FX.co ★ World’s Most Expensive Home

The 17th Century inspired French Chateau Louis XIV which was sold by Christie's International Realty to an anonymous Middle East buyer for a jaw-dropping $301 million is now the most expensive home ever bought in the world, snatching the trophy (if any) from a London penthouse which sold in 2011 for $221 million. But the price tag is still a far cry from the $1 billion on the most expensive home ever built- The Antilla which belongs to Indian billionaire, Mukesh Ambani.

The villa is in a 56-acre (23-hectare) park between Versailles and Marly-le-Roi and took three years to construct, according to Cogemad's website. The house includes an aquarium, cinema and a wine cellar, while outside there's a fountain covered in gold leaf.

The mansion boasts 10 bedroom suites, a grand reception room with 16 m high dome ceilings decorated with fresco paintings, a wine cellar with the capacity to hold 3,000 bottles, a movie theater, a mediation room located just bellow an aquarium housed by giant sturgeon, a squash court, under ground nightclub, two ballrooms, a 200 m large library believed to house leather-embossed books, and indoor and outdoor pools.

In 2013 when rapper Kanye West and socialite Kim Kardashian were planning to get married in a lavish wedding, the building was considered as a venue, but the power couple later opted for a 16th century castle in Florence, Italy which costs them over $300,000.

The villa was constructed with the finest materials, including 13 different types of marbles and 15,000 sheet of gold for its lavish features. The exteriors of the French chateau are just as stunning, the facade boasts a gigantic enamel and bronze clock a replica of the one found on the facade of Versailles, there is a monument of King Louis XIV, a glistening gold-leaf fountain, a 2 km hedged labyrinth, and a limitless array of flowers.

Though there are many higher valued houses on the market, all of them have failed to find a buyer, which means there is absolutely something or many things exceptional about the Chateau Louis XIV which takes its name after a monarch who ruled France for over 7 decades.