Paris Chateau Sells For $301 Million, Making It The world's Priciest Home

Château Louis XIV was sold to a Mideast buyer. Cogemad

Francois De Beaupuy And Devon Pendleton, BLOOMBERG NEWS

A mansion outside Paris has fetched a world record price of more than 275 million euros ($301 million), two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Chateau Louis XIV was sold to a Middle Eastern buyer, the people said, asking not to be named because the sale is private. Christie's International Real Estate was involved in brokering the deal, one of the people said.
Cogemad, which developed the building, and Christie's declined to comment.

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.

"With elegantly planted parterres, a gleaming gold-leafed fountain, an infinite array of flowers, marble statues, bridle paths and a hedged labyrinth, the property's park and gardens evoke the genius of Le Notre," Cogemad said on its website, referring to the gardener of King Louis XIV of France.

The previous confirmed record price for a home was set when a penthouse in London sold for about $221 million in 2011, Christie's International said in September.

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov lost a 10 percent down payment on a $390 million-euro villa in southern France after he failed to complete the purchase, a court ruled in 2010.