10 Of The Most Expensive Mansions In The US
- this 25,000 square foot mansion was built in 1933
- Former owner of Pabst Brewing Daren Metropoulos bought Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Manion in 2016 when he was only 32 years old.
- Originally built for late television producer Aaron Spelling in 1991, the Manor’s current owner is Petra Ecclestone, who is the daughter of Formula One billionaire Bernie Ecclestone. It
- . The grounds cover 42 acres, and the mansion has six bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, a home theatre, and 10 fireplaces.
The most expensive homes in the United States belong to a small circle of billionaires and trophy buyers, and the prices attached to them are often slippery. Several of the properties below were first marketed at far higher figures than they ever fetched, and a few have never sold at all, carrying only estimated values. Square footage runs into the tens of thousands, with gardens, ballrooms, and private golf holes to match. The ranking that follows lists ten of the most expensive American mansions by the best available figure for each, from the highest down, noting in every case whether the number reflects a recorded sale or an estimate.
1. Four Fairfield Pond, Sagaponack, New York: about $248 million (estimated)
At roughly 62,000 square feet, this Hamptons compound is one of the largest private homes in the country, with reported counts of 29 bedrooms, 39 bathrooms, a bowling alley, tennis courts, three swimming pools, a 91-foot dining room, and a garage built for dozens of cars. It belongs to industrialist Ira Rennert, who completed it in the early 2000s and lives there, so it has never been sold. Estimates of its value have run to about $248 million, which would place it among the most valuable homes in the United States, though that figure is an appraisal rather than a sale price.
2. 220 Central Park South Penthouse, New York City: $238 million (sold 2019)
This penthouse, reported at around 24,000 square feet, was bought by hedge fund founder Ken Griffin in 2019 for about $238 million. The purchase set the record for the most expensive home ever sold in the United States, a mark that still stood years later. The residence includes private athletic and spa facilities along with extensive entertaining space, all of it overlooking Central Park.
3. Mesa Vista Ranch, Texas Panhandle: about $170 million (sold 2022)
Mesa Vista is less a single house than a vast private ranch, covering 64,672 acres of the Texas Panhandle with its own golf holes, a chapel, 20 man-made lakes, a kennel built for 40 dogs, and a private airport. It was the creation of oil and gas investor T. Boone Pickens, who died in 2019. After his death the ranch was listed at $250 million, cut to $170 million, and sold in two separate transactions that closed in December 2022 for a total near that final figure, split between different buyers.
4. Warner Estate, Beverly Hills, California: $165 million (sold 2020)
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought this estate, once home to studio chief Jack Warner, in 2020 for about $165 million, which set a California record at the time. By the standards of this list the main house is modest at roughly 13,000 square feet, set among gardens, sculptural fountains, a swimming pool, and a guest house on grounds of about nine acres.
5. The Chartwell Estate, Bel-Air, California: $150 million (sold 2019)
Built in 1933 and known to viewers as the exterior of the Clampett home in the sitcom 'The Beverly Hillbillies,' this 25,000-square-foot mansion sits on about 10 acres in Bel-Air, not Beverly Hills as it is often described. It was long owned by Univision chairman A. Jerrold Perenchio, who died in 2017. Listed at $350 million, the estate sold in 2019 to media executive Lachlan Murdoch for about $150 million, then the highest price ever paid for a home in California. It includes a formal salon, a ballroom, a tennis court, a guest house, and parking for 40 cars.
6. Xanadu 2.0, Medina, Washington: about $130 million (estimated)
Named for the estate in the film 'Citizen Kane,' Xanadu 2.0 is the longtime home of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the shore of Lake Washington. Gates kept the property after his 2021 divorce from Melinda French Gates. The earth-sheltered house is filled with custom technology and has never been offered for sale; its value is generally estimated at well over $100 million, with figures around $130 million commonly cited.
7. Spelling Manor, Holmby Hills, California: about $120 million (sold 2019)
This Holmby Hills mansion, one of the largest private homes in the country at about 56,000 square feet, was built for television producer Aaron Spelling and completed in 1991. Petra Ecclestone, daughter of Formula One executive Bernie Ecclestone, bought it in 2011 for $85 million and sold it in 2019 for about $120 million. It has a 40-foot foyer, a bowling alley, a wine cellar, a beauty salon, and a gym.
8. The Playboy Mansion, Holmby Hills, California: $100 million (sold 2016)
Investor Daren Metropoulos, whose family company has owned brands including Pabst and Hostess, bought Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion in 2016 for about $100 million, on the condition that Hefner could remain there for life; Hefner died in 2017. The five-acre property's main house runs about 20,000 square feet, with a wine cellar, a home theater, a guest house, a swimming pool, and a tennis court. It had originally been listed at $200 million.
9. 924 Bel Air Road, Bel Air, California: $94 million (sold)
Developer Bruce Makowsky, who made his fortune in handbags, built this 38,000-square-foot spec house, nicknamed 'Billionaire,' and listed it in 2017 for $250 million, then the highest asking price in the country. After years on the market and steep price cuts, it sold for about $94 million to an undisclosed buyer. Its features include 21 bathrooms, three kitchens, a four-lane bowling alley, a spa, an infinity pool, wine cellars, and a deactivated helicopter used as a rooftop prop, which has often been mistaken for a working helipad.
10. Promised Land, Montecito, California: about $90 million (estimated)
Oprah Winfrey named this Montecito estate the Promised Land. It sits on about 42 acres, with a main house of six bedrooms and 15 bathrooms, a home theater, ten fireplaces, a guest house, a tea house, a tennis court, a swimming pool, and a pond. Winfrey bought the property in 2001 for $50 million and has added neighboring parcels over the years, and it has never been put up for sale. Estimates of its value have run to about $90 million, and likely more given her later additions.
Why These Numbers Keep Changing
Trophy properties at this level rarely trade at their opening prices. Chartwell was listed at $350 million and sold for $150 million; the 924 Bel Air Road spec house asked $250 million and closed at $94 million; the Playboy Mansion and Mesa Vista Ranch both sold well below their first headline figures. Several of the homes here have never changed hands at all, so their values are estimates rather than recorded sales. The result is a ranking that shifts every time one of these houses finally sells, or fails to.
