The world's third-largest home is Villa Leopolda, located on the French Riviera of France. It has a total of 8 hectares of land, what is equivalent to 8 football pitchs.

The house was built for the Belgian King Leopold II, who paid 1 franc for the land in 1902. In 1915 it became a hospital and later, in 1950, it was bought by Giovanni Agnelli, owner of the Italian car brands Fiat and Ferrari. Later on, the banker Edmond Safra bought the house, but, after his tragic death, the mansion was owned by his widow Lily, which she eventually sold to Prokhorov.

As stated before, Villa Leopolda is currently owned by a Russian tycoon, Mikhail Prokhorov, who bought the mansion for 300 million euros August 8th, 2008. The mansion is located in the hills of Villefranche-sur-mer and Beaulieu-sur-Mer, a few kilometers from the Mediterranean city of Nice. It has a garden of almost eight hectares with different olive, lemon and orange trees that require more than 50 full-time workers to take care of it.

The mansion, amongst others, has a room of 400 m2 and 12 pools. The main house contains 19 deluxe rooms, 14 bathrooms, antique furniture and terraces. You can also find sports courts, a bowling alley and even a movie theater. As expected, it also contains valuable marble and old period artwork.

It has been featured in many TV shows and has appeared in Forbes magazine as it is considered one of the most important properties in the history of Europe.

 

Further information

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Leopolda

http://www.superyachts.com/luxury/top-5-most-expensive-houses-309.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/11/villa-leopolda-sold-for-7_n_118112.html

http://www.uncoverdiscover.com/celebs/the-10-most-expensive-homes-in-the-world/villa-leopolda/