10 Most Expensive Houses In The World

                        Most of us will never get to live in an expensive, multi-million dollar house. Still, there’s a certain degree of delight and excitement that we feel in ogling the mansions, palaces, and penthouses owned by the fabulously rich.

Many of the world’s priciest private real estate properties feature gorgeous (and sometimes tacky) architecture, state-of-the-art amenities, and a name – you know a house is badass when it has its own name. To further whet your imagination, here’s a list of ten of the world’s most expensive houses.

1. Antilia

Antilia (Photo: flickr | Jay Hariani)

The most expensive house in the world as of 2013 is the Antilia, a ‘odern home located in the urban neighborhood of Mumbai, India. It is the residence of Mukesh Ambani, the fifth richest man in the entire planet.

This 27-story palace is said to cost a jaw-dropping $1 billion! Its architecture follows the philosophy of “Vastu Shastra,” making the mansion a gateway of positive energy. The Antilia features everything any person could want in a home: a ballroom, a four-story garden, health floor with Jacuzzi, and a six-story parking space.

2. Villa Leopolda

Villa Leopolda (Photo: flickr | pmo)

Valued at a whopping $506 million, Villa Leopolda is the second most expensive house in the world and considered the priciest mansion in all of Europe. Located in the French Riviera, it was built in 1902 by King Leopold II of Belgium, and is currently the property of Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of the Brooklyn Nets.

Towering at 27 stories, it houses 19 bedrooms and requires 50 full-time gardeners to keep the spacious “backyard” well-maintained.  This property currently belongs to the Safra family, originally bought by banker Edmond Safra.

3. The Penthouse

The Penthouse (Photo Courtesy: thebiggestnews.com)

With picturesque views of Central London, the Penthouse of Hyde Park in England is considered the priciest flat in the world. Costing an estimated $200 million, it is equipped with a wine-tasting room and a squash playground. Home to the rich and famous, the Penthouse is equipped with state-of-the-art security features, such as an eye scanner, panic room, and bulletproof windows.

4. Fairfield Pond

Fairfield Pond (Photo: Wikipedia)

Fairfield Pond, named after its adjacent body of water, is considered one of the top ten most expensive houses in the United States. Owned by businessman Ira Leon Rennert, this 66,000 square-foot property in the Hamptons of New York is valued at $198 million. Apart from having a bowling alley and basketball court, Fairfield Pond also plays home to a hot tub that comes with a price tag of $150,000.

5. Hearst Mansion

Hearst Mansion (Photo: flickr | allistair)

The Hearst Mansion, the fifth most expensive house in the world, is a luxurious castle brimming with history. This grandiose San Simeon, California estate served as the backdrop of the world-famous movie, “The Godfather.” It was also here that the late president John F. Kennedy spent his honeymoon.

One thing that makes this $165 million estate really stand out is that it has its own disco. Apart from that, it has 29 bedrooms, 3 swimming pools, and a movie theater.

6. Franchuk Villa

Franchuk Villa (Photo Courtesy: metro.se)

Situated in London, United Kingdom, the Franchuk Villa is a 10-bedroom Victorian estate that costs $161 million. Named after owner Elena Franchuk, a Ukrainian businesswoman and philanthropist, the mansion recently went through a $16-million worth of renovation works. Before it was transformed into a home of massive proportions, it once served as an exclusive prep school for girls.

At five stories high, the villa features a panic room, private movie theater, sauna, gym and indoor swimming pool. Apart from its modern facilities, it is said that the antique artworks and expensive wood furnishings inside the house account for half the overall cost of the villa.

7. The Pinnacle

The Pinnacle (Photo Courtesy: justin.my)

Located in Montana, the Pinnacle is one of the top ten most expensive houses in the United States. Although it only occupies a relatively small area, its features give other larger estates a run for their money. Worth $155 million, this estate is the grandest home in the posh, exclusive neighborhood– the Yellowstone Club.

As the pride and joy of owners Tim and Edna Blixseth (who are also the owners of Yellowstone Club), the Pinnacle is made with a massive heated flooring installation to provide them and their guests sheer comfort and warmth in the midst of the freezing Montana weather. There is also afireplace in every bathroom so guests will not have to worry about getting nippy in the john.

8. The Manor

The Manor (Photo: Wikipedia)

Living up to its stately name, the Manor of Los Angeles, California has 123 bedrooms, swimming pools, tennis courts, cinema room, spa, and beauty salon. Built in the late 1980s for the late (and legendary) TV producer Aaron Spelling, it is touted as the biggest home in the Los Angeles Area.

Now owned by Petra Ecclestone, daughter of the famous Bernie Ecclestone (of Formula 1), the Manor comes at a hefty price of $150 million (when it was listed for sale in 2008). It has a total land area of about 2.5 acres. This chateau-style home also features a spacious parking area that can accommodate hundreds of cars.

9. Updown Court

Updown Court (Photo: Wikipedia)

This fancy home, which costs $139 million, is located in the district of Windlesham in Surrey, England. The Updown Court features the finest amenities that life has to offer: private cinema rooms, tennis courts, and numerous bedrooms. Built in 1924, the Updown Court underwent a major renovation in 1987.

Apart from giving its human residents the finest things in life, Updown Court also has amenities for purebred animals and expensive cars. This expensive home plays host to a huge horse barn and marble garage that can accommodate eight stretch limousines.

10. Bran Castle

Bran Castle (Photo: Wikipedia)

Famously known as the Castle of Dracula, this $135 million fortress is located at the border of Wallachia and Transylvania in Romania. It once played home to Vlad III, the “Impaler” of Wallachia. Because his malevolent ways is often associated with Count Dracula, the Bran Castle is considered by many readers as the home of the bloodthirsty immortal creature from the acclaimed “Dracula” novel by Bram Stoke.

Before it became a museum of antique artifacts, the 17-bedroom Bran Castle once served as the abode of the Romanian royals.

Top 10 Most Expensive Mobile Phones in the World

WOW! We have just realised that this list is a little bit out of date, so head over to our new Top Ten Most Expensive Handsets In The World for 2013…

Until recently, the vast majority of mobile phones had been priced between £100 and £300 with only Vertu, a division of Nokia, manufacturing uber-premium phones. With prices starting at around £4,000 Vertu phones are only for the filthy rich and the super famous.

However, Vertu’s monopoly of the luxury phone market is coming to an end with the launch of several new luxury mobile makers including Gresso, Mobiado and GoldVish. A load of other mobile phone manufacturers are also working up partnerships with luxury brands get a piece of the action. We’re beginning to see premium mobile phones emerge from couplings such as LG and Prada, D&G and Motorola, and now Tag Heuer and Modelabs. Finally, there are the ridiculous, super-expensive one-offs made purely for headline grabbing such as Goldvish’s “Le million”, worth a cool $1,000,000, see below for details!

1. Goldvish “Le million” = $1,000,000 (£540,540)

A PR stunt it may be and they surely can’t be expecting to sell any, but the Goldvish “Le million” is officially the most expensive mobile phone in the world, according the Guiness Books of Records. There has even been talk of a $1.3million phone, but this has fewer diamonds than the Goldvish so I can’t see where the extra expense comes from! The “Le million” is a one off piece featuring a blinding 120 carats worth of VVS-1 grade diamonds, according to designer Emmanuel Gueit. If $1 million is out of your price range the Geneva-based Goldvish also offer several other diamond-encrusted 18k gold models in your choice of rose, yellow or white starting at a much more reasonable $25,600 (£13,837). 

2. Vertu Signature Cobra = $310,000 (£167,567)

Vertu is now taking orders for the Signature Cobra which is designed by French jeweler Boucheron, but you had better be quick as only 8 are being made. The Cobra will feature one pear-cut diamond, one round white diamond, two emerald eyes and 439 rubies. Vertu will also be offering a “cheaper” version, ruby free at $115,000 (£62,162).

3. Sony Ericsson Black Diamond = $300,000 (£162,162)

Apparently the Black Diamond will be available in 2007, not from Sony Ericsson but by a company called VIPN. Initially only 5 unique numered pieces will be available for the unbelievable price of, wait for it… $300,000.

With regards to the specifications, don’t expect anything remarkable for your money. It will have Quad-band with Wi-Fi, an Intel 400Mhz processor running Windows Mobile 5 and a touch sensitive 2″ screen. It will also include internal memory of 128mb and will come with a 2Gb SD card for external storage plus a respectable 4 Megapixel camera.

The designer Jaren Goh has used some pretty impressive materials for the build, featuring titane with polycarbonate, mirror-finish cladding and diamonds.

4. Vertu Diamond = $88,000 (£47,567)

The Diamond is Vertu’s premium range of high-end mobile phones. As the name suggests the handsets in the Diamond range are diamond-encrusted handsets made from platinum. Only 200 of the handsets are being produced, the most expensive believed to be worth an estimated £50,000.

5. Motorola V220 Special Edition = £28,000 ($51,800)

Austrian designer Peter Aloisson has taken a standard Motorola, studded it with 1,200 diamonds and added a keyboard inlaid with 18 carat gold. The outcome is a £28,000 handset, suitable only for footballers and film stars!

6. Gold Edition Nokia 8800 Phone = $2,700 (£1,459)

If you have $2,700 to spare, you can now buy the Nokia 8800 in 24K gold. However, be warned if you think you’ll be getting a better phone for your extra cash, you wont! The features found on the Gold Edition are the standard 8800 features which are pretty basic. It includes a 0.5 Mega pixel SVGA camera, 64 MB of internal memory, 64 voice polyphonic rigntones, FM Radio, Mp3 Player, video recording and 180 mins talktime. However, the Gold Edition does includes a special edition box and charging dock!

7. Mobiado Professional EM (wood) = $1,900 (£1,027)

The Mobiado Professional EM is a wood-clad upgrade of their earlier Nokia-based phone that includes a 1.3 megapixel camera, music player, FM radio, Bluetooth and according to Mobiado it’s the first production phone with Titanium buttons. Only 200 are being made and each one has its limited number engraved on the back. At $1,900 however, you’re still paying an awfully high premium for a fairly basic phone encased in wood!

8. Bang & Olufsen (Samsung) Serene = $1,250 (£675)

Bang & Olufsen hooked up with Samsung to design the sleek but unconventional Serene. It’s not a bad looking phone and even has a built-in motor to assist you in opening and closing the phone. It’s not very practical however, requiring a special screwdriver to access the battery and the SIM card and the circular keypad will take some getting used to. Also for some strange reason they have positioned the camera lens on the side of the device, which will make it difficult to align snapshots via the viewfinder on the display.

9. Lamborghini 8800 Sirocco from Nokia = $To be announced

The Lamborghini Nokia 8800 Sirocco is another special edition, like the previously launch Aston Martin branded Sirocco. It will ultimately be a standard 8800 Sirocco but with the addition of the famous Lamborghini logo engraved on the font and the back, plus ball bearings from the auto company to in the slider phone mechanism. The Lamborghini phone will be a limited edition with only 500 being made. It will also feature Lamborghini graphics as wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones and even has a short documentary video.

10. Gresso Luxury Phone = £expensive

The Russia based Gresso, is a new entry into the luxury phone market. Their aptly name “Gresso Luxury Phone” is made of gold and African Blackwood. Apparently they will be releasing a collection of five models called the Black Aura collection, and the designer is a “well known” Italian designer. Currently there are two versions of the African Blackwood phone, one with pink gold highlights named the Gresso Blackwood Gold Edition and one made entirely of African Blackwood. In addition to the two African Blackwood phones Gresso also make a phone made entirely of pink gold named the Gresso Gold phone. Initially, the phones will be on sale only in Russia.

TOP 10 BIGGEST MALL IN THE WORLD

10. Sunway Pyramid, Subang Jaya, Malaysia – 396,000 square meters

You won’t miss this place if you are in the Bandar Sunway area in Subang Jaya. It has a pyramid design with a giant lion standing guard at the entrance. The mall opened in 1997 with some redevelopment done in 2007. It has more than 800 shops and services available. The entire building has an Egyptian-inspired design, with pseudo hieroglyphics and pharaoh statues.

9. Cehavir Mall, Istanbul, Turkey – 420,000 square meters

The complete name is Istanbul Cehavir Shopping and Entertainment Centre and it is also known as Sisli Kultur ve Ticaret Merkezi. It opened on October 15, 2005 and is considered to be the largest shopping mall in the European continent. The mall is located in the Sisli district of Istanbul and features 343 shops, 48 restaurants, 12 movie houses, a show stage, a bowling hall and even a roller coaster ride. With six floors available for retail shops, international brands and fast food restaurant chains have all established a branch in the mall.

8. Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 420,000 square meters

Mid Valley Megamall opened in the latter part of 1999 and features 430 stores and services. Aside from the shopping mall, it also has a convention center, a 646-room business hotel called the Cititel Midvalley, Boulevard Hotel and an 11-storey exclusive office tower.

7. Central World, Bangkok, Thailand – 429,500 square meters

Central World opened in 1990, though it briefly closed down in May 2010 after anti-government demonstrators set part of it on fire. It features 495 shops and services. It also has a five-star hotel, convention center, office tower and parking structure. It was originally the World Trade Center before it was renamed to Central World Plaza in 2002 and to Central World in 2005.

6. Persian Gulf Complex, Shiraz, Iran – 450,000 square meters

Also known as the Fars Shopping Complex, this mall is the largest mall in the world in terms of number of shops and services with 2,500. It opened in September 2011 with the Carrefour Hypermarket serving as its anchor store. The plan is to eventually have a hotel, swimming pools, tennis court, convention center, amusement parks, bowling alley, billiard hall and six cinema theaters included in the mall. It is located in the city of Shiraz, which is considered to be the cultural capital of Iran.

5. 1 Utama, Selangor, Malaysia – 465,000 square meters

This shopping mall was opened in 1995, with a newer wing being inaugurated in 2003. The two wings feature more than 700 stores. There are also four department stores anchoring the entire mall, namely AEON, Isetan, Parkson and Tangs. There are also a couple of supermarkets, namely AEON and Cold Storage. Moviegoers can also watch the latest films through the mall’s two cinema providers, GSC and TGV.

4. Isfahan City Center, Isfahan, Iran – 470,000 square meters

This is an ambitious project in Iran that is being built in four phases. It opened in November 2012 and features more than 750 stores. The mall has a hypermarket, shops, stalls, restaurants and airline offices. It will also have a seven-star hotel, seven cinema halls, a financial center, a trade center and an entertainment center. It is the largest shopping mall in Iran and the Middle East.

3. SM City North EDSA, Quezon City, Philippines – 482,878 square meters

SM City North EDSA is the largest shopping mall in Southeast Asia. It opened in 1985 but has gone on several expansions and redevelopment since then. It has more than 1,100 shops and 400 dining establishments. It also includes a residential condominium area.  It is divided into eight sections, namely the City Center, Interior Zone, The Annex, The Block, The Warehouse Club, Sky Garden, Northlink and Grass Residences.

2. Golden Resources Mall, Beijing, China – 557,419 square meters

The Golden Resources Mall is known as Jin Yuan. It is also known as the Great Mall of China. Location is also a bit of a problem for this mall though the opening of a new train station near it will probably solve the problem a bit. It is located in the Fourth Ring Road in Beijing, outside of the usual enclaves of foreigners. Most stores do not accept foreign credit cards. Still, prestigious brands like Ralph Lauren and Chanel and fast food companies like Papa John’s Pizza have branches in this mall. Analysts say that despite meager earnings from these branches, it still serves as a form of advertisement and it allows the companies to be in the right position once the mall finally takes off.

1. New South China Mall, Dongguan, China – 659,612 square meters

This mall is located in the city of Dongguan in China. It has space for 2,350 stores. The mall is divided into seven zones, each of which are modeled after a particular area, namely Amsterdam, California, Caribbean, Egypt, Paris, Rome and Venice. It even has a replica of the famous tourist spots of those places, like the Arc de Triomphe of Paris and St. Mark’s Bell Tower of Venice. The well-planned layout however was not complimented by good overall business planning. New South China Mall is largely inaccessible to the general public. As a result, aside from a few fast food chains near the entrance, the rest of the mall remains vacant. Up to 99 percent of the leasable space is unoccupied.