What makes these luxurious homes most interesting? We’re diving deep and bringing you some juicy details of the world’s 6 most expensive homes!
Antilla
Source: http://bit.ly/1UCVoLm
Indian business magnate, Mukesh Ambani’s $1 billion home in South Mumbai, is right up on our list. Designed by Chicago-based architect duo, Perkins and Will, the home stands tall at a staggering 27 floors high with extra-high ceilings we all love. The best part? The house has 3 heli-pads, in case one wasn’t enough; 6 underground parking levels, a ballroom, a maintenance floor (48, 000 square feet won’t clean itself!), a guest apartment, swimming pool with a spa and gym, “outdoor” gardens, a 50-seat mini home theatre and a staff of 6000 employees just to maintain! Its sturdy build is made to withstand a Richter Scale 8 earthquake even. Talk about ostentatious!
Xanadu 2.0
Source: http://bit.ly/1Jdt2At
Bill Gates’ $120.5 million home overlooking Lake Washington is every bit what you’d imagine it to be – a geek paradise. Known world-over for its world-class design and state-of-the-art technology, Xanadu boasts of heated floors and driveways, an underwater music system in the swimming pool, private library with an Oculus and a gym that is so big, it resembles a tiny palace. Now here’s the part where it really gets interesting. If you’re invited as a guest to Xanadu, you’ll be asked to wear a pin that allows you to adjust the room’s temperature, lighting and even music that you’d prefer. Talk about playing the ever-gracious host! But that’s not even the best part. The best part is that the house is an earth-sheltered house, built to maintain temperatures.
Fair Field, Sagaponack
Source: http://bit.ly/1RqbqJv
Industrial billionaire Ira Rennert owns this 43, 031 square-foot estate in New York. Equipped with 29 bedrooms, 2 courtyards, 3 swimming pools, a bowling alley and a 164-seat theatre (you know, for when you’re hosting 164 guests at a time), a basketball court and if rumours are to be believed, a private museum with his colossal art collection. How do you run such a big estate? Why, with the help of its very own power-plant, of course!
Ellison Estate
Source: http://on.wsj.com/1IhzJ9A
The Oracle billionaire, Larry Ellison’s real estate collecting…err…shall we say ‘hobby’, is no news for anyone keeping up with the world’s most expensive properties. However, one of his estates that really stands out is the Ellison Estate in Woodside, California. This one has a special place in my heart, to be honest. What makes it so exclusive? The fact that it is one of the most stunning Japanese-style estates you’ve ever seen. Complete with a koi pond, a lake surrounding the estate (man-made, if you will), a tea house, and a bath house and is spread out over a breathtaking 23 acres. Constructed by Paul Driscoe, a Sen Buddhist teacher, hundreds of oaks, pines, redwoods and cherry blossoms surround this pristine property, pegging this property at $70 million.
18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens
Source: http://bit.ly/1NyLiX7
Located on a street that has been touted as the ‘Billionaire’s Row’, if you have a home on Kensington Palace Gardens, you’re going to be lucky enough to have the ‘most exclusive address in London’.
But in all honesty, 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens belongs to none other than Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, Indian steel magnate, who spent an astounding £57 million to buy this mansion. But the address isn’t the only interesting thing about this mansion. 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens has been built with marble from the same quarry used to extract marble for the Taj Mahal in Agra. And if that wasn’t enough to roll your back, the swimming pool has jewel-encrusted pillars, studies, heated driveways and a garage big enough to house 20 cars. The mansion comes with extravagant Turkish baths and royal dining rooms in case all the other things weren’t enough.
Villa Leopolda
Source: http://bit.ly/1TRvAKq
I mean, it’s one thing if you live in the South of France. But to then tell me that your guest house is bigger than most of the mansions you see around? Sacrilege. Don’t even get me started on the fact that the villa has more bathrooms (14) than bedrooms (11). Villa Leopolda is home to Lebanese banker Edmond Safra’s widow, Lily Safra and comes with its very own commercial-size Greenhouse, a helipad, an outdoor kitchen (because why not?), a swimming pool and the works. What really gets me is the fact that the guest house in itself is one of the biggest you’ll see.
Here are some fun facts about these extravagant homes.
(Right click and select ‘Open image in new tab’ and click + to zoom in!)
There you have it! 6 of the most interestingly expensive homes in 2015. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to retire to my cubbyhole apartment with an ordinary shower and ordinary kitchen and ordinary everything. But enough about my first world problems, why don’t you tell us which expensive homes you find most interesting in the comments below?
