A luxurious mansion in the south of France is poised to become the most expensive sale of a residential home in history with a $410 million listing price, according to Bloomberg.
Built in 1830 in the Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat near Nice, Villa Les Cèdre sits on 35 acres decorated with 14,000 different species of plants, a man-made pond filled with lily pads, a bronze statue of Athena and 300-year-old olive trees, according to Bloomberg. The 18,000 square-foot mansion also boasts views of Villefranche-sur-Mer near Nice and the Maritime Alps.
Inside, the walls are decorated with portraits and a library in the home houses 3,000 books on plants, according to Bloomberg, which took a tour of the estate.
The property was purchased by the mayor of Villefranche-sur-Mer in 1850, when it was an olive tree farm. It also was a holiday home for Belgium King Leopold II when he bought the property in 1904. After he died, the Marnier-Lapostolle family, who make Grand Marnier Liquer, owned the property, where they grew exotic plants and oranges to help create their product for decades.
In 2016, Italian distiller Davide Campari-Milano SpA acquired Grand Marnier’s parent company, thus taking ownership of Villa Les Cèdres. Campari put the property up for sale, which, at one point was reportedly listed for $1 billion — which Bloomberg reports was merely a rumour.
The property is close to others owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and award-winning composer Andrew Lloyd Weber, Bloomberg said.
source: time.com
