Height matters
Monaco has the world’s most expensive penthouse, but Dubai will have the highest…again The world’s reportedly most expensive penthouse is scheduled for completion this month. It occupies the top five floors and top three floors of two adjoining towers that form the Tour Odeon in Monaco, and its developers, Groupe Marzocco, won’t put a sales price on the penthouse, but say it is worth Dhs1.5 billion. At 170 metres high, the Tour Odeon is the tallest residential tower on the Cote d’Azur, while its penthouse is one of the biggest in the world, spanning 3300 square metres. One floor is given over entirely to a master bedroom suite with its own pool, spa and hammam, while other floors will accommodate a bar, games room, piano room, cinema room, lounge and four further bedrooms. This penthouse will come to symbolise the high life both literally and figuratively, because residents and their guests will be able to slide into the rooftop swimming pool from a dance floor. Views of the Mediterranean are expansive.
What’s happening in Monaco this month is a microcosm of what’s going on worldwide. Across the globe, cities are reaching for the skies. From Dubai to London to New York to Shanghai, great, tall stone, steel and glass edifices are being constructed to house burgeoning urban populations. Some of these towers are wholly residential; others a mix of offices and homes, many with shops and restaurants included at the podium level. The most highly prized homes in these towers, and sometimes for the whole surrounding district, are found at the top.
The penthouse is the manor house of modern times. It is the home of the business tycoon, sheikh, prince and Hollywood star. Indeed, the proportions of the reception areas in many modern penthouses are derived directly from those of the Great Rooms of medieval European castles and period mansions – with double height ceilings and expansive floor areas – and they have the same function, operating as open-plan centres of activity where guests are received and entertained, dinner parties held and, on quieter days, daily domestic life carried on. Sometimes, they can be the size of a manor house, located not only on one level, but two, three or even five, and covering thousands of square metres.
In a subtle twist on the age-old ritual of a manor house owner walking over to a big bay window and telling their eldest son “One day, son, all this will be yours, you will be master of all you survey”, the penthouse owner can point out to their offspring – and anyone else who might be interested – the office block where their company is located, the private members’ club they recently joined, and the marina where their yacht is moored.
Aside from being the most prestigious apartment in the building, penthouses provide practical benefits too, because they have the most light, the best views, the most privacy and the most space. Typically, developers finish them to the highest standard, installing the best kitchen appliances in addition to the latest technology for controlling room temperatures, opening and closing curtains and blinds, and turning lighting on and off, and even closing toilet seats and lids automatically.
And we’re getting more of these sought-after homes.