Mukesh Ambani's $2 billion home is world's most expensive private property, says Forbes

According to a Forbes report titled, "Inside The World's First Billion-Dollar Home," the new house of the chairman of top listed petro-chemical refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) could well be the only billion-dollar house in the world owned by an individual.

The house does not cost nearly $2 billion for nothing, Forbes said. The 550 feet high 27-storey structure (equivalent in height to a normal 60-storey structure) will boast of 4,00,000 square feet of interior space when it is completed in January 2009.

"The only remotely comparable high-rise property currently on the market is the 70 million dollar triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York, designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air," Forbes said in its report.

The Ambanis had "consulted with architecture firms Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates, the designers behind the Mandarin Oriental, based in Dallas and Los Angeles, respectively" to build the highrise on Altamount Road in posh south Mumbai (where real estate prices are now in the region of $2000 per sq ft).

The palatial structure, called Antilla (named after the mythical island), would cost more than a hotel or high-rise of similar size or structure because of its custom measurements and fittings.

While a hotel or condominium has a common layout, replicated on every floor, and uses the same materials throughout the building (such as door handles, floors, lamps and window treatments), the Ambanis' home has no two floor alike in either plans or materials used, Forbes said.

"At the request of Nita Ambani (Mukesh Ambani's wife), say the designers, if a metal, wood or crystal is part of the ninth-floor design, it shouldn't be used on the eleventh floor, for example. The idea is to blend styles and architectural elements so spaces give the feel of consistency, but without repetition," the report said.

The structure also complies with "Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like Feng Shui that is said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects," it said.

Juxtaposing newer designs are elements of Indian culture. "For example, the sinks in a lounge extending off the entertainment level, which features a movie theater and wine room, are shaped like ginkgo leaves (native to India) with the stem extending to the faucet to guide the water into the basin," the report continued.