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Every living person dreams of owning a home and for most of us mortals, it is a paramount pursuit. And then there are the rich people. We are talking about the obnoxiously rich kind, who literally have money "to burn." And when they go shopping for homes, you get to see some of the most stunning structures in some of the most posh and breathtakingly beautiful neighborhoods in the world. Let's check out 5 of the most expensive homes in the world. (Hold your breath!)
1. One Hyde Park
A residential and retail complex in the Knightsbridge area of London, One Hyde Park has 86 residential properties for sale. There are options from 1 bedroom duplexes to the grand 5 bedroom apartments. Apart from the lavishly designed apartments, leisure facilities include a swimming pool, sauna, gym, squash courts and golf simulator.
Paranoia comes naturally to the uber-rich and to alleviate their fears, the property boasts of state-of-the-art security features including bullet-proof glass windows and SAS-trained security guards. A duplex can be all yours for somewhere close to £ 140 million.
2. Fairfield, Sagaponack, N. Y.
Owned by American investor and businessman, Ira Rennert, Fairfield is a massive property. Spread across 63 acres of land, the buildings total 110,000 sq. ft. The house has more bathrooms than bedrooms and boasts of a 91 foot dining room, tennis courts, squash courts and bowling alleys. The property even has its own power supply on site. Its current valuation is a mere 198 million USD!
3. Kensington Palace Gardens
No discussion on expensive residential places would be complete without mentioning this place. Amongst the most expensive residential streets in the world, it is known as "Billionaire's Row," owing to the wealthy status of its residents. It is home to Ambassadors and High Commissioners from various countries, including Russia, India and Israel. Current prices of any of its mansions could easily be more than a billion dollars. The properties are owned by the likes of Roman Abramovich, Lakshmi Mittal, the Saudi Royal Family and the Sultan of Brunei.
4. Villa la Leopolda
This grand villa, once said to be owned by Bill Gates of Microsoft, is located in the town of Villefranche-sur-Mer in the French Riviera. The estate was once owned by King Leopold II of Belgium. The current avatar was designed and built by an American architect named Ogden Codman Jr. Present ownership is unknown but a Russian billionaire did try to buy it in 2008 at a price of $ 736 million.
5. Antilia
This architectural behemoth is home to the richest Indian - Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd. It is located on Altamount Road in the posh South Mumbai area in India. It took 8 years to complete and the Ambanis moved in around September 2011. The house has 27 floors and has a living area of 400,000 sq. ft. The name of the house is inspired from the mythical island of the Atlantic. An army of 600 servants (who all live in the same house!) take care of this house. That translates to roughly a 100 people for every member of the Ambani family! The cost of the house is estimated at $2 billion.
Apart from these, the White House and the Buckingham Palace also feature in the list of most expensive homes, but since they aren't going to come up on the real estate market anytime soon, we've not put them in the list.
