Property: The Most Expensive Homes In The World

1 The Pinnacle
€114m
Yellowstone Club, near Bozeman, Montana, US Developer: Tim Blixseth

This 4,923 m2 mega-estate on 160 acres will reportedly be the most expensive residence in the world once construction is completed in autumn 2008. American timber magnate turned real estate tycoon Tim Blixseth is the developer. The main building is designed as a stout lodge in rusticated stone and wood, and a private ski lift will run right from the interior of the house to the slopes.

With 3.5 acres of surface space, mostly clad in marble, this residence is larger than Buckingham Palace. The dizzying array of features includes gold-inlaid mosaic flooring, five heated pools, a heated marble driveway, 22 bedrooms, 27 bathrooms and his and hers suites, all set on 63 acres. Developer Leslie Allen-Vercoe says there are potential buyers from India, China, Russia, and the Middle East making detailed inquiries.

Steel magnate Mittal’s payment for this estate in 2004 reached the uppermost limits of home prices in recent years. Mittal, reportedly the world’s sixth-wealthiest man, bought the home from Formula One billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, who had purchased it for his wife in 2001. Mittal’s purchase set the world’s record for the highest price yet paid for a home. The countless features include themed bathrooms encrusted with semi-precious stones.

The living room of the Allan Greenberg-designed Three PondsThis estate overlooks the Bosphorus strait between Europe and Asia. There is a 1,994 m2 main residence, one of two buildings that contain a total of 64 rooms teeming with baroque and rococo flourishes, gilded inlays and chandeliers in crystal. There is also a private 60 m wharf. Agent Alp Sahin of Luici Real Estate in Istanbul calls the estate “prestigious”, on a par with the best properties not only in Turkey but in Europe and the world as well.

Three Ponds sits on 60 acres of lakes and farmland in the Hamptons. Designed by classicist architect Allan Greenberg, it features an 8.5 m-high dome. Built by a New York real estate magnate and currently owned by his widow, the property has been on the market for four years. Susan Breitenbach, a senior vice-president of Corcoran Group, says Three Ponds is essentially a five-star resort of your own.

This renovated classic period property, designed 132 years ago by renowned architect Richard Norman Shaw, stands on the bank of the Thames. Exuding old-world elegance, it features everything from a fine library and a grand staircase to a wine vault and elaborate coffered ceilings. Agents point out that the 1,785 m2 home is unusually large for central London, into which it transitions via a gated drive-in courtyard.

This 1,500 m2, classically appointed villa on the south side of Hong Kong Island lights up like a jewel box at night. It sports an exterior of Corinthian columns and an interior that features a grand staircase, an entrance hall and two floors of living space. Entertainment and dining rooms complete the ensemble. The grounds feature an enormous garden and pool overlooking Hong Kong’s scenic Deep Water Bay and its beach and golf attractions.

This property occupies about one sixth of Monte Argentario, a rock formation that rises from the sea off the western coast of Tuscany. There are two villas, olive groves, formal gardens, a tennis court, a pool and a helipad on the property’s 240 hectares. Bill Thomson, director of Knight Frank’s Italian network, characterizes the property as a “tastefully restored farm in total privacy”, and the owner, whose name Thomson will not reveal, only as a well-known Italian.

Scott Berman examines a real estate market on the rise

With a growth rate of between 12% and 15% in the past year, South Africa is among the world’s top five residential property markets according to a recent survey by UK real estate agency Knight Frank. One reason is its attraction for foreigners, who are investing in second-home real estate across borders in greater numbers than ever before.

A strong economy is another factor underpinning market performance in South Africa, says Andy Collett, director of South African realtor Pam Golding International. Exchange rates have not had much impact on the non-resident market, he asserts. The rand has stabilized in the range of 9–10 rand to the euro. The interest in South African leisure properties “continues unabated from non-residents”, says Collett.

Foreign buyers’ choices in South Africa are not limited to properties comparable to the Stellenbosch Wine Estate in Cape Town, which at a reported €13m is probably the nation’s most expensive property, nor to the traditional market of Cape Town itself. Collett points out that there is growing interest in fractional ownership, especially along the Western Cape, which includes Cape Town, and the coast of KwaZulu-Natal Province (KZN) in eastern South Africa, which includes the nation’s second city, Durban. According to Collett, private residence clubs, in which residents use and pay for the property for three to four weeks a year, are becoming more popular.

Durban has a relaxed atmosphere and a terrific climate year-round, says Tessa Douglas, owner of Seeff Property in north Durban. She is seeing foreigners buy everything from lower-end flats at roughly €155,000 to inland homes at about €280,000 and the most luxurious villas at about €2m.

Douglas says Durban’s proximity to inland game reserves offers buyers an authentic taste of Africa, which is of growing interest to foreigners, while still being close to golfing, beaches, and deep sea fishing.

As idyllic as most of this sounds, the basics still apply for foreigners. As Collett adds: “As with any real estate purchase anywhere in the world, local knowledge of the area is vitally important, and it is wise to consult an internationally affiliated real estate company.”