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Aug
20
2008
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Most Expensive House In The World 2008Category: Architecture/Design
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One of the most popular articles on this website is actually Most Expensive House In The World, which briefly discusses 2 properties in London that were purchased for a staggering £70m, which set new world records. Unfortunately, that’s yesterday’s news; it’s now staler than the ciabatta I’m having for lunch.
So what’s the latest? Well, apparently £70m won’t buy you the most expensive house in the world; it won’t even buy you the swimming pool located in the most expensive house in the world. To give you an idea of what’s actually happened: there’s a new Rolls-Royce in town, and the previous successor has been downgraded to a Lada.
A new record for the most expensive house in the world has been set, and it’s not only squeezed past the previous record holder, it’s shamelessly smashed through the barriers and has setup camp in a whole new league.
How much was the most expensive house in the world bought for?
£392m. I kid you not. That’s enough to cure a small third-world county, sadly.
Who owns the most expensive house in the world?
Russian precious-metal mogul, Mikhail Prokhorov.
About the property
The property goes by the name Villa Leopolda, a Belle Époque mansion in the French town of Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Cote d’Azur, on the French Riviera. It was built in 1902 for Belgian King Leopold II.
In August 2008, the previous owner, Lily Safra (wife of the deceased Syrian (Lebanon-born) businessman Edmond Safra), a famous Jewish philanthropist, decided to sell it to its new Russian owner.
The estate is so big that it requires 50 full time gardeners. The grounds cover 20 acres of garden and visitors can stroll amongst 1,200 olive, orange, lemon and cypress trees.
Unlike the previous most expensive houses in the world, there is extremely little information about the property out there, so it’s difficult to know exactly what we’re meant to be envious of (besides from all that wealth). I can’t even tell you guys how many bedrooms, bathrooms and parking spaces there are. But I imagine it could comfortably house The Waltons, and the monthly electricity bill probably costs more than my entire house.
I have a feeling more information will start to surface as more people start to get a little bit more curious. However, everything has been pretty hush, hush; even the owners are refusing to admit that they actually purchased the damn thing.
But I guess the lavish details aren’t that important, the main fact is that someone purchased a property in France for £392m, consequently there are people out there that have so much money that it makes me want to cry! To put things into perspective, I don’t even have £1 in my pocket right now, just a few coppers cluttering up my Ikea desk. I’m trying hard not to think about it too much, because it can become pretty demoralising knowing that my yearly salary wouldn’t even cover this guy’s weekly grocery expenses.
Pictures of the property
Like the lack of information, there’s also a shortage of clear pictures. But this is what I managed to find…
Does that look like a property worth £392m? Hmmm…your guess is as good as mine.
About the owner, Mikhail Prokhorov
Prokhorov is ranked as the 24th richest man in the world with a $22 billion fortune. Born May 3, 1965, he’s a Russian self-made billionaire. He made his name in the financial sector and went on to become one of Russia’s leading industrialists in the precious metals sector. He is the former chairman of Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium, and the current chairman of Polyus Gold, Russia’s largest gold producer.
So what’s a man worth $22 billion look like? You guessed it….like Bob Saget.
If anyone has any further information on this property, please let me know!
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omg very big house
actually this record was broke 4 weeks ago in Geneva by the crown prince of saoudi arabia talks says 620 millions pounds
what could POSSIBLY justify spending almost 400 million pounds on one house? how is a house that costs that much going to make your life so much better than a house that costs, say, 20 million? it doesn’t even have a massive estate - I know that you can buy houses with hundreds of acres for a fraction of that price - it’s just got 20!
this is just utterly ridiculous. yeah, rich people should be able to have luxuries and enjoy what they’ve earnt, but this is the biggest waste of cash I’ve ever heard of. it’s true, that money could probably cure famine, AIDs etc for millions of people, at least for a year or so. a house for ONE man, at the expense of millions of lives potentially saved and improved.
I’m really going on about this but it’s so out of order and selfish.
This might sound really odd but for 392m its a pretty shit house. If I could afford to Im sure i could find a better house for 50m.
wow man i am guess some people don’t have a life but a dream man i wish i lived there
[...] UPDATE: 20/08/2008: This is old news. There’s a new player in town, and it’s smashed this record to pieces. Find out more over at Most Expensive House 2008 [...]