6/14/23, 9:06 AM Dubai Real Estate: New Most Expensive Villa For Sale Is $204 Million - Bloomberg

Pursuits
Real Estate

A $204 Million Mansion Is Dubai’s

Most Expensive House for Sale
With interiors covered in gold leaf and marble, the Versailles-
inspired property is ideal for someone who wants to “show off.”

This mansion in the Emirates Hills neighborhood of Dubai is being shopped for $204 million. Source: Luxhabitat
Sotheby's International Realty

By Lisa Fleisher
June 14, 2023 at 12:37 AM EDT Updated on June 14, 2023 at 5:43 AM EDT

A mansion evocative of Versailles is for sale in Dubai for 750 million dirhams ($204 million), making it
the most expensive house on the market in a city where luxury property is red-hot.

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The home in the desirable Emirates Hills neighborhood has 60,000 square feet of indoor space
though only five bedrooms: At 4,000 square feet, the primary bedroom is bigger than most homes.
The ground floor has rooms for dining and entertaining. Other amenities include a 15-car garage, 19
bathrooms, indoor and outdoor pools, two domes, an 80,000-liter (21,000-gallon) coral reef
aquarium, a power substation and panic rooms. It sits on a 70,000-square-foot lot in a gated
community overlooking a golf course.

The entrance hall has grand staircases and a dome with handmade glass. Source: Luxhabitat Sotheb
Sotheby's International
Realty

The property—nicknamed the “Marble Palace” by the selling agents—was built using an estimated 80
million dirhams to 100 million dirhams in marble Italian stone. Construction took nearly 12 years and
was completed in 2018, according to Luxhabitat Sotheby’s International Realty, which is selling the
property. Tasks included the application of 700,000 sheets of gold leaf by 70 skilled workers toiling
more than nine months, the brokerage says. The home is currently decorated with about 400 pieces
from the owner’s personal art collection, primarily 19th century and 20th century statues and
paintings; the owner is prepared to negotiate about including them and furnishings in the purchase.

The owner, a local property developer, declined to be named.

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“It’s not everybody’s taste or style,” Luxhabitat Sotheby’s broker Kunal Singh says, well aware that
buyers will either love it or hate it. 

The house has an indoor and an outdoor pool, as well as a koi pond. Source: Luxhabitat Sotheb
Sotheby's International Realty

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The Dubai property market has been on a tear since late 2020, an uplift that has lasted much longer
than other global property booms during the Covid-19 pandemic. The rally is partially a correction
after a market decline of about six years. Dubai’s handling of the pandemic enabled the city to reopen
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quickly, attracting bankers who transferred from places like Singapore or Hong Kong. The world’s
wealthy snapped up property as a way to stash their money in an uncertain global economy. And an
influx of Russians after Russia invaded Ukraine helped sustain the boom.

Several recent mega deals include the 125 million dirham sale of a plot of empty beachfront land and
the purchase, for 420 million dirhams, of a penthouse by the Persian Gulf. Still, the price per square
foot of the Marble Palace—12,500 dirhams—is more than double what other properties in Emirates
Hills have fetched. The most expensive home sale previously in the neighborhood was for 210 million
dirhams, at 5,614 dirhams per square foot, in August 2022, according to Dubai property records.

A buyer could negotiate to purchase the art. A room here contains a collection of antique clocks. Source: Luxhabitat
Sotheby's International Realty
Sotheb

Only one listing in the city rivals this mansion: A planned penthouse apartment in a project called
Bugatti by Binghatti is also being offered at 750 million dirhams but has yet to be built. (Generally,
properties that are move-in ready have commanded higher prices than those under
construction.) That apartment—or “sky mansion,” as the developer calls it—will come with a car
elevator and is due to hit the market in about three years.

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Singh estimates that there are only about five to 10 potential buyers in the world are wealthy enough—
and interested in its look—to buy the Marble Palace.

Two people have viewed the home in the past three weeks, Singh says. One, a Russian who had a
representative view the property, would have to figure out how to move that amount of money. The
second is an Indian client who already owns three properties in Emirates Hills; his wife is on the
fence, leaning toward something more contemporary, Singh says.

“This is something you would buy to show off—to bring some elite people, leaders, politicians,” says
Kerry Michael, marketing director for Luxhabitat Sotheby’s.

“The person who buys it definitely is in politics, is in leadership. They want to entertain people. You
can’t do that on the Palm without getting noticed, without getting media,” she says, referring to the
Palm Jumeirah, the manmade archipelago where there are many high-end homes. “In Emirates Hills,
you can invite the Obamas, you can invite the sheikhs into this palace and entertain.” 

A close-up of some of the marble detail and design. Source: Luxhabitat Sotheb
Sotheby's International Realty

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The coral in this tank has been growing for 18 months. Source: Luxhabitat Sotheb
Sotheby's International Realty

Singh says the property’s price is partly justified by the value of the time and materials that went into
building it. The location is minutes from the Palm Jumeirah and about 25 minutes by car from the
Dubai International Financial Center business district.

Emirates Hills, a gated community, was created two decades ago and has often been described as
Dubai’s Beverly Hills, without the movie-industry connections. A golf course runs through the middle.
The total lot size of the Marble Palace is one of the largest in the community. An adjacent plot of about
6,000 square feet could be purchased or leased from the developer, potentially for tennis or padel
ball court.

The primary suite includes his-and-her bathrooms. The second-largest bedroom suite is 2,500 square
feet, and guest rooms are each about 1,000 square feet; one is currently configured to store wine.
There are 12 staff rooms with space for up to 25, and two bank vaults. The owner built the home
and lives in it by himself following a divorce. 

— With assistance by James Tarmy

(Corrects size of aquarium in second paragraph.)

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