Castles have long captured the imaginations of European royalty, who dotted the Old World with them starting in the 9th century. The enduring appeal of such grand estates lies not only in the muscular nature of their design—which often feature moats, keeps, and battlements—but in their downright palatial size, some clocking in at thousands of square feet and encompassing hundreds of acres. We’ve rounded up the five most majestic properties currently on the market, from a $3.4 million Victorian-era estate in the Scottish Highlands to a $17.8 million fortification north of Bordeaux.
Dournazac, France | $17.8 million Photo: Courtesy of Allez-Français
Set amid 408 acresa couple of hours northeast of Bordeaux, the imposing Château de Montbrun dates from 1179. Although pillaged then rebuilt in the 1430s, the 16-bedroom manor nonetheless retains its original eight-story crenellated tower and medieval moat, while its current owners have added luxuries like radiant-heat floors and an elevator, cinema room, and sauna. Listed as a historic monument, the site is where Richard the Lionheart is said to have died from a wound sustained during a siege of a nearby castle.
Dating from 1885, this storybook Victorian pile is located outside Glasgow, at the edge of the Scottish Highlands. The current owners acquired the 11-bedroom retreat, dubbed Craigallian, in the 1990s, maintaining original decorative features such as inlaid oak paneling, fleur-de-lis plasterwork, and elaborate cornices while modernizing spaces like the kitchen—which was outfitted by kitchen-design firm Clive Christian. A veritable sporting haven, the rambling 340-acre property features a large trout-stocked lake and boathouse, horse stables, and a charming two-bedroom sandstone cottage with its own conservatory and garden.
Málaga, Spain | $10.7 million Photo: Kristina Szekely Sotheby’s International Realty
To help safeguard Spain’ssouthern coast in the 1620s, King Philip IV ordered a fortress be built on a nearby mountainside overlooking the Mediterranean. In 1929, with the stronghold long abandoned, the Count of Mieres asked the French firm Lahalle et Levard to craft a majestic 27,000-square-foot neo-Moorish palace on the 1.5-acre parcel. Refurbished as a luxe eight-key hotel a decade ago, the property retains original elements like Mauméjean stained-glass windows, wrought-iron chandeliers, and marble floors—not to mention the ancient ruins, now presiding over the lush terrace.
Asti, Italy | $5.1 million Photo: Turin Sotheby’s International Realty
In the early 1900s a local nobleman was gifted this 15th-century Piedmont estate as a token of gratitude for his military service, and he promptly enlisted architect Giovanni Chevalley to oversee an extensive renovation and expansion. Organized around a central courtyard, the horseshoe-shaped plan now holds six bedrooms, a tower, and a consecrated chapel across 21,500 square feet. (Original details were graciously preserved as well, including frescoes from 1633, intricate plaster moldings, and an impressive sandstone fireplace carved with a coat of arms.) Dotted with vernacular outbuildings, the manicured eight-acre grounds boast staff quarters, a barn, and a greenhouse, plus an orchard and a private lake.
Limburg, Belgium | $9.6 million Photo: Brussels Sotheby’s International Realty
In 1998 Belgian industrialist Jos Vaessen purchased this 18th-century compound, known as Château Ommerstein, situated about 50 miles east of Brussels. “It was more or less a ruin,” he said in 2012, describing the property’s condition prior to architect Vittorio Simoni’s exhaustive eight-year renovation, which introduced Art Deco–inspired interiors and modern amenities (including an elevator and rooftop terrace) to the 25,000-square-foot, 12-bedroom villa. A pair of spacious detached wings, meanwhile, contain staff quarters, stables, and a four-car garage. There’s also a heated pool on the estate, whose 33 acres are graced by some of the country’s oldest giant sequoias.
Situated on a captivating front row lot on Aspen’s prestigious Willoughby Way, this home is a vision of contemporary style and sophistication. Intelligently designed by David Johnston Architects and meticulously crafted by Paul Rasmussen, Pitkin Green will be well served by its newest addition. Comprising 8,710 square-feet of elegant, yet comfortable heated living spaces, the development team has brought all of their experience and expertise to bear on this unique project. The home utilizes three levels to incorporate six bedroom suites, six-full baths, two-half baths, exercise room, wine room with bar, o ce, 750-square-foot three-car garage, and 2,960 square-feet of patios and decks. The comprehensive landscape plan allows for enjoyment of the outdoor experience as much as the indoor.
$13,900,000 USD | New York City, New York | Sotheby’s International Realty – East Side Manhattan Brokerage
On Fifth Avenue, you have it all; the best of the city, architecture, museums, and tree lined streets. Carnegie Hill is a neighborhood that o ers a perfect dose of charm. As you exit the elevator that opens up onto the private landing of your 12-room residence, you are lured into your living room by the captivating views of picture-perfect Central Park, the Central Park Reservoir and the south-facing New York skyline. Beyond perfection, this unimaginable renovated home enjoys soaring ceilings and large picture windows that showcases Central Park greenery from every room.
$11,500,000 USD | Austin, Texas | Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty
This exceptional Mediterranean villa overlooking Lake Austin offers four opulent acres of breathtaking panoramic views surrounded by a lush landscape. This magnificent waterfront estate is highlighted by six oversized bedrooms, seven-full and two-half baths, three living rooms, two dining rooms, wine room, butler’s pantry, gym with kitchenette, library and office, pool, boat house and seven boat slips, four-car garage, and detached guest quarters. Masterfully designed to provide supreme privacy and lavish entertaining while also being conveniently located to downtown.
Price Undisclosed | Australia | Peninsula Sotheby’s International Realty
Offered for sale for the first time, this signature position at the spectacular and sheltered end of Fisherman’s Beach within the tightly held cul-de- sac of Weeroona Estate, provides incredible views across Port Phillip Bay, Police Point and Portsea Pier. Once owned by Australia’s 17th Prime Minister, Harold Holt, this 1,885-square-meter allotment is the perfect private setting for this modern home. Constructed in 1990 and featuring a N/S mod-grass tennis court and fully tiled self -cleaning pool, the home also features private stairs, providing quick beach access to the water’s edge and stunning cove of Weeroona Bay. Comprising five bedrooms over two levels, the residence also offers a spacious kitchen that overlooks the dining and living areas with a gas log fireplace that spills out to a generous terrace where ships sailing through punctuate an otherwise serene outlook.
€5.550.000 EUR | Italy | Italy Sotheby’s International Realty
This one-of-a-kind penthouse, situated in a prestigious building built at the end of the 19th century, enjoys unrivaled views of the Castello Sforzesco. The property is set over two floors and features a large living room on the top floor with double sun light exposure, game and reading area, dining room, bath, kitchen with balcony and a service area with laundry and bathroom. The top floor is complemented by a planted panoramic terrace. The master bedroom features a walk-in closet and bathroom while the home also offers a second double bedroom and a large bedroom with adjacent bathroom all situated downstairs.
Telluride is one of the most visually striking destinations in the world. Whether the lush, green summer, the striking gold fall, or the snow dusted frosty winter, the peaks and natural landscape are unforgettable. But don’t let us sway you, discover Telluride winter for yourself from a truly unique aerial perspective.
The latest volume of Art & Home is here! This month, Iyna Bort Caruso takes us to the forefront of design and innovation.
There are architects who design homes. And then there are visionaries who rethink the very definition of what a home is and how it should be experienced.
$6,700,000 USD | Park City, Utah | Summit Sotheby’s International Realty
In certain circles, innovative architecture is a boundary-pushing test of one-upmanship. Architects are juxtaposing styles and exaggerating silhouettes to create what seems like newly invented forms. They’re embracing the element of surprise and a hint of playfulness.
$5,995,000 USD | Austin, Texas | Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty
To be successful, however, innovative design has to do more than break with the past. It has to be functional. It is the architect’s responsibility to create designs that better the lives of the people who inhabit the home, says Dan Brunn, a Los Angeles, California-based architect whose residences have incorporated pivoting walls to display (or conceal) artwork and zig zag-shaped balconies. Bringing shapes and spaces together, capturing volume and light, framing views and choreographing floor plans so that “forms comes alive” are the attributes of great architecture, Brunn says.
3.500.000 € EUR | Saxony, Germany | Berlin Sotheby’s International Realty
In areas like Scottsdale, Arizona, some luxury home buyers are shifting away from traditional Tuscan and Southwest Territorial styles. They’re opting for statement-making properties with striking contemporary lines that “contrast with our Sonoran Desert, yet balance with its natural setting in terms of aesthetics,” says Deems Dickinson, president and principal broker of Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty in Scottsdale. A custom home located on the 17th fairway of the prestigious Mirabel Golf Club community, for instance, is a remarkable example of modern architecture that stands out in the openness of the desert surroundings. The home features an indoor atrium with a bamboo garden, a floating staircase and windows that extend from the floor to ceiling and beyond, becoming full-length skylights.
Architecture that challenges conventions has the power to turn heads. But architecture that’s fueled by transformational design has the power to turn homes into instant landmarks.
$3,275,000 USD | Orange Beach, Alabama | Kaiser Sotheby’s International Realty
Millions of people visited homes all around the world on sothebysrealty.com in 2016. Back by popular demand, we present the 10 most viewed properties from last year.
Number 10 – New York
$75,000,000 USD | Wainscott, New York | Sotheby’s International Realty – East Hampton Brokerage
Built in 2000 and published in Architectural Digest, the house was designed by architect Francis Fleetwood with interior architecture by Brian O’Keefe and interior design by Marjorie Shushan. Built with steel frame construction, the house features a double-height entry hall, 200-year-old antique flooring and wide water views from almost every room. The property features five principal bedroom suites plus three additional bedrooms in a self-contained guest wing.
Number 9 – Switzerland
Price Upon Request | Geneva, Switzerland | Cardis Immobilier Sotheby’s International Realty
The unique property is remarkable for its absolute tranquility, unobstructed view of the Alps and the peak of Mont Blanc, and an exceptional impression of spaciousness. The eight-hectare plot includes a number of leisure areas such as a private nine-hole golf course, a pool with pool house, a tennis court, a bowling court, a playground area in the woods with chalet, a vegetable patch and access to large wooded areas.
Number 8 – Florida
$95,000,000 USD | Key Largo, Florida | Russell Post Sotheby’s International Realty
Pumpkin Key is an extraordinary private island totaling 26 acres in the tropics of Card Sound Bay located in the Florida Keys. Just 10 minutes by helicopter to Miami’s famous South Beach, the island currently features one main home with three bedrooms, two caretaker’s cottages, and a dock master’s apartment.
Number 7 – California
$125,000,000 USD | Montecito, California | Sotheby’s International Realty – Montecito – Coast Village Road Brokerage
The magnificent Rancho San Carlos is an approximately 237-acre estate property that, for nearly 100 years, has been under the ownership of one family. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a unique property of unprecedented grand scale, exceptional architecture, and prestigious historical significance. The sprawling hilltop Monterey Colonial manor was designed by noted architect Reginald Johnson in 1931.
Number 6 – New Jersey
$48,880,000 USD | Alpine, New Jersey | Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
This gated estate is approximately 30,000 square-feet built of solid granite and steel infrastructure, with 12 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, indoor basketball court, movie theatre, 4000 bottle wine cellar, fitness center, three exquisite bars for entertaining, elevator, extraordinary details and ultimate privacy.
$50,000,000 USD | New York, New York | Sotheby’s International Realty – East Side Manhattan Brokerage
This home is a five-story red brick and limestone mansion that stands as a superb example of Neo Georgian revival architecture in America. Prominently positioned on the very lovely and quiet, tree-lined block of 69th Street between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue, the residence has the good fortune of being situated amidst a number of architecturally noteworthy neighboring houses. Erected in 1881 by Charles Buek & Co. and then purchased in 1900 by Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt, the house was redesigned in 1929 for Edwin C. Jameson, a prominent insurance executive, and then finally acquired by the English-Speaking Union in 1956.
Number 4 – Cayman Islands
$39,950,000 USD | Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands | Cayman Islands Sotheby’s International Realty
Without doubt Castillo Caribe is one of the finest beachfront estate homes in the world offering every luxury for modern day life with all the lifestyle options one would expect from the Cayman Islands and the Caribbean. Although the Cayman Islands enjoy year-round sunshine and a temperate climate, this benefit is eclipsed in most people’s eyes by the Islands’ offshore status. The Cayman Islands are well known as a financial center on the world’s stage and provide the highest quality of lifestyle available in a tax neutral environment, making it very appealing to people of high net worth to seek residency here.
Number 3 – France
Price Upon Request | Cannes, France | Côte d’Azur Sotheby’s International Realty
Belonging to a collection of exclusive and legendary properties on the French Riviera, the ‘Castle of la Croix des Gardes’ is at once the largest estate in the area, and unequivocally the most outstanding.’La Croix des Gardes’ is positioned just a few minutes from the port of Cannes and the ‘Palais des Festivals’, and proudly stands overlooking the historic region that resonates with the glorious 19th century heritage of the French Riviera.
Turtle Tail Estate is a dynamic, spectacular compound to completely fall in love with and is without peer on Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands. The newly completed estate combines the personalization of a custom home with the amenities of an ultra-luxury resort, elevated on a magnificent private over four-acre peninsula all its own.
Number 1 – New York
$70,000,000 USD | New York, New York | Sotheby’s International Realty – East Side Manhattan Brokerage
This spectacular 14-room duplex apartment is situated high atop the prestigious Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue. Featuring a meticulous triple mint renovation and boasting extraordinary 360 degree views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline, this elegant trophy residence is absolute perfection.
$15,000,000 USD | Massachusetts, USA | Maury People Sotheby’s International Realty
Discreetly nestled in a natural landscape on over two acres, this is one of the most extraordinary and rare waterfront settings on Nantucket. Bordering 68 acres of conservation land, this 10,000-square-foot home exudes warmth, elegance and sophistication, and includes 300 feet of waterfront and private beach stairs. An elevator services all three finished floors, showcasing the outstanding craftsmanship of this gracious home with five bedroom suites, a formal living room with replace, dining room, dramatic cathedral kitchen with replace, large butler’s pantry, wine tasting room, 500 bottle wine cellar, home theater/media room, and a dog bathing room. You can watch all boating activity coming and going from the grounds as well as enjoy magnificent Nantucket sunsets.
$13,000,000 USD | New York, USA | Sotheby’s International Realty – Bridgehampton Brokerage
Steps from the ocean, close enough to feel the ocean breezes, this cutting-edge 12,000-square-foot modern home constructed on three levels features an elegant façade with a glass entrance opening to an expanse of space and light. The house includes eight bedrooms, nine-and-one-half baths, a large home theater, bespoke wine cellar and three-car garage.
$11,742,500 USD | California, USA | Sotheby’s International Realty – San Francisco Brokerage
The approximately 4,600-square-foot Grand Penthouse A is commandingly sited atop the iconic Four Seasons Hotel & Residences in San Francisco. Illuminated by large-walls of glass facing East, North and West, the triple-mint Grand Penthouse features panoramic “sunrise to sunset” views of landmarks such as the San Francisco Bay, SFMOMA, the Financial District, Alcatraz and City Hall. Elegant and thoughtfully designed, the Grand Penthouse oor plan enables elevated daily living and lavish entertaining. A dramatic Foyer and Gallery connect public and private spaces. An extraordinary great room with metropolitan views blends living, dining and library areas. Southwestern views and sunlight ood the eat-in kitchen neighboring a spacious, adjoining family room.
Upon entering this palatial home you will enjoy the ocean view through the double height ceilings overlooking the pool and Dye Fore golf course. From the grand entry foyer and the polished travertine marble floors, to the large open kitchen equipped with the finest appliances and granite countertops, every possible luxury has been thought of and well executed within this refined residence. With a total of six over-sized bedrooms, two of which are master suites and both boasting expansive ocean views and a large private balcony, space is in abundance in this grandiose home. With over 17,222-square-feet of construction set atop a large home site, this contemporary villa is spacious enough for the grandest festivities or intimate enough for the most important of family events. The property combines sophistication, comfort, warmth and spectacular ocean and golf views to create a wholly unique experience.
R 7,000,000 ZAF | South Africa | Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty
Situated just over the hill from Sedgefield, this home is nestled amongst nature on a 37-hectare property and extends right down to the water’s edge. The property is easily accessed by a wide, redbrick road which leads to the expansive north facing home. A beautifully paved parking area, which can accommodate a number of parked vehicles, has access to four extra-large garages. The terraced garden leads down to a central covered courtyard which has a water element and stained glass insets in the ceiling. It is secured with handcrafted and ornate steel perimeter. The courtyard flows out to a separate, gourmet-styled, industrial-sized kitchen with granite counter tops and a serving hatch that gives you access to the dining room through stained glass doors.
Best for: Ages 10-16 and families who want off–mountain adventures
Why we love it: Skiing is a blast for older kids, but so are Telluride’s off-mountain offerings. For example? The roomy residential lodging at the Madeline Hotel, set in its own corner of the mountain village with an ice rink, Dylan’s Candy Bar and the hotel’s supervised kid gaming hangout for ages 5-16; the storied downtown area where Butch Cassidy robbed his first bank; and snowmobile tours with Telluride Outfitters that take you straight into the old Alta Lakes ghost mining camp.
WSJ Top US Real Estate Brokers
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Top 38 Sotheby's Brokers, US - 2013
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