Tuesday, August 19, 2008

UPDATE: Villa Leopolda

Multiple reports have come out in the last week or so that confidently point to forty-something year old Russian multi-billionaire Mikail Prokhorov as the ridonkulously rich man who slapped down a record breaking and mind-frying 730-some million dollars to purchase international socialite Lilly Safra's legendarily high maintenance Villa Leopolda in the South of France.

However, Mister Prokhorov's people are saying, "Nyet!"

See children, according to his spokesman, Mister Prokhorov will not do any manner of bizness in France until he gets a sincere apology from French authorities for arresting and detaining the famously fun loving billionaire during a probe into a prostitution ring last winter in the French ski resort of Courchevel, an area which all the children should know by now has become a favorite winter haven for newly rich Russians all decked out in designer ski duds.

Although most everyone thinks the secretive and immensely rich buyer is Russian, both Mister Prokhorov and hideously rich Roman Abramovich–a Russian billionaire known for purchasing extravagantly priced properties–has also denied being the buyer for Villa Leopolda, which makes a certain amount of sense to Your Mama given that he's already spending a fortune renovating Chateau de la Croe, the waterfront estate he owns in the area.

For now then, the identity of the big buyer remains a bit of a mystery and the real estate obsessed around the world with just have to wait patiently until the buyer decides to reveal himself.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

there is not a buyer, it is a publicity marketing move to rent it for 1MM a week

Anonymous said...

I can't see how anyone in their right mind would pay that much for any house, any where...I can't see that price ever being recouped, considering you could probably buy an entire major condo or office tower in any of the worlds great cities for that much money...personally, I would only pay that much for something like Biltmore House in Asheville, NC, where you would get a ridiculously large mansion, filled with priceless antiques, tapestries and artworks, and sited upon thousands and thousands of acres...

Anonymous said...

With all due respect - I doubt wealthy Europeans & Russians want to vacation in Asheville, NC

Anonymous said...

They wouldn't want to vacation in NC anymore than I would want to vacation there.

Anonymous said...

Can you please show us where you live!? Come on! And, while your at it, how about you actually show us some houses, the updates are getting boring!!! Love you!

Kisses,
Svetlana!!

Anonymous said...

Hey sugar,

please show more lavish floor plans. I read "740 Park" and was extremely disappointed that other than the inside covers, there were no floor plans. what up with dat?

please more detailed floor plans. 'magine you got one of Leopolda??? that'd be a dream come true.

Anonymous said...

Wow Mama, you are a veritable wealth of juicy real estate news today, and the photo of the Villa Leopolda is stunning, thank you. I don't know how you do it, but I sure am glad that you do :) hugz

Anonymous said...

You are boring Svetlana.. get back to your day job as a tugjob specialist!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous -
Most of the floorplans and much more information was published online at the author's website: http://www.mgross.com/books/740-park/

floorplans at: http://www.mgross.com/books/740-park/floor-plans/

I suspect it had to do with copyright issues at press time.

Anonymous said...

I think you missed my point, which was not that Asheville, NC is a hot spot to vacation in (though it is a very nice, artsy town for North Carolina...), but that for $750-million, I would expect a lot more house, a lot more land, and several hundred priceless pieces of art and antiques than whoever overpaid for this ugly yellow pile in the most overrated, pretentious and rude country in the world got...

Anonymous said...

Andrei Melnichenko has been on a mega-sized shopping spree lately. Possibly his new place in France...?

Anonymous said...

The Asheville, NC estate is worth

30MM tops if even that.

a better example would be the queens castle in downtown london maybe or ?

a single city block of manhattan.

StPaulSnowman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Biltmore is magnificent, a true architectural gem. Interesting that you would value it less than Miss Candys new duplex highrise kennel. Europeans love great houses and gardens and many I know would love to visit North Carolina.

Anonymous said...

Biltmore is magnificent, a true architectural gem. Interesting that you would value it less than Miss Candys new duplex highrise kennel. Europeans love great houses and gardens and many I know would love to visit North Carolina.

lil' gay boy said...

Sadly, Biltmore sits on a much reduced acreage, down from its heyday of 140,000.

But as the largest private residence in America (yes, descendants of the Vanderbilts still live there) it is, indeed a national treasure.

Villa Leopolda is a national treasure in its own right as well, although it too exists in much reduced circumstances.

Anonymous said...

"ridonkulous"... Mama, you slay me.

Anonymous said...

Wow, while writing about Leopolda, I didn't expect that the mysterious buyer's name would be announced.. Who'll say "Yes, guys, I paid 700 million dollars for a villa, just to spend holidays there with my wife"? However, it's quite exciting who is this billionaire, hm? Me too, I'm interested in it and if any gossips, I'll share them with you.