A stunning 187-year-old mansion located in the South of France may become the most expensive sale of a residential home in history. Villa Les Cèdres is now listed for ?351 million (about $410 million), Bloomberg reports.
Sitting on 35 acres of land, the 18,000-square-foot home boasts 14-bedrooms, a pond filled with lily pads, 14,000 different plant species, a bronze Athena statue draped with a marble tunic and 300-year-old olive trees. The mansion was built in 1830 along the coast of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, and features sweeping views of Villefranche-sur-Mer and the Alps, according to Bloomberg.
The villa's path is lined with palms and cedar trees (or cèdres in French), which gives the house its name. Inside, the home features chandeliers, floor-to-ceiling 19th century portraits, grand rooms, French doors, and library housing 3,000 books on naturalism and flora. According to Bloomberg, one of the books in the library is a "1640 edition of a botanical codex worth several hundred thousand euros." The mansion has 10 bedrooms, a ballroom and a chapel, a 50m swimming pool built into the rocks, a winter garden, concierge, 35 acres of manicured lawns and a stable for 30 horses, according to French media. It was built around 1830. The estate was purchased in 1850 by the mayor of Villefranche-sur-Mer when it was an olive tree farm, and in 1904 it became Belgium King Leopold II's vacation home.
The Marnier-Lapostolle family, the makers of Grand Marnier Liquer, owned the e...