#9 – Franchuk Villa – London, England ($128 Million)
The name of the villa doesn’t sound very English, and that’s because it was bought by a Ukrainian businesswoman named Elena Franchuk. The house used to be a prep school for girls during the 18th century but was shut down and remodeled to be an enormous mansion. If you thought 12 foot ceilings were high, every floor of this house has 20 foot ceilings — so even Yao Ming (a 7.5 foot tall retired basketball player) could live comfortably here.
There’s also a gym and a movie theater in the Franchuk Villa, so you won’t exactly be transported back in time to when this place was a school. Franchuk seems pretty set on holding onto this house, so don’t expect it to go on sale anytime soon. Not a bad price for a prep school from old times.
#8 – Updown Court – Surrey, England ($138 Million)
Also located in Jolly Old England, the Updown Court was made with 103 rooms spreading over 58 acres of land. If you thought that the houses in your neighborhood took a long time to build, think about this: Construction on Updown Court started in 1998 and it wasn’t completed until 2006. That’s three presidential elections from start to finish.
The buyer of the home isn’t believed to be from England but maintained privacy throughout the purchase. The original owner of the home was supposed to be Bruce Willis, but even he thought that the huge price tag was too much. That’s because the home cost more than $53 million…during the recession.
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