The Most Expensive House In The World
Shelter is a basic human need. For some it amounts to corrugated cardboard while others may as well use Benjamins as building material. Yet even among the elite, some lifestyles stand out for their excess.
There are two contenders for the "Most Expensive House in the World" title, and one distinction. One is a public residence and the other is private.
You're probably familiar with the public residence – it's Buckingham Palace, home of the Queen of England and owned by the crown. According to Architectural Digest, it's worth $1.55 billion. Inside its historic halls you'll find 775 rooms, including "188 staff rooms ... 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 92 offices, 78 bathrooms, and 19 staterooms." Investopedia cites the palace's prime London location as part of the reason for its expense, but it's also just incredibly opulent, with 40 acres of gardens and a dedicated room for just about everything you can think of.
The most expensive house you've never heard of
There is a private residence in downtown Mumbai, though, which is nearly as valuable and owned by just one person. AD reports that the 400,000 square-foot Antilia, owned by India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, cost upwards of $1 billion to build.
What makes it so expensive? For starters, it's a 27-story highrise located on some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Each story has a high ceiling that makes each floor the height of two average floors, so it's actually about half the height of the Eiffel Tower. Designed by the renowned Chicago architects Perkins and Will, the building is made to withstand earthquakes reaching a magnitude of eight on the Richter Scale, and six of those 27 stories are filled with luxury automobiles. It's also got three helipads, nine elevators, a 50-seat movie theater, a two-story recreation center and a staff of 600 to maintain it, according to Business Insider.
Whether or not Ambani has all the Fortnite DLC is still in question.