This is Antilia, the most expensive private residence in the world. Located in Mumbai, India's billionaire row, the house costs about $2 billion and features amenities that even the most indulgent Bond villains could only dream of. The property is owned by Asia's second richest man, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who lives there with his family. 


Advertisement

The Antilia's construction began in 2006 with the design of two American architecture firms, after Ambani's wife Nita Dalal Ambani was inspired by their work on the Mandarin Oriental hotel in New York. With initial estimates in the $1.2 billion range, the project ultimately went over budget, costing wwhopping $2 billion. 




The Antilia is considered by some to be the world's tallest single-family home, but only if you discount its space for 600 servants. The building itself has 27 floors, each with an extra high ceiling, giving it the height equivalent of a 60-story skyscraper, with a total of nine high-speed elevators.   


The house has six floors of underground parking, good for a 168-car garage, and three helicopter landing pads, (although those are un-operational due to a failure to certify them as airworthy). A home movie theatre, event ballroom, gym, pool, and full spa are unsurprisingly included in this mega-mansion, although a "winter room" complete with artificial snow is definitely a unique addition. 



Mukesh Ambani is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited and has a net worth of $85 billion, good for 9th place on the list of the world's richest men. Just the concept of a mansion like the Antilia is enough to enrage those who would rather that money and effort go towards something more useful. 




Before Antilia's construction, its plot of land had been used since 1895 to house an orphanage. Ambani's purchase of the land was legally ambiguous and challenged in court. Many people opposed the Antilia, who viewed it as a plain example of disregard towards poverty in India. According to Tata Group former chairman Ratan Tata, "The person who lives in there should be concerned about what he sees around him and asking how he can make a difference. If he cannot, then it's sad because this country needs people to allocate some of their enormous wealth to finding ways of mitigating the hardship that people have... That's what revolutions are made of."