Top 10 Most Expensive Houses in the World

10. Maison de l'Amitie

Believe it or not, the famous business tycoon known as "The Donald" ranks lowest on this list. But Trump's beachfront property has skyrocketed in value over the years. He purchased the estate in 2004 from a bankruptcy court for $41.25 million. Maison de l'Amitie is the former home of Abe Gosman, an executive in the health care industry.

Trump put the house on the market in 2006 for $125 million, but took a hit when the market collapsed. It sold in 2008 to Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev for a "measly" $100 million [source:Forbes].

The kitchen at Donald Trump's Maison l'Amitie house in Palm Beach, Fla. There's a gargantuan fountain in the driveway out front and 475 feet of oceanfront out back. Perhaps the biggest thing about the home, however, is its price tag: $125 million.

The 80,000 square feet (7,432 square meters) of Maison de l'Amitie feature a ballroom and a conservatory, 15 full bathrooms and eight half-baths. Not to mention the 15 bedrooms spread throughout the main house, guest cottage and tennis house. If the ocean is too salty for your taste, you can even take a dip in the 100-foot-long (30.4-meter) swimming pool.

9. Aaron Spelling's Manor

Cindy Spelling, the widow of legendary TV producer Aaron Spelling, has listed the family's 56,000-square-foot (5,202-square-meter) mansion outside Los Angeles -- dubbed "The Manor" -- for $150 million. The home was built for Spelling in 1991, with all the bells and whistles the family demanded. The 123-room home, which covers 56,500 square feet (5,249 square meters) of living space, spans 6 acres (2.4 hectares) of prime Los Angeles real estate.

In addition to the home's 123 rooms, you'll find an indoor skating rink, swimming pools, tennis court and bowling alley on the grounds. It also has some more unusual features, like a doll museum, a room used exclusively for wrapping presents and an entire floor dedicated to closet space. The grounds even include a private orchard, which might just keep the home's three kitchens fully stocked.

8. Hala Ranch

A Saudi Arabian prince boasts one of the most expensive homes in the United States. Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, a former Saudi ambassador to the U.S., owns the 95-acre (38.4-hectare) Hala Ranch (Hala means "welcome" in Arabic), located in Aspen, Colo. The estate seems fit for Abdulaziz, who's been called an "Arab Gatsby". The property is located in the Starwood Ranch community. It's replete with 15 bedrooms and 27 bathrooms tucked within 56,000 square feet (5,202 square meters) of living space -- that's larger than the White House.

The ranch features heated stables, an indoor pool, a tennis court, private ski trails, a gas station, car wash and sewage treatment plant. The master bedroom even has its own salon . In 2006, the prince put the property on the market with an asking price of $135 million. In December 2007, he sold just the 14,395-square-foot (1,337-square-meter) guesthouse of his estate for $36.5 million, the highest price ever paid in for a single-family home in Aspen. Soon after, he took the rest of the ranch off the market.

7. Dracula's Castle

Thanks to visits paid by the infamous Vlad Tepes (better known as Vlad the Impaler, or Count Dracula), Bran Castle -- built on 20 acres of a mountaintop in Brasov,Romania -- became a museum in the 1980s. In 2007, the castle's current owner, Archduke Dominic Habsburg, offered to sell the macabre museum to the Romanian government for $80 million, but the offer was rejected. Soon after, he announced that he would sell the castle in 2009 for an undisclosed price, although real estate experts projected a ballpark figure of $135 million. So far, no takers.

The castle was built in the late 14th century as a fortress to ward off invading Turks. The castle boasts 57 rooms, including 17 bedrooms, decorated with handcrafted Old World antiques and furniture. The property does have its drawbacks, however: There are the 450,000 tourists that visit the castle each year who somehow never received word that it was no longer open for visitors. What's more, the castle has no central heat and gets quite cold. But you'd get to live in the same place where Dracula stayed, which would be pretty cool.

6. Fleur de Lys

Arguably the most expensive home in the United States, the Fleur de Lys in the exclusive Holmby Hills enclave of Los Angeles has been on the market since 2007. The price tag? An unapologetic $125 million.

The 15-bedroom, 41,000 square foot (3,809-square-meter) mansion -- which was inspired by the 17th-century French Chateaux Vaux-le-Vicomte (itself an inspiration for Luis XIV's Versailles) -- was built by Texas billionaires David and Suzanne Saperstein, but ended up in Suzanne's hands after a nasty divorce involving a Swedish nanny.

Among its authentic Francophile flourishes, the home's exterior walls are covered with imported, handpicked French limestone. The interior is bedecked with 24-karat gold trim and museum-piece furniture like Napoleon's favorite chair and Marie Antoinette's personal curtain pattern. If you get bored, you can always watch a Jean-Luc Godard flick in the 50-seat screening room.

Newlyweds Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon made a rumored bid for the mansion in March 2009, but it was still on the market as of October 2009.

5. Elena Franchuk's Victorian Villa

Elena Franchuk, a businesswoman and AIDS philanthropist from Ukraine, is reported to be the undisclosed buyer who purchased a newly upgraded home in southwest London for 80 million pounds (approximately $161 million). The home is a freestanding, five-story, 10-bedroom Victorian villa, and has recently undergone 10 million pounds (approximately $20 million) worth of upgrades, including the additions of an underground indoor swimming pool, movie theater, panic room, sauna and gym.

The home served as a girl's prep school until 1997. In 2006, developers purchased the property for 20 million pounds. They put in the upgrades and reputedly sold it to Franchuk for 80 million pounds. The selling price breaks the former English record for home sales of 67 million pounds (approximately $135 million)

4. William Randolph Hearst's Mansion

The Hearst Mansion in Beverly Hills was the setting for the infamous horse head scene in "The Godfather." The mansion, formerly owned by publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst (the inspiration for the main character in "Citizen Kane"), features 29 bedrooms, three pools and comes complete with its own disco and theater. President John F. Kennedy stayed at the mansion during his honeymoon.

The Hearst Mansion shouldn't be confused with Hearst Castle of Sunset Boulevard, located a little farther north along the coast. The castle contains 165 rooms, while the mansion has only a mere 29 bedrooms. However, the castle is an established museum, not a home.

In 1947, Hearst bought the 1920s mansion and its 6-acre (2.4-hectare) estate for $120,000. In 2007, the estate's current owner, who bought it in 1976, put the home on the market for $165 million, then took it off the market in 2008 when no one showed up with the trainload of cash needed to buy it. If a buyer materializes, he or she will have some notable neighbors, including Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and David and Victoria Beckham

3. Updown Court

Billed by its developers as "the most important private residence to be built in England since the 19th century," the newly built Updown Court is bigger than Buckingham Palace. It's probably a lot more fun, too. The 103-room mansion includes a bowling alley, squash court, 50-seat movie theater and five swimming pools. The mansion totals 40,000 square feet (3,716 square meters) and features a 24-carat gold leaf mosaic floor among its 22 bedrooms and 27 baths.

A heated marble driveway winds up to the mansion through part of the estate's 60 acres (24.3 hectares). The staircase in the foyer is said to be modeled after the one found in Gianni Versace's old mansion in Miami. "If Elton John were a house, he'd be Updown Court," said one of the property's developers. He goes on to express doubt that Elton John could afford the 70 million pound ($116 million) estate, which has been on the market for three years. Don't feel bad for Mr. John, however. He has his own mansion around the corner, as does the Queen of England.

2. The Penthouses at One Hyde Park

Technically, the world's second-most most expensive home doesn't exist yet. It's being built and slated to be completed and ready for sale by 2010 -- at the staggering price tag of 100 million pounds (more than $160 million). The penthouse will sit atop the swanky flats of One Hyde Park, a skyscraper development in London's richest quarter. This posh penthouse will be the upstairs neighbor to 82 other apartments in the building, half of which have been sold for an average of around 20 million pounds (about $40 million), or approximately 6,000 pounds (about $12,000) per square foot.

To protect against unwanted intruders, residents of the building will be protected by watchmen from the British SAS (Special Forces) members and security features such as bullet-proof windows and iris scanners. The building itself has emergency exits leading to an underground tunnel to the nearby Mandarin Oriental Hotel, but the penthouse's residents could simply run to their panic roomsif something happens. During less stressful times, One Hyde Park dwellers can bathe in communal spas, play on the squash courts or drink wine in tasting rooms. Reports of the pending penthouse also include floor-to-ceiling refrigerators and 24-hour room service for when residents don't feel like cooking.

1. Antilla

The record for most expensive house in the world will be set officially in 2009, when Indian multibillionaire Mukesh Ambani and his family move into their newly built home: Antilla. This record could stand for a very long time. At a cost of $1 billion, Ambani's 27-story tower -- complete with helipad on top -- dwarfs the next most expensive home, both financially and in stature. Forget going to the gym -- the Ambanis will have their own health club. And their friends can drop by in droves because the six-floor garage will hold 168 cars. The tower will be 570 feet tall, and made mostly of glass. The ultra-modern mansion will feature panic rooms, a movie theater and a staff of 600 servants.

Mukesh Ambani is the head of a global conglomerate and the richest man in the emerging Indian economy, which explains why his new home will have more floor space than Louis XIV's palace at Versailles. And because each floor is double the average height, Antilla will technically be 60 stories tall. The towering house isn't too disconnected from nature; each level will have lush gardens. It seems a refuge fit for a shy man referred to as "a modern-day Howard Hughes"

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