Once upon a time, kings and queens lived in palaces, and the nobles and the rich tried to imitate them in luxury. Many years have passed since then, the earth has risen in price, palaces have gone out of fashion (and living in them by modern standards is uncomfortable), but the desire to stand out remains.
What buildings are the rich and famous erecting for themselves, and where do they prefer to live? Let's take a look at top 10 most expensive homes in the world - both inhabited and put up for sale.
10. Fairfield Pond, USA - value: $ 249 million
Opens a list of the most expensive houses in the world at a price of $ 249 million a giant palace the size of almost half a hectare. It is located on Long Island, New York. The largest estate takes a modest 19th place among the largest houses in the United States, but one of the most expensive is its location - there is little space in New York, and it costs a lot.
Owned by Fair Field Ira Rennert. No, this is not the girl Ira, but quite a respectable gentleman born in 1934. Being 65 years old, he decided to buy his compatriots and build a mansion. Although the neighbors fiercely protested against the building, the industrial tycoon was still able to insist on his own (albeit in a smaller size than originally planned). As a result, Long Island adorns a gigantic house of 29 bedrooms, 39 baths, with its own small power station, three swimming pools, a greenhouse, a 164-seat home theater and one synagogue. True, owning it is not cheap - Rennert pays more than 40 thousand dollars of taxes every month.
9. Molokai Ranch, USA - $ 260 million
If a rich man suffers from misanthropy and does not want to see people (of course, except for attendants), then he retires to places like a ranch on the island of Molokai, Haiti. It is simply created for millionaires who prefer the vast city to the hustle and bustle of uninhabited space. It occupies more than a third of the surface of the island, and its area is 22.5 hectares. These hectares include a coastline of almost 32 km, snow-white, sun-drenched beaches overlooking colorful reefs, tropical forests, rocky cliffs ... And pastures - from the entertainment there are two golf courses, one hotel and a whole working ranch the size of half hectare.
The notorious Mark Zuckerberg was thinking of buying a ranch, but in the end he decided to settle on another Hawaiian island - Kauau.
8. Penthouse on top of the Odeon skyscraper, Monaco - $ 330,000,000
In 2014, the penthouse was put up for sale, and it immediately attracted attention - both at a high price, and with stunning views and an original architectural design. The “modest” apartment is located at the top of the Odeon skyscraper and occupies the top five floors; its area is 3.3 thousand m2, there are five bedrooms and five bathrooms.
The creators decided not to sacrifice the view, so the walls of the apartment on each floor are one continuous window. And being in the center of the room, you can literally survey the surroundings. But the most impressive feature of the house is its waterslide, where guests can jump right into the huge outdoor pool from the dance floor, offering stunning views of the Mediterranean Sea.
7. Chartwell Manor, USA - $ 350 million
To this day, the Chartwell estate confidently holds the palm among the most expensive homes in the United States. This is actually a real estate designed by architect Sumner Spoulding following the example of the best examples of architecture of France of the XVIII century. Lined with limestone, a white-gray house of classical proportions rises in the middle of a well-groomed park with gazebos, paths, fountains, tennis courts, a giant pool and parking for 40 cars.
A popular 60s television show, The Beverly Hillbillies, was filmed in the house. Later it was bought by the head of the Univision television company, which, in fact, we owe to the excellent preservation of the estate - he spent several million to restore and modernize Chartwell.
6. Cedar Villa, France - $ 418 million
Real estate on the Cote d'Azur has long been turned into a dream for wealthy people from all countries. But it was not always so. A cedar villa located on the coast of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, at the beginning of the XIX century began its journey as a simple working farm for the production of olive oil. Until now, three hundred year old olive trees can be seen in the villa. Now, instead of the oil press, the courtyard is decorated with a bronze statue of the goddess Athena, and winding paths under the canopy of palm trees and cedars lead to an impressive citadel.
Inside, it is full of candelabra, portraits of the 19th century (I wonder if there are farm workers there?) And all that a simple layman associates with the castle of the Beast from the Disney cartoon. In addition to empire armchairs, the palace also has a library that boasts a botanical codex of the 1640th edition. By the way, furniture and household items are not included in the sale price; if desired, they can be redeemed separately.
5. The Palace of Bubbles, France - $ 418 million
And from classics we turn to cartoons - yes, the inspiration for creating the most expensive houses in the world was drawn from various sources. Most of all, the Bubble Palace resembles the quasi-primitive abode of the Flintstones from the children's animated picture of the same name. Imagine a fun cluster of spherical structures with the same round windows, doors and other architectural details. True, they are very similar to bubbles? The pleasantly soft terracotta color of the buildings and the elegant white edging reconcile with the riot of form.
The size of the house is about 1200 m2, and it has everything necessary for even the most demanding rich man, including a swimming pool and an outdoor amphitheater with 500 seats. It was in it that the fashion show of the Dior house was held and the fortieth anniversary of the birth of James Bond was celebrated.
4. Middle Gap Road, 24, Hong Kong - $ 446,000,000
Hong Kong is a densely populated area, and land is expensive there. At a price per square meter, this city-state is in second place, second only to Monaco. It is not surprising that a large house, located on top of a picturesque mountain, was in fourth place on the list of the most expensive real estate.
Although in comparison with the samples presented in the rating, it looks, frankly, plainly - it has only two floors, four bedrooms and four bathrooms. In the back yard there is a pool that hides from immodest glances a dense growth of trees.
3. Villa Leopold, France - $ 750 million
This huge estate is located near Villefranche-sur-Mer, the city of the French Riviera. Its size is a little more than seven hectares, on which there is a palace lined with rare varieties of marble with nineteen bedrooms, fireplaces, pools, a cinema and a bowling alley. Palace is not an accidental word; once the estate was owned by the Belgian king Leopold II, under the wise rule of which the population of the Congo was reduced by half, but rubber production grew two hundred times. Now the most expensive villa in the world belongs to Lily Safra, the Brazilian millionaire who inherited it from her late husband.
Interestingly, the Russian oligarch Mikhail Porokhov dreamed of taking over the villa, who even began negotiations with Lily, but something went wrong. Prokhorov himself says that he was affected by the 2008 crisis. Evil languages claim that Prokhorov was mortally offended by the French state. There he was arrested by the police for transporting girls with reduced social responsibility to Courchevel. The millionaire insisted that they were just beautiful girls who, of their own free will, decided to keep him company. No matter how it was, but after the advance payment was already made, Prokhorov refused the deal. And Safra promised to spend this advance on various charitable purposes.
2. Antilia, India - $ 1,000,000,000
In second place among the most expensive residential buildings in the world is an entire tower towering above mere mortals in southern Mumbai. Its owner is the richest man in India named Mukesh Ambani. The tower contains 27 floors, and architects did not save at the height of the ceilings - a building with standard ceilings would have been sixty-storied with the same height. To operate the building services and ensure the comfort of a billionaire and his family, 600 people are required. The tower-palace has three helipads, a giant parking lot for more than 160 cars and its own car service. Mukesh does not forget about culture - the building has a theater, ballroom, spa and swimming pools.
Not all Indians welcomed the creation of this gigantic monument to wealth. In a country where the largest slums are located in Asia, where 42% of children under the age of five are underweight, building such a tower is not the most sensible thing to do. Some have already hinted that this is exactly how the revolution takes place.
1. Buckingham Palace, England - $ 1,550,000,000
And in the first place in the ranking, Buckingham Palace is comfortably located - the most expensive house in the world, worth $ 1.550 billion. The photo clearly shows both the ancient and beautiful building itself, as well as crowds of tourists scurrying back and forth every day.
True, this is viewed from the front - the palace full face really embodies the best traditions of classicism. Its facade pleases the eye with noble proportions. But in the back, where the owners of the royal blood ordered to build various kinds of necessary and useful facilities in the household, the view is already far from so good. No wonder the British newspaper The Guardian called it one of the ugliest buildings in the world; apparently, the journalists were not too lazy to go around the house.
Since 1761, Buckingham Palace has been in undivided use of the British royal family. And is currently the official residence of the ruling Queen Elizabeth II.
