Sometimes I scratch my head, mumbling to myself something along the lines of ‘Can this be true?’… It doesn’t happen often, but it still does. Every now and then I stumble upon something that is almost too crazy or extravagant to be real. This, beloved reader, is one of those rare occasions where I ask myself the very question: True? The answer is: ‘Yes!’
What you see pictured on the left is billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s future private residence. You got that right, once this building has been completed it will be a single family residence, and it has a name, by the way: Antilla. Antilla will then rise 27 floors above the ground, featuring around 400,000 square feet of interior space.
Pro golfer Tiger Woods has a new house - a $65 million ocean-front Hamptons estate:
Located on exclusive Gin Lane, Tiger Woods’ estate is on nearly six gated acres with a 13,200-square-foot Colonial Revival main residence, a 7,500-square-foot guesthouse and a four-car garage with staff quar ters.
The lush grounds feature an oversized seaside pool with spa, a tennis court, a lily pond and professionally groomed gardens.
What a coincidence that The Sun wrote an article about Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch just a few days after I talked about it with some friends. Well, let me share the news with you: Neverland Ranch is abandoned and rotting away. As if that was not enough, Mr. Jackson has debts of $160 million and even the re-release of his popular album Thriller didn’t rake in too much money, sales have not been going well. Neverland Ranch turned into what I would call Ruinland, and it is a good metaphor for Jacko’s current reception.
FYI, this hasn’t been confirmed yet. But rumor has it that a $125,000,000 deal for the impressive Fleur de Lys Los Angeles mansion is in the works and might be closed soon. Such big-money deals are extremely difficult to close, so you shouldn’t get too excited until this has been confirmed. Yet this is almost unbelievable news, even as a rumor.
It’s been reported that late night talker Conan O’Brien has bought a $10,750,000 house in Brentwood, CA. The house has 6 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. O’Brien will take over The Tonight Show in 2009, so he might have been looking for a new home in the Los Angeles area. Currently, O’Brien lives in New York City. Photos at the link below.
Nicholas Cage put his Bel Air house (9 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, about 11,000 sq.ft. living space) on the open market. Price tag: $35 million. He had bought the house from Tom Jones back in 1998 for a rumored price of $7 million. Nicholas Cage has invested tons of money in real estate over the years. Big Time Listings has a list of some of his numerous properties. Sometime I will live in such a house, too. Sometime…
Time for a TRASH CAN post again: Britney Spears bought a new house, namely, a $9.35 million villa in Ramirez Canyon Road, Malibu, CA. The trashy singer just recently sold her 9,130 sq.ft. house in Beverly Hills for $7,495,000. But forget about her old house… Her new Malibu residence has 7 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, about 8,500 sq.ft. Poor Britney, with her hair and alcohol and… you know.
Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal from August 24, 2007: “Underpriced at $100 Million“. Ben Casselman and Christina S.N. Lewis report that few home owners are trying to set a new record by selling the most expensive house in American history. The current record is Ron Baron’s $103 million purchase of a 40-acre compound in East Hampton, NY. Homes for sale at $100+ million are, inter alia:
Hearst Estate - 6.25-acre compound in Beverly Hills, CA with 72,000 sq.ft. of living space — $165 million Hala Ranch - 56,000 sq.ft. Aspen, Colo. chalet – $135 million Fleur de Lys - Mansion in Los Angeles, modeled after the 17th century palace of Louis XIV’s finance minister — $125 million Maison de l’Amitié - Seven-acre ocean front Palm Beach, Fl. compound — $125 million Tranquility - 210-acre compound in Zephyr Cove, Nev. near Lake Tahoe — $100 million
There are five contenders for the current prize, including a Beverly Hills compound once owned by William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies that’s listed for $165 million; the Aspen home of Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, which has been visited by the past three U.S. presidents ($135 million); and an estate overlooking Lake Tahoe with a staircase modeled after the one aboard the Titanic (a dark horse at $100 million). All have come on the market since summer 2006.
(…)
Record asking prices haven’t always guaranteed record sales — or sales at all. Executors of the estate of oil- and film-industry billionaire Marvin Davis originally listed his Beverly Hills home for $70 million, but people familiar with the deal say it sold in 2005 for roughly $45 million. Manhattan’s most expensive listing, Martin Zweig’s $70 million penthouse atop the Pierre Hotel, has been on the market for more than two years. (Listing agent Elizabeth Lee Sample says that she’s had offers at the asking price but didn’t think the prospective buyers could get past the building’s rigorous co-op board.)
Nonetheless, Suzanne Saperstein, owner of the $125 million Los Angeles chateau, says she has no plans to cut her price. “I’m in no rush,” she says. And more contenders are on the way. Developer Frank McKinney is building a house in Manalapan, Fla., that he plans to list for “at least” $135 million, while land baron Tim Blixseth is asking $155 million for a yet-to-be-built Montana estate. Entertainment billionaire David Geffen has quietly shopped his historic 9.4-acre Los Angeles estate for $100 million, according to a broker who has shown the property. Mr. Geffen says his home in Los Angeles is not for sale.
Sometimes I scratch my head, mumbling to myself something along the lines of ‘Can this be true?’… It doesn’t happen often, but it still does. Every now and then I stumble upon something that is almost too crazy or extravagant to be real. This, beloved reader, is one of those rare occasions where I ask myself the very question: True? The answer is: ‘Yes!’
