8 of the Most Expensive Homes in the World for Sale

01/08/2019
5570 Views
by Thomas Harper

Love them or hate them, the world's priciest houses are truly mind-blowing. Here we list an astonishing list of remarkable properties that can cost up to $500,000,000 as in half a billion dollars.

These are 8 of the most amazing homes that lots of money can buy...

*All prices are in US dollars

Pumpkin Key, Key Largo, Florida – $95 Million

What’s not to love about owning an island in the Florida Keys? Bone-fishing all day, swinging in a hammock at night, sipping frosty Patrón margaritas with a little Jimmy Buffett on the boombox. Perfect. For $95 million, you can get the keys to Pumpkin Key, a private 26-acre island in the Windex-blue waters of Card Sound Bay. While island seclusion is all well and good, sometimes you need company. And here’s the real appeal of Pumpkin Key; it’s a three-minute boat ride to Key Largo’s swanky Ocean Reef Club and all its amenities. Like an airstrip for your private jet, a state-of-the-art spa, grocery store, eight restaurants and its own medical center. Back on the island, there’s a three-bedroom main house, two caretaker cottages, a guest apartment and tennis court. Did we mention the 20-slip marina with superyacht-friendly 18-foot-deep water? And there’s planning permission for up to 12 half-acre waterfront home sites, each with water and electric.

The Pinnacle, Woolworth Tower, New York – $110 Million

It is literally the crowning glory of the iconic Woolworth Building residential conversion in Manhattan. Housed in the neo-Gothic skyscraper’s green, pointy, copper-clad peak 700 feet above bustling Broadway, this vast 9,710-square-feet penthouse takes up the top five floors of the landmark building and features a 408-square-foot, open-air observatory with 360-degree views of the city. There’s a private elevator to whisk you between the five floors, or down to F.W. Woolworth’s original basement swimming pool or to the building’s 29th floor Gilbert Lounge entertainment suite, wine cellar and tasting room. Alchemy Properties have been converting the top 33 floors of the Woolworth into residences, with the Pinnacle hitting the market in late 2017.

Palazzate, St. Peter, Barbados – $125 Million

You could keep this spectacular 75,0000-square-foot beachfront mansion, with its six floors, 20 bedrooms and five pools, as a palatial Caribbean single-family retreat. Or divide it up into four separate mini-mansions, one per floor and each with five bedrooms, six bathrooms and 12,000 square-feet of space. Either way, the asking price is $125 million. Palazzate was developed by Bjorn Bjerhamn, who created Barbados’ St. Peter Bay Resort and Port Ferdinand Marina. The mansion took more than four years to create, and when it was completed in 2015 it was not only the most expensive in Barbados, but in all of the Caribbean. Set on a two-acre lot, the mansion is on the sugar-white-sandy beach of St. Peter on the so-called Barbados Riviera. Among its key features: a 2,500-square-feet fitness center with steam room, a 30,000-gallon aquarium, underground parking for 18 cars and slips at the nearby Port Ferdinand Marina

Villa l’Echauguette, Monaco – $125 Million

From its rooftop terrace, you can gaze down at the superyachts parked in Monaco’s famous Port Hercule harbor. Or, during a weekend in May, get a million-euro view of racecars blasting around the streets below during the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix. Built in the 1860s, Villa l’Echauguette was once home to casino developer Francois Blanc, who helped transform once sleepy Monte Carlo into the playground for the rich and famous it is today. Perched on a cliff overlooking the harbor, this pink Belle Epoque villa offers 8,200 square feet of space over six floors; thankfully there are two elevators. Inside there are six bedrooms, a spacious living room that leads out on to a large private terrace, a wine cellar, a skinny 72-foot-long lap pool, sauna, guest apartment and two-car garage.

Gemini, Manalapan, Florida – $137.5 Million

Back in 2016, this astonishing 15-acre ocean-to-lake Palm Beach estate known as “Gemini” was listed for $195 million. Today, it’s back on the market with a still eye-watering $137.5 million asking price. But everything about this compound-by-the-sea on Manalapan island just south of Palm Beach, is eye-watering. Its main house spans no less than 62,200 square feet and comes with 12 bedrooms. There’s also a seven-bedroom guest residence called Mango House, plus two four-bedroom beachside cottages, and another guesthouse with seven studios. The estate is owned by the Ziff brothers, Robert and Dirk, whose father was media mogul William Ziff, who died in 2006. Amazingly, the Ziff family bought the property in 1985 for just $5 million.

Villa Les Cèdres, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France – $413 Million

Villa les Cedres

There are still no takers for the spectacular 187-year-old Villa Les Cèdres, on France’s Cap-Ferrat peninsula between Nice and Monaco. Once owned by Belgian King Leopold II, the estate sits on 35 of some of the most valuable acres on the planet. The majestic main house boasts 18,000-square-feet and 14 bedrooms, a stunning ballroom, and a multitude of terraces overlooking the shimmering Mediterranean. The estate is also home to one of Europe’s most beautiful gardens, with some 15,000 rare tropical species. It also features its own chapel, a 150-foot swimming pool dug into the rocks and stables for 30 horses. The estate was acquired in 2016 by Italian drinks giant Campari when it bought out rival Grand Marnier. The Marnier-Lapostolle family had owned the estate since 1924.

24 Middle Gap Road, Hong Kong – $447 Million

24 Middle Gap hong kong

Middle Gap road home, Hong Kong Photo: Courtesy of Executive Homes HK

As they say in the property business: location, location, location. And locations don’t come any more prestigious than the Peak, on Hong Kong Island. In most other posh parts of the planet, this unassuming, colonial-style 5,700-square-foot, four-bedroom home built in 1991 wouldn’t get a second glance. But because it’s perched atop the Peak, comes with views of Deep Water Bay and is just a 10-minute drive from Hong Kong’s Central Business District, it’s listed for an unthinkable $447 million. Of course, any buyer will probably have the house torn down and a shiny new mega-mansion built on its third-of-an-acre wooded lot.

The One, Bel Air, California – $500 Million

The One bel air

You read that right: $500,000,000 as in half a billion dollars. What that impressive sum will buy you when the world’s first giga-mansion is completed this summer, is a 100,000-square-foot, 20-bedroom compound perched high above Bel Air on four acres, with spectacular 360-degree uninterrupted views. It’s the creation of movie producer turned prolific real estate developer Nile Niami and architect Paul McClean, who have taken six years to construct this ultimate spec-home. Among its multitude of jaw-dropping features; a 5,500-square-foot master suite, 30 bathrooms, a 30-car auto “gallery,” five swimming pools, a 36-seat movie theater, six-lane bowling alley, and naturally, a nightclub. As you might expect, when it hits the market it’ll be America’s—maybe the world’s—largest and most expensive private residence you can buy

Source/ Images: Robb Report

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