Cap Ferret is a headland known as the oyster capital of France which boasts wonderful beaches, but it is also home to quite a few awe-inspiring mansions. In fact, the most expensive house in the world is located there – a palace that was once home to Belgian King Leopold II. This breathtaking house made it to the top of the list of the most valuable houses with an estimated price of 350 million euros ($410 million).
Villa Les Cèdres is located on the Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat coast, and it takes up 35 acres of landscaped ground decorated with as many as 14,000 different species of plants, with its paths lined with palms and cedar trees (cèdres in French), as well as a bronze statue of Athena and 300-year-old olive trees. The house itself has 14 bedrooms spread over 18,000 square feet. There is also a library which, according to Bloomberg, consists of 3,000 books. It has also been reported that one of the books in the library is a “1640 edition of a botanical codex worth several hundred thousand euros.” The rooms are decorated with valuable portraits and chandeliers.
This amazing mansion was built in 1830. Then, the mayor of Villefranche-sur-Mer bought it in 1850 when it was turned into an olive tree farm. Belgian King Leopold II bought the property in 1904, but this mansion was only his holiday home. After his death, the house belonged to the Marnier-Lapostolle family.
Villa Les Cèdres is close to the properties of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and award-winning composer Andrew Lloyd Weber. At first, it was rumored that the house was originally listed for €1 million (about $1.2 million). However, such speculations turned out to be false. Not only is the price far higher than that, but it is so high that it made the mansion the most expensive house ever. Take a look at the photos below and you’ll realize why.
