Revisiting the World’s Most Luxurious Homes

April 6, 2012

In one of our previous articles, we spoke about the first billion-dollar home that has been built in Mumbai, India. Obviously, this extravagant home features ‘over-the-top’ amenities that have never been duplicated any where in the world.  There are, however, many prime pieces of real estate worldwide.   Some of them are royal residences like Buckingham Palace or national treasures like the Palace of Versailles.  It’s unlikely that either of these “homes” will ever come on the market. If they were to be auctioned, it’s assumed that their historical value would increase the asking price exponentially. However, there are other spectacular homes that people of means were able to purchase for fantastic prices.

One such home is the Villa Leopold located on the French Cote d’Azur.  It’s estimated value is 525 million dollars.  Most believe that a French banker and his wife own the 80,000 square-foot chateau, but various billionaires have been rumored to own it including American billionaire, Bill Gates.  King Leopold of Belgium built this ultra-luxurious chateau in 1902.  It has nineteen bedrooms, fourteen bathrooms, numerous sports courts, a bowling alley, a movie theater, multiple kitchens, and several dining rooms. The bathrooms are huge and marbled, the kitchens are state of the art, and the antique furnishings are vintage eighteenth and nineteenth century.  It requires fifty gardeners to take care of the trees and shrubbery on the over twenty acres of grounds.  The house is so large that it covers almost eighteen of these acres.  It’s said to have the best beachfront in the south of France.

Another prestigious address is one Hyde Park in London.  This notable address features a modern penthouse that is currently valued at 200 million dollars.  Amenities include spas, squash courts, wine tasting rooms, and twenty-four hour room service.  In addition, the penthouse has been constructed so it’s one of the most secure homes in the world.  In addition to full-time guards, it has bulletproof windows, iris scanners, panic rooms and a secret tunnel to the Mandarin Hotel, which is close by.

Our last fabulous home is located in the United States.  It’s called Fairfield Pond, and it’s located in that playground of the wealthy, the Hamptons.  This home sits on sixty-three acres and is the largest residential compound in America. Billionaire Ira Rennert owns this extraordinary piece of property. It’s extravagantly furnished and has been outfitted with every possible upgrade.  It features twenty-nine bedrooms, numerous sport courts, a bowling alley, various balconies and terraces, a movie theater, and a fantastically expensive hot tub.  Naturally, it’s located on prime beachfront property.  Interested? The estimated value is 170 million dollars!