that is prefect from all aspects of family manner.
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