Introduction to Luxurious Mansions
A luxurious mansion is a large, grand, and opulent residence that is typically characterized by its high-end finishes, materials, and amenities. These homes often feature spacious rooms, high ceilings, marble floors, and custom details such as ornate moldings, chandeliers, and fireplaces.
Luxurious mansions may also have amenities such as private pools, gyms, spas, movie theaters, and multiple garages. They are usually situated in exclusive and upscale neighborhoods and are owned by wealthy individuals or celebrities. The value of these homes is usually in multi-millions and sometimes even in billions.
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The most luxurious mansions in the world
The world’s most opulent mansions
It’s highly unlikely that you live in a luxurious mansion. Do you really, though, need all that excess, and who’s actually going to clean all those windows? But let’s not worry about the owners of plush residences and their troubles. Let’s simply enjoy a look at their amazing homes.
1. The Breakers, Newport, Rhode Island (United States)
The Vanderbilt family, who made their fortune in steamships and trains, had this 70-room residence built to replace an earlier home that had been destroyed in a fire. The Italian Renaissance architecture brings to mind palaces found in Genoa and Turin.
2. Ralston Hall, Belmont, California (United States)
Built-in 1868, this magnificent home now sits on the Notre Dame de Namur University campus. It’s 5,110 square meters (55,000 square feet) and combines Italian and 19th-century Steamboat Gothic architecture.
3. Xanadu 2.0, Medina, Washington (United States)
Billionaire Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, spent $63 million to build this intelligent house complete with sensors that automatically adjust room temperature and lighting. The property also includes six kitchens, nearly 20 bathrooms, and even a reception hall capable of seating 200 people. It’s valued at $127 million.
4. 924 Bel Air Road, California (United States)
Wealthy businessman Bruce Makowsky included a 147-square-meter (1,579-square-foot) game room in this plush residence. It also features a heliport, a 40-seat movie theatre, and a dozen VIP suites with breathtaking views of Los Angeles. Seven people work there full-time. This incredible property can be yours for $150 million.
5. Spelling Manor, Holmby Hills (Los Angeles), California (United States)
This mansion was constructed in 1991 for the family of major American producer Aaron Spelling. “Candyland” is a veritable castle at 5,249 square meters (56,500 square feet). Built-in the shape of a “W,” the estate boasts over 20 bedrooms, a room just for floristry, and…a barbershop.
6. Antilia, Bombay (India)
Built for magnate Mukesh Ambani, this $2-billion tower is the most expensive residence on the planet after Buckingham Palace. Totaling 37,161 square meters (400,000 square feet) and rising to 27 storeys, Antilia has nine elevators and employs a small army of workers. The tower can survive a magnitude 8 earthquake (Richter scale).
7. Villa Leopolda, Villefranche-sur-Mer (France)
La Leopolda was built for the King of Belgium, Leopold II (1835-1909), on an eight-hectare (20-acre) estate. After changing hands several times, the home served as a military hospital during the First World War. In 2008, Mikhail Prokhorov purchased the 836-square-meter (9,000-square-foot) property for approximately $750 million.
8. Biltmore House, Asheville, North Carolina (United States)
This vast French Renaissance residence is a Vanderbilt property. Construction began in 1889 and lasted six years. The home occupies nearly two hectares (four acres) and boasts 250 rooms, including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces.
9. Villa Vizcaya, Miami, Florida (United States)
This residence, designed by Paul Chalfin, was built between 1914 and 1916. Republican President Ronald Reagan met with Pope John Paul II at the villa in 1987. It was then classified as a historical monument in 1994 and, in the same year, welcomed 34 world leaders during the First Summit of the Americas.
10. Kensington Palace, London (England)
King William III and Queen Mary II hired Christopher Wren, the architect who designed Saint Paul’s Cathedral, to transform Nottingham House into a veritable palace. The former residence of Queen Victoria and Princess Diana is now home to Prince William and Duchess Catherine Middleton.
11. Playboy Mansion, Los Angeles, California (United States)
This property, built in 1927 and made famous by Hugh Hefner, is an impressive example of Tudor-style Gothic architecture. At 1,858 square meters (20,000 square feet), it’s one of the few houses to hold a year-round fireworks permit. The master bedroom occupies two floors, and the estate includes two forests and a zoo.
12. One Hyde Park, London (England)
One Hyde Park, one of the world’s most sumptuous addresses, is a four-tower, 13-storey complex designed by Richard Rogers. Residents enjoy access to a sauna, squash court, 22-meter (72-foot) pool, and skylights that slowly open in response to your alarm clock. To purchase an apartment, be prepared to shell out at least $92,500 per square meter ($8,600 per square foot).
13. Fair Field, Sagaponack, New York (United States)
Nestled on 25.5 hectares (63 acres), this estate overlooks the ocean and includes several buildings. The Italian-style home has 29 bedrooms, three pools, and a 164-seat movie theatre. Some have dubbed it the Versailles of the Atlantic.
14. Old Westbury Gardens, New York (United States)
Architect George A. Crawley drew inspiration from manors dating back to the reign of Charles II (17th century) when designing this residence. The home, completed in 1906, is full of antiques and works of art and is surrounded by amazing gardens, ponds, and lakes.
15. Maison de l’Amitié, Palm Beach, Florida (United States)
Owned by a certain Donald Trump (before being sold to a rich Russian businessman for the modest sum of $95 million), the pleasantly named “house of friendship” sat on a 2.5-hectare (six-acre) estate and featured 17 bedrooms, tennis courts, Greek-style fountains, and a Jacuzzi with a view of the ocean. The home was demolished in 2016.
16. Ford House, Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan (United States)
Wanting to recreate the cottage style of the Cotswolds in southwest England, Edsel and Eleanor Ford hired architect Albert Kahn in 1926 to design a sumptuous residence. Declared a national historical site in 2016, the house is now a museum.
17. Hearst Castle, San Simeon, California (United States)
William Randolph Hearst began building a retreat he called La Cuesta Encantada, or the “enchanted hill,” in 1919. Architect Julia Morgan designed a 165-room residence to sit on a 50-hectare (123-acre) estate. Terraces, gardens, pools, and walkways surround the Spanish-style house.
18. Pittock Mansion, Portland, Oregon (United States)
This Renaissance-style castle is truly unforgettable. Henry and Georgiana Pittock began constructing their family home in 1912. They placed particular importance on the imposing children’s playroom. The residence’s hilltop location provides an excellent view of the Portland landscape.
19. Rough Point, Rhode Island (United States)
This magnificent residence was the home of celebrated philanthropist Doris Duke. Designed by Peabody and Stearns and built around 1890 for the Vanderbilt family, it houses several works of art, 16th-century Flemish tapestries, 18th-century British portraits, and French furniture.
20. Versailles, Windermere, Florida (United States)
Construction of this immense, 8,361-square-metre (90,000-square-foot) building began in 2004. Expected to be finished in 2022, the house boasts nine kitchens, 30 bathrooms, a ballroom, and a roller-skating rink. According to the owner, the home is “the same size as a Super Walmart” and is worth an estimated $100 million.
21. Eolia, Waterford, Connecticut (United States)
Eolia, named for the island home of the Greek god of wind, was built in 1906 as a summer home for Edward and Mary Harkness who moved in the following year. Sitting on an 80-hectare (200-acre) estate, the neo-Renaissance mansion has 42 bedrooms.
22. Nemours Estate, Wilmington, Delaware (United States)
This house, built in an 18th-century French style, has one of the most spectacular French gardens in North America. Among its 77 rooms, the residence boasts a library housing over 2,000 books.
22. Filoli House, Woodside, California (United States)
This magnificent California residence is an outstanding example of Georgian architecture. Numerous architects, designers, and landscape artists contributed to its creation. It now serves as a museum and houses English and Irish antiques dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.
23. Carolands, Hillsborough, California (United States)
Known as “The Chateau,” this home was built by the heiress to the Pullman fortune, Harriett Pullman Carolan, and designed by the French architect Ernest Sanson. The 98-room residence sits on 224 hectares (554 acres). French landscape designer Achille Duchêne created the gardens in which he had originally placed a tearoom, pool, and orange grove.
23. Blairsden Estate, Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey (United States)
Construction began on this 38-room Louis XIII-style manor in 1898 and was finally completed in 1903. Purchased by the Sisters of St. John the Baptist in 1950 for $65,000, the house served as a religious retreat until its sale in 2002 for the sum of $4.5 million.
24. Townsend House, Washington, D.C. (United States)
Mary Scott Townsend, a wealthy heiress, and important Washington socialite bought this property in 1898. She engaged the firm Carrère and Hastings, whose architects had studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, to redesign the home’s original 1873 structure. Townsend House remains a symbol of the wealth and extravagance that characterized the turn of the 20th century in the United States.
