No, it’s not a great time to be selling a mega-priced mega mansion. A cooling global economy, concerns over stock market volatility, over-ambitious expectations on pricing. It’s all resulting in a global slowdown. But those with the resources are going to find an astonishing choice of remarkable properties—many now with huge price reductions. Here are 15 of the most amazing homes that lots of money can buy.
15. Pumpkin Key, Key Largo, Florida – $95 Million
What’s not to love about owning an island in the Florida Keys? Bone-fishing all day, swinging in a hammock at night, sipping frosty Patrón margaritas with a little Jimmy Buffett on the boombox. Perfect. For $95 million, you can get the keys to Pumpkin Key, a private 26-acre island in the Windex-blue waters of Card Sound Bay. While island seclusion is all well and good, sometime you need company. And here’s the real appeal of Pumpkin Key; it’s a three-minute boat ride to Key Largo’s swanky Ocean Reef Club and all its amenities. Like an airstrip for your private jet, state-of-the-art spa, grocery store, eight restaurants and its own medical center. Back on the island, there’s a three-bedroom main house, two caretaker cottages, a guest apartment and tennis court. Did we mention the 20-slip marina with superyacht-friendly 18-foot-deep water? And there’s planning permission for up to 12 half-acre waterfront home sites, each with water and electric.
14. The Pinnacle, Woolworth Tower, New York – $110 Million
It is literally the crowning glory of the iconic Woolworth Building residential conversion in Manhattan. Housed in the neo-Gothic skyscraper’s green, pointy, copper-clad peak 700 feet above bustling Broadway, this vast 9,710-square-feet penthouse takes up the top five floors of the landmark building and features a 408-square-foot, open-air observatory with 360-degree views of the city. There’s a private elevator to whisk you between the five floors, or down to F.W. Woolworth’s original basement swimming pool or to the building’s 29th floor Gilbert Lounge entertainment suite, wine cellar and tasting room. Alchemy Properties have been converting the top 33 floors of the Woolworth into residences, with the Pinnacle hitting the market in late 2017.
13. Owlwood Estate, Holmby Hills, California – $115 Million
This is where Some Like It Hot star Tony Curtis, along with singing duo Sony and Cher, once called home. Before them, Joe Schenck, chairman of movie studio 20th Century Fox owned it. Now this sprawling, 10-acre slice of Old Hollywood, on South Carolwood Drive in ritzy Holmby Hills, is on market for $115 million. That’s well down from the original 2017 asking price of $180 million. Built back in 1936, the Italian Renaissance-style wood-paneled mansion features nine bedrooms and 10 baths spread over 12,200 square feet. In the vast, beautifully secluded grounds there’s a tennis court, an Olympic-sized pool with spacious pool house and four garages. And with the compound being made up of three contiguous lots, there’s plenty of room for development. Even for a small sub-division.
12. Palazzate, St. Peter, Barbados – $125 Million
Choices, choices. You could keep this spectacular 75,0000-square-foot beachfront mansion, with its six floors, 20 bedrooms and five pools, as a palatial Caribbean single-family retreat. Or divide it up into four separate mini-mansions, one per floor and each with five bedrooms, six bathrooms and 12,000 square-feet of space. Either way, the asking price is $125 million. Palazzate was developed by Bjorn Bjerhamn, who created Barbados’ St. Peter Bay Resort and Port Ferdinand Marina. The mansion took more than four years to create, and when it was completed in 2015 it was not only the most expensive in Barbados, but in all of the Caribbean. Set on a two-acre lot, the mansion is on the sugar-white-sandy beach of St. Peter on the so-called Barbados Riviera. Among its key features: a 2,500-square-feet fitness center with steam room, a 30,000-gallon aquarium, underground parking for 18 cars and slips at the nearby Port Ferdinand Marina.
11. Villa l’Echauguette, Monaco – $125 Million
From its rooftop terrace, you can gaze down at the superyachts parked in Monaco’s famous Port Hercule harbor. Or, during a weekend in May, get a million-euro view of racecars blasting around the streets below during the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix. Built in the 1860s, Villa l’Echauguette was once home to casino developer Francois Blanc, who helped transform once sleepy Monte Carlo into the playground for the rich and famous it is today. Perched on a cliff overlooking the harbor, this pink Belle Epoque villa offers 8,200 square feet of space over six floors; thankfully there are two elevators. Inside there are six bedrooms, a spacious living room that leads out on to a large private terrace, a wine cellar, a skinny 72-foot-long lap pool, sauna, guest apartment and two-car garage.
10. Gemini, Manalapan, Florida – $137.5 Million
Back in 2016, this astonishing 15-acre ocean-to-lake Palm Beach estate known as “Gemini” was listed for $195 million. Today, it’s back on the market with a still eye-watering $137.5 million asking price. But everything about this compound-by-the-sea on Manalapan island just south of Palm Beach, is eye-watering. Its main house spans no less than 62,200 square feet and comes with 12 bedrooms. There’s also a seven-bedroom guest residence called Mango House, plus two four-bedroom beachside cottages, and another guesthouse with seven studios. The estate is owned by the Ziff brothers, Robert and Dirk, whose father was media mogul William Ziff, who died in 2006. Amazingly, the Ziff family bought the property in 1985 for just $5 million.
9. 90 Jule Pond Drive, Southampton, New York – $145 Million
Henry Ford II—Hank The Deuce—bought this spectacular 42-acre oceanfront compound on Jule Pond Drive back in 1960. In addition to its magnificent quarter-mile of beachfront—still the largest ocean frontage in the entire Hamptons—the estate also enjoys security and seclusion by having Channel Pond to the west and Mecox Bay to the east. The main residence is a cavernous 20,000-square-foot house renovated in 2008 that boasts a 48-foot-long living room and 12 bedrooms, two of which are master suites. On the expansive grounds, there’s a tennis court, pool and pool house, two golf greens. The current owner is portfolio manager Brenda Earl, a former partner at equity fund Zweig-Dimenna. She bought the estate in 2002.
8. Billionaire, Bel Air, California – $150 Million
There’s a reason this jaw-descending 38,000-square-foot, four-story “spec” home, sitting high above Bel Air, is known as “Billionaire.” With its $150 million asking price, it will likely need a billionaire to buy it. But when this ultra-modern palace first hit the market in 2017, it stickered at an outrageous $250 million. Now $100 million less, its owner, QVC handbag tycoon Bruce Makowsky, feels the new price is more in line with the market. But what does the Billionaire mansion offer? How about two master suites, 10 VIP guest suites, 21 bathrooms, three gourmet kitchens, a four-lane bowling alley and a 40-seat 4K Dolby Atmos movie theater. Outside, there’s a 17,000-square-foot entertainment deck, an 85-foot glass tile infinity pool and, wait for it, a garage filled with $30 million worth of exotic cars.
7. Villa Firenze, Beverly Park, California – $165 Million
Two years on the market and there are still no hand-raisers for the third most-pricey property in the City of Angels, Villa Firenze. Perched on seven prime acres of security-obsessed Beverly Park, high in the hills above Beverly Hills, this sprawling compound is home to American billionaire Steven Udvar-Hazy, CEO of aircraft leasing giant Air Lease Corporation. Styled like an Italian palazzo, the 20,000-square-foot main house is complimented by a 5,000-square-foot guest house, a pool house and two other guest houses, bringing the total living space to more than 28,000 square feet. Other features include an additional 2.8-acre adjoining lot ripe for development, a huge swimming pool, tennis court and 30-car motorcourt.
6. Chartwell Estate, Bel Air, California – $195 Million
Back in 2017, it would have cost a staggering $350 million to acquire this historic, 10-acre compound in the heart of swanky Bel Air. Not anymore. Today the asking price has been trimmed—by a non-trivial $155 million—to a still-sky-high $195 million. This legendary estate was home to the late billionaire media mogul, Jerry Perrenchio; he owned Spanish TV conglomerate Univision. Built in the 1930s, the elegant 25,000-square-foot, 18th-century French neo-classical château was designed by starchitect Sumner Spaulding. Among its multitude of features: a 40-car gallery, five-bedroom guest house, 12,000-bottle wine cellar and 75-foot swimming pool. Maybe one of the reasons for its no sale; it was used as the Clampett family mansion in the cheesy ’60s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies.
5. Mesa Vista Ranch, Pampa, Texas – $250 Million
Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens spent close to 50 years assembling his beloved Mesa Vista Ranch in the Texas Panhandle. Today it covers more than 65,000 acres, or more than100 square miles, and according to the so-called Oracle of Oil, offers “the world’s best quail huntin.’” Now, at age 91, Pickens is keen to pass on the massive property to another lover of the great outdoors. The price—take it or leave it— is $250 million. What that includes is miles of the rushing Canadian River, four homes including a 33,000-square-foot main lodge, a private airport with 6,000-foot runway and terminal building, a 30-seat home theater, golf course, tennis court and a two-story stone kennel. Pickens will even throw in his 40 bird dogs with the sale.
4. Gateways Canyons, Gateway, Colorado – $279 Million
The Gateways Canyons Ranches and Resort was the dream of Discovery Channel founder John Hendricks to build a massive compound in the teeny town of Gateway, Colo. about 180 miles west of Aspen. The billionaire bought his first parcel of land here in the 1990s, and kept on buying till he reached today’s 8,700 acres. The huge property now includes a 22,000-square-foot main house he calls West Creek Ranch Residence. Then there’s the 72-room, full-service Gateway Canyons Resort and Spa. And even a car museum, the Gateway Colorado Auto Museum, with around 55 classic cars from Hendricks’ own collection. Add to all this a grass airstrip, airplane hangar and two helipads. With Hendricks and his wife Maureen spending less time at the ranch, he says it’s time to sell.
3. Villa Les Cèdres, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France – $413 Million
There are still no takers for the spectacular 187-year-old Villa Les Cèdres, on France’s Cap-Ferrat peninsula between Nice and Monaco. Once owned by Belgian King Leopold II, the estate sits on 35 of some of the most valuable acres on the planet. The majestic main house boasts 18,000-square-feet and 14 bedrooms, a stunning ballroom, and a multitude of terraces overlooking the shimmering Mediterranean. The estate is also home to one of Europe’s most beautiful gardens, with some 15,000 rare tropical species. It also features its own chapel, a 150-foot swimming pool dug into the rocks and stables for 30 horses. The estate was acquired in 2016 by Italian drinks giant Campari when it bought out rival Grand Marnier. The Marnier-Lapostolle family had owned the estate since 1924.
2. 24 Middle Gap Road, Hong Kong – $447 Million
As they say in the property business: location, location, location. And locations don’t come any more prestigious than the Peak, on Hong Kong Island. In most other posh parts of the planet, this unassuming, colonial-style 5,700-square-foot, four-bedroom home built in 1991 wouldn’t get a second glance. But because it’s perched atop the Peak, comes with views of Deep Water Bay and is just a 10-minute drive from Hong Kong’s Central Business District, it’s listed for an unthinkable $447 million. Of course, any buyer will probably have the house torn down and a shiny new mega-mansion built on its third-of-an-acre wooded lot.
1. The One, Bel Air, California – $500 Million
You read that right: $500,000,000 as in half a billion dollars. What that impressive sum will buy you when the world’s first giga-mansion is completed this summer, is a 100,000-square-foot, 20-bedroom compound perched high above Bel Air on four acres, with spectacular 360-degree uninterrupted views. It’s the creation of movie producer turned prolific real estate developer Nile Niami and architect Paul McClean, who have taken six years to construct this ultimate spec-home. Among its multitude of jaw-dropping features; a 5,500-square-foot master suite, 30 bathrooms, a 30-car auto “gallery,” five swimming pools, a 36-seat movie theater, six-lane bowling alley, and naturally, a nightclub. As you might expect, when it hits the market it’ll be America’s—maybe the world’s—largest and most expensive private residence you can buy.
This was originally posted on robbreport.com by Howard Walker
