From the “Who Cares What it Costs, I Have Too Much Money” files:
Villa Leopolda (aka La Leopolda), an estate in the French Riviera’s Cote d’Azur, built by King Leopold of Belgium in 1902, has been reported today to have been sold for $750,000,000 to a “mystery Russian billionaire”.
Forbes questions whether this is even true as apparently this very property has been subject to much speculation in recent years — including a rumor that Bill Gates purchased the property for a mere $110M in 2005.
It would seem that despite a desirable location, and an almost impossible to find 20 acre parcel, the rumored $750M price tag is a bit steep. Properties similar to this one are available for only $60 – $150 million.
Your mortgage: only $3,800,000 per month
The Wall Street Journal blog pegs a mortgage for this guy at $3,792,408 per month (assuming 20% down and a 6.5% rate). If the sale indeed happened, a more likely scenario is the buyer paid cold hard cash.
While there is no question this is one nice spread, one has to ask; is any home really worth 750 million bucks?
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Chris de Jong 08.11.08 at 3:08 pm
$750 million for that?! You can buy an (entire town) in British Columbia and all its dwellings for only $7 million, and it is right on the beach. Granted, that was 4 years ago - but I have a feeling it is still on the market.
Linsey 08.11.08 at 3:39 pm
Gimme a damn break. Silly….
lease purchase with option to buy 08.11.08 at 3:55 pm
this kind of reckless spending makes me sick. mostly cuz i cannot do it myself lol
Mortgage Samson 08.11.08 at 4:01 pm
I wonder what comps they used for the appraisal?
Andrew. Fredericksburg Lawyer. 08.11.08 at 5:21 pm
“available for only $60 – $150 million”… ONLY? That word just stood out to me. None of us will ever see that much money in our lives.
How do you become friends with people like this?
Steve Belt 08.11.08 at 5:52 pm
Imagine what the property taxes are on that estate. The government must be salivating, if taxes are based on recent sales…
Upstart Agent 08.11.08 at 6:56 pm
That’s enough to make my stomach sick…$750,000,000 is way too much to spend on a house. Though it does look lovely… Wouldn’t mind the commission on that either…
:)
Carolyn Gjerde-Tu 08.11.08 at 7:05 pm
Gosh, you can finance a lot of very private vacations including private jets, etc for 3.7 million dollars a month. Would not be a fun property to appraise and I agree it would most likely be a cash sale. If the sale did not really happen probably good rumor to spread that it sold for this astronomical amount.
Apartments in Houston 08.11.08 at 7:49 pm
The interior must be ridiculous. I wonder what the real estate agent made in commissions.
Cookie diet 08.12.08 at 4:01 am
Isn’t Bill Gates’ house worth $7 billion. With all this geek electronic equipment I though it was the most expensive house ever made.
Bob Dobbs 08.12.08 at 6:03 am
For a billionaire, this could be a weekend retreat.
Real Estate Attorney 08.12.08 at 6:33 am
Wow… that’s a huge tag. I wonder if this is the same house as the one in Godfather. Remember the scene about the movie director in the bed, wakes up to find a head of a cow or a bull next to him.
Tucson Michael 08.12.08 at 11:16 am
Seems hard to believe 750M when other properties sell for no more then 110M. I guess if you have a couple billion to spend whats an extra hundred million to get the best of the best……
Mortgage Samson 08.12.08 at 5:47 pm
Maybe just a rumor, but I heard he bought it no-money-down with a cash-back-at-closing late night infomercial technique.
rorysiems 08.12.08 at 9:12 pm
That’s truly a bulk amount and a millionaire can afford it. Still there are people that may not have that much amount to spent for their new home, yet they are offering a healthy amount for their dream home.
Chris de Jong 08.13.08 at 7:23 am
Here is a slideshow of some of the most expensive homes in the world. While nothing comes close to touching this $750 million dollar price tag, it is interesting to see what you get for the ridiculous amounts paid - in some cases it seems you are just buying the view.
Maida Vale Estate Agent 08.13.08 at 8:13 am
Wow, What a property, I wonder what it costs to run?
Highgate Estate Agents 08.13.08 at 2:57 pm
And if your not buying the view you are buying the neighbourhood.
Kensington and Chelsea, the fashionable west London district, has been pipped as the most expensive address in Britain by a street in North London’s Highgate.
One of the largest houses in London after Buckingham Palace, on West Hill in Highgate Courtenay Avenue, near the parkland of Hampstead Heath, is the UK’s new priciest place to live, with average property values of £6.8m.
Other streets in the same area — five avenues between the Hampstead and Highgate golf courses — make up the first cluster of property hotspots.
Ingram Avenue ranks number 11, with an average property price of 5.16 million pounds, and Winnington Road comes in 17th place, with an average price-tag of 4.73 million pounds.
Moving Companies 08.14.08 at 12:43 pm
Wow. I bet half the rooms are completely empty how much stuff could he possibly have?
He’ll probably need like a fleet of moving trucks just to get his all his belongings into his new mansion.
Andrew 08.14.08 at 4:59 pm
Cheap at half the price
Lane Bailey 08.27.08 at 7:02 pm
But how big is the garage?
Carolyn Gjerde-Tu 08.28.08 at 10:44 pm
I saw realtor magazine online is reporting this as an actual sale to the Russian billionaire. The price of this estate is still just staggering.
jake 09.28.08 at 6:23 am
What is would like to know is what kind of commission did the realtor receive. Maybe it was enough to retire. Its amazing you could fit an the entire population of a small country in there.
m m l gupta 11.09.08 at 1:32 am
The price for leopold king fame he acquired for himself in the history is also most expensive ,can anybody else in this universe repeat the history created by king leopoldll ? The price value equation lies in deeds not in estate. Well done russian billionare.CONGRATS.