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This is bougie as it gets. The most expensive mansion in Los Angeles County has just been sold for a whopping $102 million—in all cash.
The five-acre Fleur de Lys french-style estate in Holmby Hills, which included some fancy antique furniture and a 50,000-square-foot mega-mansion (you know, the usual), was purchased by the highest bidder of a bidding war, according to the L.A. Times. Forbes reported that it is rumored there were a total of three bidders, with a Chinese and an English bidder as the losers, but they are unable to confirm that information.
Although it is believed that the winning bidder is a French billionaire, the Times speculated that it was bought by Michael Milken—the junk bonds king who faced some jail time after pleading guilty in 1990 to felony charges on violating securities trading laws. The Times got a copy of the Fleur de Lys grant deed that revealed the taxes would be sent out to Milken Institute in Santa Monica, which Milken chairs. In addition, the taxes are directed to go to the Maron & Sandler law office, which has represented Milken in the past.
The gaudy mansion has everything you'd imagine French royalty (or Jay Gatsby of The Great Gatsby) to live in—including marbled floors and gold-leaf panels glimmering on the ceiling. The estate, modeled after the Vaux-le-Vicomte palace in Paris, has 12 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, and a ballroom that can hold up to 500 people for ritzy parties, according to the Times. On top of expansive gardens, there's a swimming pool, spa, tennis court, a 3,000-square-foot wine cellar—and an entire quarters for the help staff. (Yes, this is starting to sound like a Downton Abbey estate.)
David and Suzanne Saperstein built the Fleur de Lys in 2002 and put the house on the market in 2007 when they were finished renovating the gigantic home and decided to get divorced. It had been on and off the real estate market since then, agent Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency told Forbes. Even Mariah Carey reportedly made a bid for the home back in 2009, according to ABC. (Plus, the Sapersteins were asking for $125 million at the time, which when you count millions, that's a lot more than what the winner paid for in the end.)
Although $102 million is a pretty penny, folks have surprisingly spent more on real estate out in the U.S. Forbes reported the nine-acre Woodside home in the Bay Area sold for a staggering $117 million in November 2012, making it the most expensive home ever sold in the country.
