It's Olympics time and you know what that means. Time for blood, sweat and tears, and a thousand back stories outlining outrageous human sacrifice in the name of gold, silver, and bronze.
We like human sacrifice as much as anyone, (we are in real estate after all). So we've dipped our toe into the Olympic pool and come up with our own medal-worthy list of the biggest, baddest, scariest, and most outrageous homes around.
And the Gold goes to...
The Windex Combined
The builder of the Sony Tower in Manhattan and the duo of angled office buildings known as Puerta de Europa in Madrid is also behind the Glass House, a basically transparent house in New Canaan, Connecticut. You know what they say about people and glass houses: don't touch ANYTHING. Oh, and make sure you wear your underwear.
The Paranoid Short Program
This Hyde Park, London penthouse has a panic room, bullet-proof windows and the security services of SAS-trained security guards. Someone's feeling the need for protection, because the six-bedroom apartment in a building adjacent to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel sold in 2013 for a record-breaking $220,000,000.
The Double Slalom Outrageous Display of Wealth
What do you do when you have a net worth of $21 billion and a desire to pour an obscene amount of it into your living quarters in Mumbai? You build a billion-dollar abode. Yes, billion. Billed as the most expensive home ever built, it's owned by Mukesh Ambani, said to be "the richest person in India and the 19th richest person in the world."
This 400,000-square-foot(!) home named Antilla (cause it's not really an upscale home if it doesn't have a name) encompasses 27 floors (six of which are set aside just for parking, 9 elevators, and its very own air traffic control facility. Oh, and an ice room infused with artificial snow flurries. Because why not? A staff of 600 maintain the home. Because why not?
The Downhill
"A Picasso painting inspired this cliff-top house near Sydney, Australia," said Dezeen, but it might inspire some vertigo for anyone who has a fear of heights. Stilts support the kitchen and living room, which jut out over Dover Heights. The cliff the house is perched on is 70 feet high, and that's a looooong way down.
Brett Boardman
The Halfpipe Claustrophobia
Do not enter if you have a fear of small spaces, and if you do plan to enter, don't eat a big lunch first. Known as the smallest house in the world, the Keret House in Warsaw, Poland is just three feet at its most narrow point, and a whopping 4.99 feet at its widest point. Total square footage: 44 square feet. And that includes a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. Located in a passageway between two large buildings, the house was built by Polish architect Jakub Szczesny. "If you're (inside), you might want to hold your breath," said CNET.
The Cross-Country "Which Way Is Up"
We got all excited about this upside down home we saw on the island of Usedom in the Baltic Sea thinking we had stumbled on something truly unique. But apparently building a home upside down is a thing, so if you enjoy your life being turned upside down every day, check out Weburbanist's 10 homes that'll make you feel the need to hunt down some ginger ale.
Urlesque