What does US$400 million buy you? In Bel-Air, a 6500 square metre mega-mansion.
In what is being tipped as the most expensive home publicly listed for sale in the world hit US real estate site Zillow this week.
It’s set atop a private estate in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Bel Air. And given that property is Australia’s true national sport, we thought we’d take a look inside to see what you get for your $550 million Australian dollars.
The eye-watering mega-mansion has 39 bedrooms, 59 bathrooms, a Jeff Koons sculpture by the pool, and sits on close to eight acres of LA real estate.
The property at 11201 Chalon Road sits above the Bel-Air Country Club, with uninterrupted views from downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean. It was designed by New York architect Peter Marino, built by Peter McCoy, and took the better part of a decade to complete. Quite the grand design.
The Wall Street Journal reports the project cost more than US$350 million to deliver, and the property is currently owned through an entity linked to the Al-Thani ruling family of Qatar, which acquired the site for US$35 million in 2010.
Before you even step inside, the headline numbers on the brochure are remarkable. The estate spans multiple structures with a combined 39 bedrooms and 59 bathrooms, of which 50 are full and nine are powder rooms. The main residence alone runs to roughly 4600 square metres and contains 10 family bedrooms and 13 staff bedrooms. A separate guesthouse adds another six guest bedrooms and 10 staff bedrooms. There is a separate gatehouse dedicated to security operations.
Inside, the property features two kitchens (one commercial, one family), eight service and butler pantries, a movie theatre, a full spa with separate men’s and women’s facilities, an indoor pool, a hammam, hot and cold plunge pools, dedicated massage suites, a gym, a wine cellar, a billiard room, a library, three elevators, an X-ray room, and a subterranean garage with capacity for four-plus vehicles. The grounds include a mosaic-tiled outdoor pool flanked by a red Jeff Koons “Balloon Dog” sculpture, a tennis court with viewing area, and an alfresco dining pavilion with a pizza oven.
The listing is held by Jack Harris and Michael Fahimian of The Beverly Hills Estates, who describe the property as “the Crown Jewel of Los Angeles” and “a true generational estate that could never be replicated.”
For context, the most expensive residential sale in United States history remains the US$240 million paid by hedge fund manager Ken Griffin for a New York City apartment in 2019. The Californian record was set in 2023 when Jay-Z and Beyoncé paid US$200 million for a Malibu beachfront estate, only to be beaten the following year by a US$210 million sale of a Malibu property previously owned by Oakley founder James Jannard. A sale at the Chalon Road asking price would shatter all three records.
Whether the property finds a buyer at that level is another question. While we ponder that question, however, we can at least take a peek inside the luxe listing thanks to the estate agents and Zillow. Take a look here.
