Very few items head to auction with an estimate topping nine figures, but America's most expensive house to come to auction carries a $160 million price-tag (£117 mil). Offered without reserve, meaning that it will sell to the highest bidder regardless of the bid, Villa Firenze is poised to be the most expensive home ever sold at auction.
Built to recreate a grand Italian palazzo, Villa Firenze is an extraordinary estate in the exclusive gated community of Beverly Park North in Beverly Hills, California. Not only is the property in a gated community, but it is accessed by a private street with its own gate. Inside the gates, the entry courtyard, framed by palm trees, has space for thirty cars.
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"Over five years in the making, this is truly a masterpiece that is quite possibly impossible to recreate,” said the villa's owner, Steven Udvar-Hazy, an American billionaire who made his fortune leasing planes to airlines. “Many of the world’s most desirable, coveted items are sold at auction – and like these, Villa Firenze is also a work of art in itself."
The 28,000-square-foot home boasts 13 bedrooms and 25 bathrooms and is set on a nearly 10-acre lot. Resembling an Italian villa, the house is replete with vaulted ceilings, marble and stone floors, wood beams, gracious mouldings, covered colonnades and carved fireplaces.
The massive size of the house suggests grand-scale entertaining, but the elegant design also makes it ideal for intimate family gatherings.
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Outside of the home, the nearly 10-acre property beckons with activities and amenities, including a resort pool and jacuzzi, lighted tennis court, walking/jogging trail around the property and formal gardens. Guests will have plenty of room to relax in the three guest houses that each feature two master bedrooms.
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Beverly Park North is home to many Hollywood celebrities, including Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Sylvester Stallone, Rod Stewart and Kimora Lee Simmons. The community offers a private park for residents with hiking in the San Fernando Valley and also borders on more trails in the neighbouring Franklin Canyon Park. Though seemingly a world away from the traffic and skyscrapers of Los Angeles, Villa Firenze is in just short driving distance to the shops and restaurants of Beverly Hills, including famed Rodeo Drive, and is 35 minutes to the beaches of Malibu.
