Take a peek inside the most expensive home for sale in the US
A newly built modern palace overlooking Los Angeles has just become the most expensive home listed in the United States. Price tag: $250 million.
CNBC can reveal that the 38,000-square-foot mansion in Bel Air, California, will officially come on the market this week — eclipsing the current record holder, a $195 million mansion in Manalapan, Florida. The home has remained one of the best-kept secrets in real estate, since only a handful of billionaires and a few celebrities and top brokers have seen it.
The home has 12 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms, three kitchens, six bars, a massage room and spa, fitness center, two wine-champagne cellars, the most advanced home theater in any U.S. home, and an 85-foot infinity pool.
Whether it sells for $250 million or less, real estate brokers say it will likely set two records — the most expensive home ever listed and the most expensive single home ever sold in the U.S.
It took more than 300 people over four years to build. And while not the largest new home listed, the Bel Air property is a marvel of technology, design, craftsmanship, exotic materials and natural views.
Bruce Makowsky, the ultra-wealthy developer who built the home and is betting a fortune on finding a buyer, said he wanted to create more than just a house. He wanted to create a "curated lifestyle" and experience that would appeal to a new class of global billionaire.
"I wanted to redefine what super-high-end luxury homes are all about," said Makowsky, who built his first fortune from a handbag and leather goods company. "I wanted to break all the molds. The level of quality and attention to detail in this house is unsurpassed. And I wanted to create the greatest feeling that you can have being at home."
That means that everything in the house comes with it — from the $30 million worth of cars, and millions worth of fine art, to the six-figure Roberto Cavalli table settings.
When talking about the price, Makowsky said the home is more comparable to a megayacht than a house.
"Megayachts have gone from 150 feet to 300 feet or more and they can cost up to $500 million," he said. "People spend two weeks a year on a yacht, but they live in a house. I wanted this to be the ultimate megayacht, but on land."
Makowsky has already broken real estate records. He built and sold a spec home in Beverly Hills for $70 million — the highest ever in that city — to Minecraft creator and Mojang co-founder Markus Persson.
The most expensive home ever sold globally is believed to be a $221 million penthouse in London. There are homes listed for more than $300 million overseas, but none in the U.S. tops Makowsky's listing. (Builder Nile Niami is constructing a 74,000-square-foot home in Bel Air that may be listed for as much as $500 million, but it's still under construction.)
Makowsky's Bel Air house — a gleaming assemblage of glass, chrome, pools and white walls — rises up more than four stories.
The first-floor entertainment area has a four-lane bowling lounge with a wall of gold bowling pins, a custom-built glass ping pong table, four glass foosball tables and a $12,000 glass pool table. To sweeten the deal, there is also a giant stainless steel and glass "candy wall" with giant tubes of assorted candy.
The entertainment level also has what's believed to be the largest TV in any residential home — at nearly 30 feet.
"In this house, we measure our TVs in feet not inches," Makowsky said.
Nearby is one of the most advanced home theaters ever built: a $2 million James Bond-themed screening room with 40 reclining seats made from hand-crafted Italian leather, and a 22-foot screen and a sound system with 57 speakers and 16 subwoofers that you feel as much as hear. The 4K projector is also preloaded with 7,000 movies as well as loads of games.
"People spend over half their lives in their home," he said. "So when you're home, it should be the ultimate oasis. You should have every single entertainment feature you could have in one home."
Instead of a garage, the home has a gleaming white "auto gallery" with 12 of the rarest, fastest and most expensive cars in the world that all come with the house. They include a one-of-a-kind Pagani Huayra that costs more than $2 million; the famous "Von Krieger" 1936 Mercedes 540 K Special Roadster, which is worth more than $15 million; and 10 of the rarest and fastest motorcycles ever built.
The staff of the home also get a brand new white Ferrari 488 and a bespoke yacht-themed Rolls Royce Dawn.
"Most of these cars are one-of-a-kind originals that you can only get with this house," he said.
To get upstairs, you can either take one of the two commercial elevators (lined in alligator skin), or the stairs, which include a giant wall built like the door of a safe. Between the second and third floors, the home also has a $2 million polished, handcrafted steel staircase.
As part of the price, Makowsky will also pay for the home's full-time staff of seven — including a chef, chauffeur and masseuse — for two years.
Upstairs, the home features an indoor-outdoor modern kitchen with a waterfall, a giant $1 million art installation of a Leica camera and a $2 million winding staircase.
Outside, the 85-foot infinity pool drops off into a sweeping view of Los Angeles and beyond. It's got a swim-up bar, oversized Jacuzzis and — in what many see as the home's coup de grace — an 18-foot wide, 12-foot tall, 4K TV screen that pops out of the landscape with a spiral hydraulic system and rises over the pool. Its cost? $2 million.
"It was an architectural feat to be able to create something like that," he said.
Many of the home's exterior walls are made from giant panels of sliding glass, which can open to create massive rooms with both indoor and outdoor living. The balcony off the master bedroom has a wraparound Jacuzzi pool overlooking Los Angeles.
"It's the largest swim-around infinity pool Jacuzzi ever," he said, staring out over the palm trees and California sunshine toward the ocean. "There is no way anyone could have a bad day in this house."
Watch "Secret Lives of the Super Rich" on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT.