The owners of the world’s most luxurious houses can be a mysterious bunch. We all know who owns Buckingham Palace, but does anyone recognize the name Tim Blixseth? Or does anyone know the Indian billionaire who built a 27-storey apartment building just for himself? Well the mystery ends here. We have got a rundown of the world’s 10 most expensive houses-modern castles and the people lucky enough to own them.
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Buckingham Palace(Value-: $1.55 billion)
Buckingham Palace is the London residence and principal workplace of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. The palace has 775 rooms including 19 state rooms, 52 bedrooms, 188 staff rooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. The garden is the largest private garden in London and the queen’s residence was valued at roughly $1.5 billion by the Nationwide Building Society in 2012.
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Antilia (Value-: $1 billion)
Antilia is a private home in South Mumbai. It is owned by Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries and includes a staff of 600 to maintain the residence. It is deemed to be the second most expensive residential property after Buckingham Palace. It is the world’s most expensive private residential property as Buckingham Palace is designated as a government property.
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Villa Leopolda (Value-: $750 million)
The Villa La Leopolda is a large detached villa in Villefranche-sur-Mer, in the Alpes Maritimes department on the French Riviera. The villa is situated in 18 acres of grounds. The villa had several notable owners including Gianni and Marella Agnelli, Izaak and Dorothy J. Killam. The estate includes “a commercial sized green house, a swimming pool and pool house, an outdoor kitchen, helipad and a guest house. The villa is currently owned by Lily Safra, a Brazilian philanthropist and widow of Lebanese banker William Safra.
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Four Fairfield Pond (Value-: $248.5 million)
Ira Rennert’s home, dubbed Fairfield, is located in Sagaponack, New York. Rennert named his home after the adjoining body of water, Fairfield Pond. The house faces the Atlantic Ocean and its grounds measure 63 acres. The buildings, which total over 110,000 square feet, including the 66,000 square feet main house, have an Italian facade, 29 bedrooms and 39 bathrooms. The house has a dozen chimneys and a Mediterranean style tile roof as well as a 91 feet long formal dining room, a basketball court, a bowling alley, two tennis courts and a $150,000 hot tub.
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18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens (Value-: $222 million)
Kensington Palace Gardens is a street in west central London with some of the most expensive properties in the world. This property was purchased by Lakshmi Mittal- The head of Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest steel manufacturer in 2004 at whopping price of $128 million. This particular residence has 12 bedrooms, Turkish baths, an indoor pool and parking for around 20 cars.
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Ellison Estate (Value-: $200 million)
The Oracle founder, Larry Ellison arguably the world’s most avid collector of real estate, built his 23-acre Japanese-style estate in 2004 with 10 buildings, a manmade lake, a tea house, a bath house and a koi pond. The property is currently assessed at just over $70 million.
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Hearst Castle (Value-: $191 million)
Hearst Castle is a National and California Historical Landmark mansion located on the Central Coast of California, United States. It was designed by architect Julia Morgan between 1919 and 1947 for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who died in 1951. The 27-bedroom castle used in the movie The Godfather has hosted John and Jackie Kennedy, Clark Gable, Winston Churchill and many other famous personalities.
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Seven The Pinnacle (Value-: 155 million)
This property would be heaven on Earth. This sky chalet is the biggest estate in the elite private ski and golf community “Yellow Club”. It includes a number of amenities like heated flooring system throughout the house, a huge wine cellar, a gym and fireplaces in all bathrooms, an indoor and outdoor pool and a massage room. It has ten lavish bedrooms. It is located in Monatana, United States. It is owned by Edra and Tim Blexseth, real estate developers, record producer and song writer.
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Kensington Palace Gardens (Value-: $140 million)
Located on London’s Billionaires Row, the already tricked out pad will soon add an underground extension with a tennis court, health center and auto museum. The owner of the estate is Roman Abramovich– a Russian billionaire and owner of private investment firm Millhouse LLC. He is probably best known in the West as the owner of the English Premier League’s giants the Chelsea Football Club.
10. 7 Upper Phillimore Gardens (Value-: $128 million)
Owned by Elena Franchuk, Ukaranian oligarch and friend to Sir Elton John. This 10 bedroom prep school turned mansion has an underground swimming pool, a sauna, gym, cinema, and even a panic room. That’s all in addition to an interior covered in marble, gold and priceless artworks.