Home cinemas, larger than life swimming pools, UFO-shaped buildings and theme-park rides — these are only a few of the home add-ons celebrities love to splurge on. From Bill Gates’ incredible Xanadu 2.0 to Hugh Hefner’s infamous Playboy Mansion, here are our picks of the most outrageous celebrity properties in the world.
The Manor
Petra Ecclestone
Los Angeles, Calif.
Daughter of English Formula One billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, 24-year-old heiress and socialite Petra Ecclestone dropped a whopping $82.7 million on Aaron and Candy Spellings’ former Los Angeles home. Complete with 100 rooms (including one room solely devoted to gift wrapping), the house features three hair salons, six guest rooms (including the Prince Charles suite, where Diana and Charles once stayed) and a walk-in closet so large it has a second level accessed by an internal staircase. The property is the most expensive house in Los Angeles. Ecclestone refurbished the place when she purchased the manor in 2011, employing 500 workers to redecorate it in only nine weeks.
Jumbolair Estate
John Travolta
Ocala, Fla.
Specifically designed to house his Gulfstream and Boeing 707B, Travolta’s vacation estate is part home, part airport terminal. It includes easy access to the planes, with a personal, private runway. The main house comes equipped with a small control tower alongside multiple luxurious bedrooms.
Xanadu 2.0
Bill Gates
Medina, Wash.
The Pacific lodge-style estate, named after the title character’s mansion in “Citizen Kane,” unsurprisingly incorporates the latest in technology and high-tech features, including guest pins that automatically adjust music, lighting and temperature based on an individual’s preferences when entering a room. With a secret bookcase in the library that opens into a bar and a swimming pool with its own underwater music system, Xanadu 2.0 is one of the most outrageous celebrity-owned properties in the world.
The Playboy Mansion
Hugh Hefner
Los Angeles, Calif.
The infamous Playboy Mansion boasts a grotto, zoo, game room, aviary, wine cellar, tennis courts and more than 70 staff members. Renowned for its lavish, over-the-top parties and for its live-in Playboy bunnies, who are each given a private room, Hugh Hefner’s bachelor pad was built in 1927. The house was estimated at around $47.7 million in 2011 and is the only residence in Los Angeles to hold a pyrotechnic licence that enables it to host fireworks displays.
The Water Park House
Celine Dion
Jupiter Island, Fla.
Celine Dion’s outrageous water park house comes complete with slides, a lazy river and an oceanfront location. The property requires more than 500,000 gallons of water to fill the water park, a demand that has caused a local water shortage. It’s now on the market for an asking price of more than $28 million.
Capital Hill
Naomi Campbell
Moscow, Russia
Built on a Moscow hilltop by Naomi Campbell’s former boyfriend, Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin, Capital Hill boasts a futuristic style reminiscent of a spaceship. Designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid, the luxurious home includes a Finnish spa in the basement, a Turkish bath, a Russian bath and a master bedroom atop a 65-foot tower accessible by elevator.
Neverland Ranch
Jackson Family
Santa Barbara, Calif.
No list would be complete without Michael Jackson’s controversial and opulent former property, Neverland Ranch, acquired by the performer in 1988 for a reported sum of between $16 to $32 million. In its golden days, the ranch housed an amusement park, complete with an iconic Ferris wheel, theme park rides, carousel and a train with its own station. Due to a number of legal issues, in 2006 the house had started to decay and most of the staff members were dismissed. The musician’s children acquired Neverland earlier this year and have been working on refurbishing the property and bringing it back to its former glory.
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