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They sit on prime coastal land or secluded estates, they boast helipads, cinemas and marble driveways, their living spaces are the size of a small palace. These are the homes of the very, very wealthy, the type only Posh and Becks or Michael Jackson in better times could afford. And they're up for sale.
Topping the 2007 Forbes list of the world's most expensive real estate for sale is a sprawling English country home, Updown Court in Surrey, with an asking price of $196 million.
And there are several other properties in Britain and the United States which aren't far behind in asking price. Their promotional flyers use words like secluded, idyllic and unique. Breathtaking refers to the view, not the price.
New Zealand's only entry in the Forbes list this year is the Cowes Bay Estate on Waiheke Island for sale for $26.5 million.
The 1115sq m "plantation style" house has eight bedrooms and six bathrooms, a swimming pool, tennis court, boat shed and beach at the doorstep. One of the most expensive homes listed in Australia is a $13 million resort-style property near Byron Bay, once owned by actor Paul Hogan and his wife Linda Kozlowski. The home, set on 132ha, has two kilometres of river and creek frontage.
By comparison, Updown Court is a 103-room estate with marble driveways, helipads, five swimming pools, a bowling alley, 22 marble bathrooms, 4644sq m of living space, and 23.4ha of garden and woodlands.
Coming in at a close second, at $192 million, is the 38.4ha Hala Ranch in Aspen, Colorado, owned by Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States. The 5201sq m mansion has 15 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, stables, an indoor swimming pool and a tennis court.
Third is Donald Trump's home in Palm Beach, Florida, a piece of real estate with which The Donald looks set to make a killing once it sells. Trump wants $177 million for Maison de L'Amitie, a waterfront home he bought in 2004 at a bankruptcy auction for $58.5 million. The home boasts a ballroom, a 30m swimming pool and 145m of ocean front.
With $142 million to spend, big-budget buyers can toss up between a waterfront estate on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey, or the Tranquillity Estate on the edge of Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The 64-room Istanbul property is 2786sq m and features gilded mouldings, crystal chandeliers and a waterfront quay which stretches 61m.
Tranquillity, modelled on a north European mountain home, sits on 85ha on the tax-free Nevada side of Lake Tahoe and boasts a 35,000-bottle wine cellar and a 19-seat movie theatre for those long, cold nights when guests are snowed in.
Close behind in the asking price at $140 million is Toprak Mansion set in green gardens in London's Hampstead. Built by a Turkish entrepreneur, the 2600sq m house features a glass elevator, a swimming pool with a glass bridge and a Turkish bath for 20.
The Three Ponds estate in Bridgehampton, New York, offers three ponds set in 24ha of grounds, a world-class golf course, 14 gardens, a guest house and a 8.5m high domed ceiling in the main house all for $106 million. The same money will buy the Portobello Estate, Corona del Mar, in California. This ultra-modern eight-bedroom mansion is designed to look like a nautilus shell and is built on the ocean front above dramatic rock cliffs.
Just when you thought prices couldn't go any higher, super wealthy entrepreneur Tim Blixseth wants $220 million for the 4923sq m mansion he is building at the members-only Yellowstone Club. The 10-bedroom home will have a gondola to take residents up to the private ski mountain.
