Villa Aurora became the most expensive house in the world, the size of billionaire Bill Gates dared to buy
Perched on a hill in the heart of Rome, Italy, and home to many historical documents, antiquities and art paintings, the 500-year-old Villa Aurora is now dubbed “the most expensive house in the world”.
The villa area of nearly 2,800 m2 impresses with its spacious and green garden. The highlight of the building is a painting on the 2.75 meter wide ceiling titled “Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto” painted by the famous artist Caravaggio. This painting alone has been valued at $352 million.The villa was once the residence of Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte and was built in the 16th century. Now the building is located not far from Via Veneto, the area where some of Italy’s top guests are located, and is located quite a few meters away. near two other scenic spots, the Spanish Steps and the Borghese Gardens.
Not only located in a prime location, Villa Aurora is known as the most expensive building in the world because it holds many historical documents, antiquities, as well as displays extremely valuable works of art. In addition to the painter Carravaggio, the villa also has a famous fresco by artist Il Guercino with the ceiling decoration with the image of the Dawn Goddess Aurora riding her chariot. In addition, many precious historical artifacts including letters from Marie Antoinette and King Louis XV are still kept in Villa Aurora.
In 1621, Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte sold Villa Aurora to the prestigious Ludovisi family with fairly close ties to the Pope. The mansion is still owned by the Ludovisi family to this day, although they have previously sold off other parts of the huge estate.
After Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi, owner of Villa Aurora passed away in 2018, an inheritance а Ƅattle arose.
However, the selling price of the villa is considered that only billionaires, not millionaires, can afford to pay.
Sharing with NPR, Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi (72 years old), who is living in a villa more than 500 years old, said, “This house needs an owner with huge financial resources who does not mind spending money. tens of thousands of dollars to fix water leaks or other problems.”Princess Rita is the third wife of Prince Nicolo. Currently, she and her three sons from Prince Nicolo’s first marriage are in dispute over the inheritance of Villa Aurora.
Since the parties could not reach a consensus, an auction was considered the most appropriate solution. But the question is whether anyone will participate in the auction of this expensive mansion.
In early January this year, when the first auction of Villa Aurora took place, this historic art-architecture was valued at 471 million euros ($539 million).
However, many experts say they are not surprised to learn that no one has paid for Villa Aurora.
“I would be surprised if anyone wanted to buy the building. The selling price is too high. Let’s see what happens next April, but I’m also assuming no one is in the auction. Would someone the size of Bill Gates dare to spend money to buy Villa Aurora, because it comes with a lot of other costs?”, Professor Alessandro Zuccari at Sapienza University in Rome told the Guardian in January.In April, Villa Aurora was again put up for auction, but the price was reduced by 20% from the starting figure of 471 million euros in January, but still no buyer. Currently, Princess Rita has also asked some of the world’s leading real estate companies to find buyers.
And yet, Princess Rita has also asked the Italian government to buy back the villa and preserve it. But despite the drop in price, Villa Aurora is still out of the financial reach of the Italian Ministry of Culture.
That means that Villa Aurora is still for sale on the market with the title of “the most expensive building in the world”.