World's most expensive house goes on sale for eye-watering sum

Not too shabby (Picture: Alamy)

If you’ve got £363 million burning a hole in your pocket, we may have found the house just for you.

That’s the price of Château d’Armainvilliers, the world’s most expensive home, which has just gone on sale.

The sprawling mansion is in Seine-et-Marne, around 25 miles from the centre of Paris.

So what do you get for your cash? As well as the 100 rooms across 2,500 square metres of living space, and 1,000 hectares of land – including a private lake.

Built upon the foundations of a 12th century castle, the Rothschild banking empire bought it in the late 19th century before it was bought by King Hassan II of Morocco in the 1980s.

He made a host of changes including adding a hammam spa, a beauty and hairdressing salon, and a fully-equipped medical and dental facility.

You’ll also find Moroccan mosaics and wall tiles and a stable big enough for 50 horses.

All this could be yours (Picture: Alamy)

The King had also added a basement level where you’ll find a huge network of tunnels, kitchens, cold rooms, storage spaces and staff quarters.

The Royal Family sold the property for €200million (£170m) to an undisclosed buyer from the Middle East in 2008 who has now put it back for sale.

The property has been described as portraying ‘opulence and grandeur’ according to Ignace Meuwissen, a self-acclaimed ‘real estate advisor to the global elite’.

He told Paris Match magazine: ‘It is the most expensive castle in France and perhaps in the world. The price of €425million is justified by the property itself but also by the 1,000 hectare land which offers numerous possibilities.

‘An investor could build thousands of apartments there if he wanted.’

While Ignace might be convinced of the mansion’s charms, French real estate experts reckon it might be over asking its price tag.

Speaking to French real estate publication Le Figaro Immobilier, luxury property agents said they’re not sure if the nine-figure sum will sell.

One said it was an ‘unrealistic’ price tag, adding: ‘It doesn’t make sense, it’s absurd Properties of this type could sell for 20-25 million, or even 30 million if we really fall in love with them. I’m not even sure that Vaux-le-Vicomte (a Baroque French château), which has no marketing plans, would sell at this price’.

Other real estate agents worry whether the changes made by the King in the 80s would suit modern tastes.

Tasteful or not, at least the mansion has plenty of nature to enjoy, including the private lake and sequoia trees, which are the largest trees in the world.

It’s definitely not the worst place to live.

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