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Yahoo: The Most Expensive New Homes in America

S

samiwas

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 26, 2006
1,598
3,579
Atlanta, GA
The Most Expensive New Homes 2010

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Wow. Some of these people apparently have more money than sense. The house at #1 is just an abomination. If this was being built as a condo building or a hotel, maybe. But as a house? Why on earth would someone build that thing? 10 kitchens? Three swimming pools? That's not a house, it's a resort.

Some of them look fairly nice. But I can't imagine spending over $30 million on a house, no matter how much money I have.
 
I suppose the maintenance and construction of homes like this will help the local economy. Since labor has to build it and obviously there will be maids needed to keep the place clean, A plumber,etc.
 
Amateurs. The Vanderbilts really knew how to build a house. :)

175,000 sq. ft. and 250 rooms. It originally had 125,000 acres. Biltmore Estate is the shining example of overkill in homes.

Edit: Found some info on the cost. The cost to build was never released, but estimates placed it at $10 mil by the time it was finished. In 1895.
 
steve2112 said:
Amateurs. The Vanderbilts really knew how to build a house. :)

175,000 sq. ft. and 250 rooms. It originally had 125,000 acres. Biltmore Estate is the shining example of overkill in homes.

Edit: Found some info on the cost. The cost to build was never released, but estimates placed it at $10 mil by the time it was finished. In 1895.
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According to this inflation calculator, the Biltmore Estate would cost about $254,467,940.75 USD in 2009 dollars.
 
samiwas said:
HA! I wonder what it would cost to build these days? Surely not $254million!
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It's really tough to tell, but I think it would be close. When it was built, Biltmore had lots of advance technology including elevators, electric all throughout the house, force air heating, and more. (This was in 1895, remember). This, of course, was on top of the standard amenities such as a gym, bowling alley, and olympic sized pool. Also, the most expensive house on that list has 90k square feet and goes for $100 mil. Biltmore almost doubles that size with an extra 85000 square feet. If you add in the acreage, it would go well over. 125,000 acres isn't cheap.
 
JediZenMaster said:
I suppose the maintenance and construction of homes like this will help the local economy. Since labor has to build it and obviously there will be maids needed to keep the place clean, A plumber,etc.
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Yeah, some of these places would need a hamlet/village full of people to work there!
 
I only think 2 of those houses are nice, and I'd only consider living in 4 of them if given the chance. :eek:

The place I live now is nicer than most of those places, and my place is much smaller. Even if I had all the money in the world, I don't think I'd want my living space to be 4500 sq ft (~400 sq metres), which I'd consider massive. As long as I had enough land to have a swimming pool, and possibly a veggie patch, I'd be happy. :)
 
Abstract said:
I only think 2 of those houses are nice, and I'd only consider living in 4 of them if given the chance. :eek:

The place I live now is nicer than most of those places, and my place is much smaller. Even if I had all the money in the world, I don't think I'd want my living space to be 4500 sq ft (~400 sq metres), which I'd consider massive. As long as I had enough land to have a swimming pool, and possibly a veggie patch, I'd be happy. :)
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I agree Abstract. Unless we consistently had hordes of people staying with us, I wouldn't want any more than we would normally live in, plus a little guest space. I think 3000 square feet would be substantial for our needs. Any more than that, and I'd definitely have someone else cleaning it! I have a hard enough time keeping our modest townhome clean! If I had all the money in the world, I might bump up a little bit for an in-law suite or something, but I think MAX 4500 square feet like you said.
 
I wonder what it's like to live in such a huge place with lots of staff around all the time to keep it running. You wouldn't actually have any personal privacy. I imagine it'd be like living in a hotel. I wouldn't really think of it as a home...

flopticalcube said:
Extended families, lots of entertaining, huge egos. There are any number of reasons really. None are really sufficient but its their money.
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#3 in Beverly Hills says it was built for fund-raising events. Hollywood parties I assume. I was wondering how much these places cost to build as opposed to the value of the land/location itself. It says it cost $65 million to actually build (selling for $68 million). So what adds up to $65 million? The materials like concrete, marble, tiles, chandeliers, gold bath fittings? Or is it more people like architects, craftsmen, landscapers, interior designers who overcharge?

Anyway, you want to ogle expensive homes, look no further than the chateaus/maisons for sale in Paris on the Left Bank and Latin Quarter. In excess of $100 million for some of them. Makes you think when they were built most of the population was living in poverty, no wonder there was a revolution...
 
djellison said:
formerly the Peoples Palace, 1,100 rooms, and according to Guinness, the worlds heaviest building.
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That's not a personal home though, it's a govt building like Congress. Some Cathedrals are pretty big too. Skyscapers have lots of square footage too..
 
awmazz said:
That's not a personal home though, it's a govt building like Congress.
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That's what it has become. It was orig started by evil dictator and generally crazy nutjob Nicolae Ceauşescu as his palatial and administrative home. I was also being facetious. You are now being pedantic. facetiousness and pedantry combined is not a good mix.
 
djellison said:
That's what it has become. It was orig started by evil dictator and generally crazy nutjob Nicolae Ceauşescu as his palatial and administrative home. I was also being facetious. You are now being pedantic. facetiousness and pedantry combined is not a good mix.
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That Wiki article says Ceausecu's original plan was for it to be his personal residence and house four institutions. So, uh, you are both correct. :)

What is sad to me is how many historical buildings were destroyed to make way for that building. I always find it sad to see such buildings get destroyed.
 
Having spent part of my youth in a house with 24 bedrooms, a Ballroom and a State dining room, I can tell you it provides plenty of space for bicycling. :)
 
skunk said:
Having spent part of my youth in a house with 24 bedrooms, a Ballroom and a State dining room, I can tell you it provides plenty of space for bicycling. :)
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I didn't believe it was true, but then I found a pic of little skunk on his bike:

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You must have happy memories from that time!
 
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