SOME of the biggest homes in the world from personal skyscrapers to a tech magnate’s mansion.
HERE are some of the biggest homes in the world from personal skyscrapers to a tech magnate’s mansion.
Antilia in Mumbai, India
Mukesh Ambani was named the richest person in India in 2018. He’s also one of the wealthiest humans on Earth. The oil and gas tycoon can also boast about owning the world’s largest and most expensive private residence. The home known as Antilia — because, as you’ll notice, naming your home is apparently a thing for the uber-wealthy — is a towering, 27-storey skyscraper situated in downtown Mumbai.
Biltmore Estate in Asherville, North Carolina
If you had to guess where shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt and his heirs built some of many residences, you’d probably say New York City or Long Island. And you’d be right. Asheville, North Carolina probably wouldn’t immediately spring to mind unless you’re familiar with the Biltmore Estate. Completed in 1895, the chateau-inspired main house has 250 rooms. Still owned by the family, the estate’s 8000 acres now hold a winery farm, stables, and gardens. (The Devil in the White City readers will recognise the name of Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed the gardens, in addition to Central Park and the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.) Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil opened the home to the public in 1930. While you can’t stay in one of the house’s 34 bedrooms, there is a hotel, inn, and cottage on the grounds that accept guests. With its 43 bathrooms, three kitchens, 65 fireplaces, banquet hall, 70,000-gallon indoor swimming pool, 23,000-book library, and bowling alley, it’s a palatial structure that came outfitted with modern conveniences for the era: electricity, central plumbing and heating, fire alarms, and elevators. The 178,926 square-foot-home is considered the largest private residence in the US.
Safra mansion at Sao Paulo, Brazil
What can we tell you about this mansion owned by a notoriously private banking family, the Safras? Not much, except it’s ginormous and is a bit reminiscent of Villa Leopolda, a French Riviera mansion that once belonged to his brother Edmond. (Actually number six on this list.) Surrounded by a high wall, the 130-room house is about 10,868 square meters (35,565 square feet), according to Brazilian newspaper Folha. There are two pools on the property, including one that’s indoors.
Witanhurst in London, England
Technically, Buckingham Palace is the largest residence in London. It has roughly 830,000 square feet of living space, 775 rooms, and several corgis. Because it’s also the home of a queen, we’re skipping it in favour of the city’s second-largest abode. Designed by architect George Hubbard to incorporate part of the Georgian-style Parkfield estate that previously stood on the property, the newly named Witanhurst was built between 1913 and 1920. A former resident who had grown up using the trapeze in Parkland’s gymnasium, once referred to the remodeled home as “the present monster.” Over the next century, Witanhurst became dilapidated after decades of neglect, despite serving as the setting for the BBC show Fame Academy in the early 2000s.
Versailles in Windermere in Florida
Getting the gem-encrusted floor of your dreams can be a rocky road. The ups and downs of Jacqueline and David Siegel’s mega-mansion was chronicled in the 2012 documentary The Queen of Versailles. Back then it seemed like the couple might lose their still-under-construction behemoth. But in 2017, they were reportedly attempting to hire Bravo’s Flipping Out crew to decorate every inch of the suburban palace’s 90,000 square feet. Jeff Lewis turned the job down. The home has 32 bathrooms, 11 kitchens, 14 bedrooms, arcade, gym, salon, and a movie theater. There’s also space for 30 cars in the garage and six pools to choose from.
Villa Leopolda in the French Riviera
Constructed more than a century ago, Villa Leopolda is brimming with history as well as extravagance. The 50-acre estate situated in the French Riviera was originally constructed by King Leopold II of Belgium, and was later bestowed upon one of his mistresses as a gift. Inside there are 11 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, as well as a commercial greenhouse. The home was used as a military hospital during World War I and has made appearances in several films over the years, including The Red Shoes and Alfred Hitchcock’s classic, To Catch a Thief.
The One at Bel Air California
When asked if some of the spec giga-mansions promising buyers 100,000 square feet of space would challenge Versailles’s supremacy, Jackie Siegel said they don’t count because it’s not all under one roof. She’s not wrong. Film producer and real estate developer Nile Niami has boasted about 100,000-square-foot Bel Air, California property, The One, but it’s actually a 73,934 squarefoot main house and some adjacent buildings that make up that total figure. Not that nearly 74,000 is anything to scoff at, of course.
Taohuayuan in Suzhou, China
Sometimes a lake view is not enough, and that’s when you have to spring for a swimming pool and pond, too. The landscaping is modeled on the Classical Gardens of Suzhou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These ancient gardens, which incorporate stones, water, and plants, are in the same city as Taohuayuan, a 72,441-square-foot mansion on Dushu Lake. With 32 bathrooms and bedrooms and a wine cellar, the interior decor is a mix of modern and more classic design. When it went on sale in 2016, it was mainland China’s most expensive house, according to Mansion Global.
Pensmore in Highlandville, Missouri
Most over-the-top mansions are built for aesthetics, but Steven Huff constructed Pensmore for science. Thanks to the concrete Huff created, it’s supposed to withstand bombs, earthquakes, and whatever else the Ozarks throw at it. The astrophysicist and former CIA officer wanted to use the 13-bedroom, 14-bathroom fortress as a testing ground for energy-efficient and disaster-resistant building technology, according to a slightly over-the-top Travel Channel video. CIA plus astrophysicist plus disaster-proof equals conspiracy theories, and there are plenty of those swirling around Pensmore. Its future is uncertain, though, because Huff filed a lawsuit against the construction company that built the 72,000-square-foot lab/bunker/family home. At the time, Huff wanted it torn down and to start from scratch. Though the lawsuit was settled in 2017, there were few details about what he plans to do with the possibly-not-indestructible house.
Fair Field at Sagaponack in New York
In the Hamptons, there are Real Housewives homes — 4,239 square feet— and then there are billionaires’ homes. Take industrialist
Ira Rennert’s Fair Field. At 64,389 square feet, it just squeaked onto this list. With the other structures on the 63-acre property, it’s a 110,000-square-foot estate. Some of the amenities include two bowling alleys, squash quarts, a hot tub, a theater with seating for 164, and indoor basketball court.