Most Expensive House in the World - Antilla Mumbai

Antilla Mumbai is currently the worlds most expensive house costing $1 Billion although it hasn't been build yet.. It overtook Villa Leopolda which is also featured below. Antilla Mumbai is the world's first billion dollar house. A custom-build 27 story towering mansion, Antilla in Mumbai is the home of the world’s 5th richest man called Mukesh Ambani, head of Indian petro-chemical giant Reliance Industries, which is India’s most valuable firm by market capitalization. Here is the latest picture in May 2010 of Antilla Mumbai building.

1 Billion dollars! If you could get someone to make the loan at current standard (US) jumbo mortgage rates, the monthly payment on a 30-year loan would be about 12.5 million dollars. Of course, a $2 billion loan is not going to go into the standard mortgage market, even for jumbo loans. Artists Impressions of $1 Billion Antilla Mumbai These are the artist impressions of Antilla Mumbai

With double height ceilings, ballrooms, crystal chandelier ceilings, retractable stages, and 600 servants, there is no other home on earth that compares to the 570 feet tall Antilla.

A spate of green skyscrapers have shot up in the last few years, as people learn that buildings account for more CO2 emissions than any other single source. At the same time, we’ve seen a rise in greenwashing by companies recognizing the market value of green and making false claims to fit the category. In an exemplary meeting of these two trends, we have just discovered a building in progress in Mumbai that calls itself the greenest of all the buildings in the Maximum City of 13 million people. If ever there were a literal interpretation of a deceptive green façade, this is it. Renderings of the 27-story Antilla building depict a highrise that couldn’t be greener. It’s covered in foliage, with living walls enclosing all four sides, hanging gardens and green rooftop. Just a few days ago, the architects boasted about its environmental features – primarily that the walls of plants will increase green space and combat urban heat island effect. But look behind the green façade, and as far as we can tell, there’s nothing else sustainable about the materials or construction. Architecture firm Perkins + Will doesn’t include the project on their site, but this week mentioned no other green features besides the literal green. The Antilla is being built for Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s largest private sector enterprise (with revenues exceeding $25 billion), and the Ambani family, who own the company. Reliance is a petrochemical corporation whose earnings come from exploring, producing, refining and marketing oil and gas. They are the world’s largest producer of polyester fiber, and a runner-up for several others. The building will stand on Mumbai’s Altamount Road, where real estate costs as much as $1800/square foot. Although Mumbai is the densest city in the world, with almost 30,000 people per square kilometer, this 500+ foot tall building will only be 27 floors where normally a building of this height would be 60, so that each floor can have exceptionally high ceilings, and 35,000 square feet of the entire building area will be the residential quarters of the Ambani’s.

More Antilla Mumbai Facts

1. 3 helipads on top. Mumbai corporation has not given permission for making this operational yet.
2. Hanging gardens within the structure
3. Swimming pool within the structure
4. A two storey Health centre
5. Parking space for 168 cars (6 floors). I initially thought that meant there will be a mini office in the building but apparently that is not the case. All these cars will belong to Mukesh Ambani! Just in case you are interested, he drives a 5 crore Maybach now.
6. A floor exclusively for servicing these automobiles within the building.
7. A floor for Home theatre – sitting capacity of 50

Most absurd of all, the house will have a staff of 600 (sic) to do the maintenance activities. That gives a ratio of 1:100 for people living in the house and those who are paid to take care of it. The six lucky ones are the man himself, his wife, his 3 children and his mother Kokilaben. The family will be moving in from their old home ‘Sea Wind’ which was a 14 floor building at Cuffe Parade. Second Most Expensive House in the World - Villa Leopolda

Until 2010, Villa Leopolda was the most expensive house in the world. A Russian billionaire called Mikhail Proklhorov (24th richest man in the world) who is worth nearly £6 billion lost a £36 million deposit on a sprawling villa called Villa Leopolda on the French Riviera after a court in Nice refused to return the lump sum. He backed out of the sale of the clifftop Villa Leopolda after promising to buy it for 390 million euros in 2008. The luxury property has had many price tags but it's average price has hovered around the staggering $500 million. That was until Antilla Mumbai was unleashed, the first billion dollar house. Villa Leopolda was built in 1902 by King Leopold II of Belgium and takes its name from him. The villa was used as the location of Lermontov's villa in The Red Shoes. The heroine climb the steps to the villa thinking that she's been invited to dinner when really she is going to be given the star role in the new ballet.

The Villa Leopolda estate is spread over two guest houses across 20 acres of grounds with countless olive, cypress and lemon trees taken care by 50 gardeners. Villa Leopolda is most famous, not for the King's gift to his lover, but because of one the home's rumored owners, Bill Gates - the Microsoft founder.

Since the luxury home was built, there have been multiple rumors about who has and who hasn't lived there. Bill Gates is just one of the many people who have never called Villa Leopolda home, yet is one of the most commonly placed people within the estate's walls. Regardless of who owns it, Villa Leopolda can easily be considered one of the great wonders of the world.

The front of the estate is landscaped beautifully and surrounded by a thick, well-kept tree line. The steps leading up the estate are pink and beige and are the original steps Leopold had constructed. Lily Safra, former owner and wife of the deceased Lebanese businessman Edmond Safra, kept the house in remarkable condition. The mere size of the estate is mind-boggling, with guest homes, swimming pools, and much more covering around 18 acres - most of it being the main house. There are 19 luxurious bedrooms inside of the Villa, including huge bathrooms, antique furnishings, walk-out terraces, and fireplaces. Other features inside of the home include sporting courts, a bowling alley, multiple kitchens and dining rooms, a movie theater, and other touches like rare marble and period artwork.

Outside of the home, the olive, cypress and lemon trees are like miniature orchards on the residence. It takes over 50 full-time gardeners to maintain the lavish look of the landscape, and most are able to stay on-grounds in living quarters.

The 80,000+ square-foot estate is easily one of the worlds most spectacular. Villa Leopolda has been featured on many television shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and VH1's Fabulous Life Of. It has also been featured in many magazines such as Forbes, and is constantly considered one of the foremost historical properties in all of Europe.

Villa Leopolda was built in 1902 by King Leopold II of Belgium and takes its name from him. Check out the Villa Leopolda Birds Eye View

This post was sourced from the Most Expensive blog. We hope you enjoyed reading this and if you did then recommend reading our post on Worlds Most Expensive Homes