Can you imagine paying $50,000 for a tree house? If you’re like Victoria Beckham, the answer is “Yes!” The former Spice Girl recently purchased the world’s most expensive tree house from Neiman Marcus for her three children, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz.
The Treetent, resembling an overgrown pear, was created by Dutch sculptor and designer Dré Wapenaar. The thirteen-foot tent features a nine-foot-diameter hardwood floor, a round mattress that can comfortably fit two adults and adjustable planetary landing steps.
The most expensive treehouse in the world is an excellent investment for filthy rich persons who want to go camping without dealing with all that inconvenient nature stuff. Unfortunately, it’s a limited edition, so you’ll have to wait in line behind the dozens of celebrities who’ve already staked their claim.
Would you settle for an enormous widescreen television and 7.1 surround sound system? What if you’re a sound engineer, producer and multimillionaire? Thus is the case with Jeremy Kipnis and the world’s most expensive home entertainment center.
(via OhGizmo!)
The audio portion of the system includes thirty-seven Snell and MuRata speakers attached to thirty-five Mark Levinson, McIntosh and Crown Audio amplifiers as well as thirteen Theta Digital surround sound processers. For video, Kipnis chose a professional-grade Sony video projector and an 18-by-10-foot laboratory-grade motion picture screen. He doesn’t need to worry about media formats, either; the multitude of players included in his system can play Blu-ray discs, HD DVDs, CDs, DVDs, Laserdiscs and even VHS tapes. In case that isn’t enough, there’s a SATA drive that holds 72 hours of HD footage and a PlayStation 3. There’s even a kind of swordfish-shaped model ship thing.
I don’t know what that is.
All told, the most expensive home entertainment center in the world set Mr. Kipnis back a mere $6 million. Considering the sheer number of devices that make up the system, I’d say that’s a bargain.
The true measure of an expensive home isn’t how much it cost to build or how much you’re selling it for. After all, who cares how expensive a home is if no one is buying? All of the following homes have passed the test of the real estate market with flying colors. They truly are the most expensive homes in the world.
Donald Trump’s Palm Beach mansion – $100 million
The Donald takes pride in having sold this beautiful 68,000-square-foot mansion at a time when the real estate market is doing poorly. Trump purchased the mansion—and the seven acres of beachfront it sits on—in 2004 for less than half of what he sold it for.
Lakshmi Mittal’s Kensington Palace Gardens mansion – $103 million
Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal was widely reported to have purchased this property on one of London’s most exclusive streets for £70 million ($126 million at the time). As it happened, the Indian tychoon paid only £57,145,967 for the mansion—still enough to put the mansion on the list of the most expensive houses ever sold.
Victorian Villa, West London – $159 million
Purchased in February of 2008 by a Ukrainian businesswoman, this five-story Victorian villa was used as a girls’ school until it was purchased by developers in 2006. The luxurious residential dwelling has over ten bedrooms and an underground swimming pool. It also includes a gym, a sauna, a theatre and a panic room to be used in case of emergency. It was sold for £80 million (almost $159 million US), displacing the Kensington Palace Gardens home of Lakshmi Mittal as the most expensive house ever sold. With Mikhail Prokhorov supposedly reneging on a deal to purchase La Leopolda, below, it has retained that title.
La Leopolda, France – $750 million
Originally built for the mistress of King Leopold of Belgium, this mansion overlooking the French Riviera has been said to be owned by several prominent people over the years, including Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Fiat Group’s Gianni Agnelli. Sketchy reports of a “mysterious Russian billionaire” said that he had purchased the villa it from the widow of a Lebanese banker who was killed in an arsonist’s fire in 2003. Now it seems that the billionaire intends on backing out of the deal, possibly due to the financial crisis.
Selling a Most Expensive home can take awhile and, especially in this day and age, may end up disappointing the seller. Dunnellen Hall, for instance, was originally listed at $125 million, but is now being offered for less than half that. With that in mind, we present these—the most expensive homes on the market.
Eurasia Estate (Moscow, Russia) – $100 million
Located 15 miles from Moscow’s city center, Eurasia consists of an 11,700-square-foot mansion with a 91,000-square-foot recreation center. The recreation center features a pool, Turkish and Russian baths and a sauna to keep the water bill high. For visitors, there are two 4,000-square-foot guest houses on the property.
Tranquility (Lake Tahoe, Nevada) – $100 million
What could be more tranquil than watching movies in your nineteen-seat private theatre with the knowledge that you’re not paying taxes on your lavish estate? Located on a 210-acre stretch of land, Tranquility is being sold by Tommy Hilfiger co-founder Joel Horowitz. The mansion itself is 20,000-square-feet and features a 3,500-bottle wine cellar and an indoor swimming pool and atrium.
Fleur de Lys (Beverly Hills, California) – $125 million
This 45,000-square-foot home was modeled after the palace of King Louis XIV in Versailles. It was built over five years after Texas billionaire David Saperstein and former wife Suzanne secured five acres in the Holmby Hills section of Bel Air. It was put up for sale soon after Suzanne was awarded the estate in the couple’s divorce. The home features a fifty-seat screening room, nine-car garage and library of first-edition books.
Updown Court (Windlesham, Surrey) – $140 million
This courtly estate aims for a more sophisticated occupant with its ballrooms and grand entryways. Of course, the 103-room Updown Court also has all the basic amenities—a fifty-seat cinema, heated marble driveway, helipad and indoor spas, Jacuzzis and pools. If that isn’t enough for you, there are also 58 acres of gardens and woodlands.
The Manor (Los Angeles, California) – $150 million
This incredible mansion, built in 1988 for television producer Aaron Spelling, is the largest home in Los Angeles County. Located on the former site of Bing Crosby’s manor, which Spelling had demolished, the 56,500 square foot manor in Holmby Hills was the center of some controversy based on its shameless extravagance. The widowed Candy Spelling has now put the enormous estate on the market. The Manor has 123 rooms, including three gift-wrapping rooms, a gym, four two-car garages, a bowling alley, a pool and a screening room.
La Leopolda, France – $750 million
Originally built for the mistress of King Leopold of Belgium, this mansion overlooking the French Riviera has been said to be owned by several prominent people over the years, including Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Fiat Group’s Gianni Agnelli. Sketchy reports of a “mysterious Russian billionaire” said that he had purchased the villa it from the widow of a Lebanese banker who was killed in an arsonist’s fire in 2003. Now that billionaire has backed out of the deal—and lost his $50 million down payment.
The Hamptons—that easternmost stretch of Long Island catering to the financial elite—have just seen a record set, as a recent rental is the most expensive in the area’s history. Is this the most expensive rental home in the US?
If not, it’s pretty close.
Sandcastle, an 11.5-acre estate with a 31,000 square foot main house, has been rented to an anonymous family for two weeks. Aside from the main house’s nine bedrooms and 11.5 bathrooms, Sandcastle also holds a guest house, pool, tennis courts, bowling alley, movie theater and even a half pipe.
The couple has paid $500,000 for their two week stay—or over $35,000 per day. The estate that may be America’s most expensive rental home, owned by New York City’s Corcoran Group, is also for sale at $49.5 million.
