10 Most Expensive Houses in the World

Here are the 10 most expensive houses in the world, ranging from the Buckingham palace in the United Kingdom to the Palazzo di Amore in the United States and Ambani Mukesh’s Antilia in India.

The least expensive house on the list is worth over $ 180 Million, Drake’s estimated net worth as of 2022 and the nominal Gross Domestic Product of over 40 countries including the United States as of 2018. These houses are the true definition of luxury and wealth.

10 Most Expensive Houses in the World

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1. Buckingham Palace

• Estimated Value: $3 Billion
• Owner: The British royal family
• Location: London, United Kingdom

Buckingham Palace is the most expensive house in the world, estimated to be worth $3 Billion if ever enlisted in the estate market. This London abode serves as the royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the British royal family.

The building was built as a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte and became known as The Queen’s House.  It was enlarged in the 19th century and became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.

The building comprises a total of 775 rooms, 78 bathrooms, 92 offices, 19 staterooms and a swimming pool. The palace checks in at approximately 828,000 square feet and the garden alone is 40 acres. Rumour has it, there are a few other secret rooms dotted throughout this huge luxury mansion.

2. Antilia

• Estimated Value: $2 Billion
• Owner: Ambani Mukesh
• Location: Mumbai, India

Ambani Mukesh’s Antilia takes second place among the most expensive houses in the world. The building with an estimated value of $2 Billion is a skyscraper mansion at 27 stories, 173 metres (568 ft) tall, over 37,000 square metres (400,000 sq ft), and with amenities such as three helipads, a 168-car garage, a ballroom, 9 high-speed elevators, a 50-seat theatre, terrace gardens, swimming pool, spa, health centre, a temple, and a snow room that spits out snowflakes from the walls.

The architectural design of Antilia has been fashioned along the lines of the lotus and the sun. The top six floors of the building have been set aside as the private full-floor residential area. It is also designed to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake.

The building was designed by two US architecture firms Perkins & Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates. It was named ‘Antilia’ after a mythical island in the Atlantic and is considered one of the world’s largest and most elaborate private homes.

3. Villa Leopolda

• Estimated value: $750 million
• Owner: Mikhail Prokhorov
• Location: French Riviera, France

Villa Leopolda is the most expensive private home in Europe and the third most expensive house in the world with an estimated value of $750 Million. The building initially belonged to King Leopold II of Belgium and since then passed through the hands of many notable owners such as  Giovanni “Gianni” Agnelli, an Italian industrialist; Izaak Walton Kilam, a Canadian financier and philanthropist and Lily Safra, a widow of Lebanese Brazillian Banker, Edmund Safra.

The building is located in the Frances Alps-Maritime department of its Cote d’Azur Region and is presently owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov who bought the mansion for $750 million in 2008.

The building is placed on approximately 50 acres of land and has  11 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, a commercial greenhouse, helipad, outdoor kitchen, a huge swimming pool and excessive gardens reportedly require the daily work of more than 50 gardeners.

4. The One

• Estimated value: $500 million
• Owner: Richard Saghian
• Location: California, United States

The One is a mega-mansion in BelAir, a highbrow residential neighbourhood on the westside of Los Angeles, California. The building is the most expensive private residence in the United States  and the third  in the world with an estimated value of $500 Million

The house was developed by Nile Niami, an American movie producer turn real estate Developer and features nine bedrooms, multiple kitchens, a nightclub, a four-lane bowling alley, a salon, gym, 50-seat theatre, a running track, a 50-car underground garage, and a moat.

The mega-mansion was listed for sale in January 2022 but did not receive an offer. On the 4th of March 2022, it was sold at auction to Richard Saghian for US$127 million, becoming one of the most expensive houses ever sold at an auction in the United States.

5. Villa Les Cedres

• Estimated Value: $450 Million
• Owner: Rinat Akhmetov
• Location: Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France

Villa Les Cedres is an 18,000-square-foot Villa set on approximately 35 acres of gardens in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France. It takes the fourth place among the most expensive houses in the world, with an estimated value of $450 Million.

The luxury property with endless bedrooms and communal spaces has an Olympic size swimming pool, a stunning ballroom, and even a stable with room for up to 30 horses. Outside, you’ll find 15,000 plants and 20 greenhouses with tropical flowers from all over the world. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and has multiple balconies swathed with palm trees.

Inside, you’ll find crystal chandeliers, gilded woodwork, 19th-century oil paintings and a wood-panelled library holding somewhere in the region of 3,000 books. The building was first built in 1830 and purchased by King Leopold II of Belgium in 1904.

6. Les Palais Bulles

• Estimated Value: $390 Million
• Owner: Pierre Cardin
• Location: Cannes, France

Les Palais Bulles, popularly known as the Bubble Palace, is a luxury property shaped like a huge, peach-coloured bubble. The property with an estimated value of $390 Million takes sixth place among the most expensive houses in the world.

The 13,000 square foot building was designed between 1975 and 1989 by the Hungarian architect Antti Lovag, who reportedly hated straight lines as “an aggression against nature” and designed the house as a “form of play—spontaneous, joyful, full of surprise”

The house was built for the French industrialist Pierre Bernard but was later sold to  Pierre Cardin after Bernard’s death.  The house comprises a reception hall, panoramic lounge, 500-seat open-air amphitheatre, 10 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, various swimming pools and waterfalls on extensive landscaped grounds.

7. The Odeon Tower Penthouse

• Estimated value: $330 million
• Owner:  SCI Odeon
• Location: Monaco

The Oden Tower Penthouse is the world’s most expensive apartment and the seventh most expensive house in the world with an estimated value of $335  Million, according to a Forbes report.

The tower is a double skyscraper (49 Floors that houses 259 residences, including 62 for-sale private luxury residences including 2 Sky Duplex apartments and the said penthouse.  It also comprises 157 lower floor apartments, 10 subterranean levels with 543 parking spaces, restaurants and offices, a wellness centre and a  fitness centre.

The penthouse was built on 38,000 square feet of space spread across five levels, with five kitchens spread throughout each floor. It also includes a rooftop deck and pool, with its own water slide that descends one story from the dance floor directly into the infinity pool. The flat has a spectacular view of the ocean. A parking space for the property is thought to cost around $330,000.

8.  Four Fairfield Pond

• Estimated value: $248 million
• Owner: Ira Rennert
• Location: New York, United States

Taking eighth place among the most expensive house in the world is the Four Fairfield pond in the United State which has an estimated value of $248 Million. The luxury property was built in 2003 for the Polish billionaire, Ira Rennert.

The limestone Italian Renaissance-style home has 21 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms and sits on 63 acres along with other buildings on the property. The mansion also features a 164-seat theatre,  three swimming pools, a private basketball court, a two-lane bowling alley, a 91-foot-long dining room, a billiards room, two tennis courts, and two squash courts.

The property also houses a 100- car garage and a 10,000 square foot private museum built on the property to house his extensive, $500 million art collection.  Powering the mansion requires a gigantic amount of electricity, fortunately, the house comes with its very own power plant located on-site.

9. Ellison Estate

• Estimated value: $200 million
• Owner: Larry Elison
• Location: California, United States

Ellison Estate owned by Ellison Larry of Oracle is the ninth most expensive house in the world with an estimated value of $200 Million. The property which is on a 23-acres of land in the United States houses 10 different buildings which include a tea house and bathhouse, a man-made lake and a Koi pond.

The design of the estate was modelled after a Japanese Emporers palace and designed by Paul Driscoll, who was an architect and Zen Buddist teacher. Throughout the estate grounds, you’ll also find some very expensive trees, like cherry blossoms, maples, oaks and redwoods.

10. Palazzo di Amore

• Estimated value: $195 million
• Owner: Jeff Greene
• Location: California, United States

Beverly Hills-based Palazzo di Amore concludes the list with an estimated value of $195 Million,  The house was built in November 2002 and was regarded as the most expensive residential complex in the United States at the time. The house was purchased by Jeff Greene a real estate billionaire who purchased the property for around $35 million in 2007 and spent the next several years renovating it.

The completed house is 53,000 square feet, with 12 bedrooms including a 5,000-square foot master suite; 25 bathrooms; an entertainment centre with a bowling alley, 50-seat state-of-the-art movie theatre, and discotheque; a 24-car garage; and 25 acres of grounds including a wine-producing vineyard, 150-person infinity pool, reflecting pool, and tennis court, parking for approximately 150 cars, guardhouse, private driver’s quarters, guest house, wine cellar, spa, formal gardens and city-to-ocean views

Conclusion

It is imperative to note that they are three other buildings that did not make the list, such as the 18-19 Kensington Gardens worth $128 Million, Seven the Pinnacle, a $155 million mansion in the United States, Bill gates’ Xanadu 2.0, a $127 Million mansion filled with futuristic technology, such as a computer-controlled maple tree, a tiny pins attached to each guest’s lapel so they can control lighting, music, and temperature. With that being said, here is a recap of the top 10 most expensive houses in the world.

1. Buckingham Palace
2.  Antila
3. Villa Leopolda
4. The One
5. Villa Les Cedres
6. Les Palais Bulles
7. The Odeon Tower Penthouse
8. Four Fairfield Pond
9. Ellison Estate
10. Palazzo di Amore