I don’t think many of us will be buying a house for $55 million in the near future (what with the recession and all), let alone putting down a NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT of $55 million on a house with a selling price of 390 million Euros.

Can you imagine that?

And then can you imagine pulling out of the deal, and losing that cash?

And then, can you imagine being the seller, and GIVING that $55 million to charity?

You can’t really beat that. Check it out.

390 million Euros
That’s *cough* four or five billion Rand..

This, from Luxist:

The mystery surrounding who might have bought Villa Leopolda continues. The lavish home in Villefranche-sur-Mer, south-eastern France was on the market for a record price of 390 million euros. Last year rumors swirled about the rich Russian who bought the home. The the most likely candidate was Mikhail Prokhorov, currently Russia’s richest man. He denied springing for the home but Prokhorov reportedly signed a contract on the property and paid a $55 million deposit, but wanted his money back.

The villa’s owner, Lily Safra, has no intention of letting that happen and she made it public last week by issuing a press release saying that she would donate money to ten charities using “all proceeds potentially available from a deposit made on the sale of Villa Leopolda, which has now been halted.” King’s College, London, and Imperial College, London would each receive one million euros neuroscience research. Safra doesn’t name who the buyer might have been in the release. The home is no longer on the market which is probably for the best since the list of people with the funds to purchase such a home continues to dwindle.

That’s quite mean. there is a certain amount of money you need to have in the bank before you go and do things like that. The sum is commonly referred to as “fuck-you money.”

And the price of that house! Goodness! That’s like four and a half billion Rand!

The most expensive property I can find around here is the One & Only property for R110 million at the Waterfront (check it out here on the Pam Golding site)! You need about 40 of those to buy the house above!