When you hear about the world’s most expensive home coming onto the market, and it’s called The One, it’s time to pay attention. Either for its impressive feat of completion or its overwhelming excessiveness.
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The One: Double the Size of the White House
The One luxury home is in Bel Air (Los Angeles). Bel Air is an enclave for the rich and famous, from celebrities, to the entertainment elite, to technology entrepreneurs. Populated with lavish mansions and abundant vegetation, Bel Air is renowned for its luxury hideaway and landmark, the Bel-Air Hotel, and the exclusive Bel-Air country club.
Home Builder: Nile Niami
The luxury home is the inspiration of Nile Niami, a former B-movie film producer turned real estate developer, after successfully building a series of mansions in Bel-Air and Holmby Hills. Hey, he was involved in one Steven Seagal movie classic when he was less strange.
I did a little digging into Nile’s background. He appears to have produced around 15 B-film flicks before shifting to building small condos and renovating homes for re-sale. However, it seems he’s built up a track record in the real estate development arena.
He built and sold a mansion in Holmby Hills to a Saudi buyer for an extraordinary sum of USD 44 million, as reported in a 2016 article by the New York Times, on battling millionaires and billionaires in Los Angeles.
Somewhere along the way, Nile also launched “Wolfpack,” a mobile app for single men in search of friends. It appears to have failed.
You can follow Nile Niami’s lifestyle on his Instagram account found here.
Sean Combs: $40 Million Home
In the same neighborhood, Nile built another home which was ultimately sold to Sean Combs for USD 40 million in 2014, according to the Los Angeles Times. Sean is best known for creating Bad Boy Records and developing Notorious B.I.G. into a notable talent.
Side note: If you want to learn more about Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls, aka real-life name, Christopher George Latore Wallace, look up the amazingly well-done U.S.A. Network (currently on Netflix) limited series, called “Unsolved” about the real-life murders of B.I.G. and Tupac. (More info on IMDB.com)
Sean’s home is a European-style villa, which at 17,000 square feet, has a ton of luxury, including a lagoon-style swimming pool, a connected underwater swimming tunnel, a 35 seat theater, wine room, and gym.
The home has notable neighbors: the Playboy Mansion and Formula 1’s Petra Eccelstone Stunt.
The sale involved Drew Fenton (Hilton & Hyland and Christie’s International Real Estate) and Kurt Rappaport (Westside Estate Agency).
Other Luxury Home Projects
Nile Niami would partner with Paul McClean to build a luxury home for the Winklevoss Twins. The twins, Cameron and Tyler, became famous for suing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Why? The twins claim Mark stole their idea (ConnectU) to create his social media platform.
Mr. Niami would build another luxury home in the foothills of Santa Monica in a neighborhood within Beverly Hills called Trousdale Estates. The area carries the name of a real estate developer.
Architect: Paul McClean
Paul McClean is a large part of the vision behind “The One” luxury masterpiece. McClean Design, founded in 2000, is a leading residential home builder and designer focused on contemporary themes in modern design.
The firm is engaged in 20 large, luxury home projects in Southern California, including other locations such as San Francisco, Vancouver, and New York.
The One: Background
It receives media billing as the most expensive and most extensive private residence in the United States. It sits on a five-acre land parcel in Bel Air.
The project was delayed and took eight years before its completion in 2021. Six hundred workers were involved in building this masterpiece.
The project also was completed as a residential project but faced considerable disagreement from the Bel-Air Homeowners Association, calling it too big not to be a commercial project, requiring further restrictions.
It also apparently cost USD 340 million to build. Yikes.
Once valued at $500 million (c. 2018), Nile Niami’s limited liability company L.L.C. -Crestlloyd- defaulted on USD 165 million debt, entering receivership, with a foreclosure sale halted in October 2021, as his L.L.C. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
At this writing (January 2022), there was a listing and an asking price of USD 295 million. If left unsold, an auction will follow (February 2022).
I’ll try to keep an eye out on this one for any future updates! Who is going to buy at the list or auction? Someone with a big ego and large pockets.
In 2021, Marc Andreesen, co-author of the Mosaic browser and co-founder of Netscape, bought a Malibu luxury home for USD 177 million. In 2020, Jeff Bezos, former President and C.E.O., and founder of Amazon bought his Beverly Hills luxury estate for $165 million.
The One: Specifications
- 105,000 square foot modern, contemporary home
- Nine bedrooms
- Multiple kitchens
- 50-seat movie theatre
- 5 Swimming Pools
- Four-Lane Bowling Alley
- Salon
- Gym
- 400-foot long-running track
- 50-car underground garage
- Nightclub
The One: Photos
Comment: Awash in beautiful contemporary design, this masterpiece uses clean lines, minimalism, and large open windows which flood interiors with natural light. The One is surrounded by a moat, like a secure enclave in the Bel-Air community. Excessive in terms of square footage (double the size of the White House), this monstrous project reportedly cost USD $395 million and was once valued at USD $500 million.
Comment: With a pool like this, does a five-star resort in Cancun, really mean five stars?
Comment: Did you know that contemporary, mid-century modern luxury home design is the most popular architectural style in the game Minecraft? I’m certain a duplicate version of this version exists in the game.
Comment: There is something about wine and dining family and guests in this luxurious lounge area that would be a success! Absolutely love the marble “coffee tables” with brown styling elements between carpet, chairs, and pillow cases.
Comment: Someone clearly is a fan of Playboy.com and its front-page magazine covers. So much for the standard high-end bookshelf.
Comment: Simple lines scream in this office interior scene. Slick, modern, and contemporary chairs, sleek table, and interior color arrangement between white, black, and gray round out this clean style against the large window and wall print backdrop.
Comment: A beautiful ceiling light fixture is the start of this show. Surrounded by beautiful artistic wall prints, large open windows, and a beautiful Los Angeles sunset as a backdrop, this dining room scene is magical.
Comment: The Romans would be jealous of this beautifully designed swimming pool interior with relaxing lounge chairs and large, open windows that guarantee steady, natural light.
Comment: Who needs the AMC theater if you can have your family and guests watch a movie with an AMC-sized theater and screen?
Comment: The One comes with its only spa and salon.
Comment: Seriously, a bowling alley. I’ve always been fascinated by entertainment design options for the rich and famous. Oddly, bowling alleys used to be a large American past-time is in the twilight.
When I do see a bowling alley inside a luxury home or mansion, I am reminded of one great scene, one great actor, and one great film. It’s none other than Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood.
The One: Exclusive House Tour (Video)
I found an actual home video tour of The One luxury complex.
See the Youtube clips below and enjoy!
Part One: Video Tour
Part Two: Video Tour
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I am a swashbuckling, mind-reading, techno-czar. Ok, leave out everything except “techno”. That might suggest the music genre but it’s really my technology background. My last studies were in Syracuse, and it was all about advertising. However, my career has been as diverse as the charcuterie board. We’re talking dot-com (actually, dot-bomb, lol), digital advertising before people understood “online”, payments before people understood what a “digital wallet” was, and online/digital games. This expanded to mobile marketing, mobile swiss cheese (edit: scratch that), and more. I ran operations for a digital financial portal, and found ways to sell things before they were mainstream. Today, I am Editor in Chief of one of the interwebs’ fastest growing home and architecture sites. For the big picture, visit our About Us page.
