[imagesource: Property24

When you head past the R50 million property mark in Cape Town, you’re usually dabbling on the Atlantic Seaboard or in the midst of Upper Constantia.

Sea views or a tennis court and spacious rolling lawns – your call.

Up in the Big Smoke, as Johannesburg is often called by 20-somethings who head there to cash their first big cheques, it’s the likes of Sandhurst, Hyde Park, Westcliff, and Houghton that house the greatest wealth.

To join the truly elite, you can snap up the eight-bedroom Gatsby Mansion currently on the market in Houghton for a cool R64,8 million.

According to the Property24 listing, the mansion was designed and built by the world-renowned Pellerade Design Group and originally conceived as a private “hotel” for royalty:

It boasts an array of sumptuous reception rooms and a luxurious private nightclub as well as its own wellness spa, library, gymnasium, business/conference facilities, heated indoor swimming pool and outdoor training pool.

Built on four levels and with expansive glass frontages to optimise the panoramic views, this 2000sqm palace also contains eight glamorous en-suite bedrooms, luxurious bespoke furnishings and an international collection of rare artworks.

What a wonderfully phallic statue.

Was this one of those hotels for royalty where everybody threw their room keys into a bowl at the start of the evening, before heading to the private nightclub?

Look at the size of the billiards table:

Everything about the place screams opulence:

My bad, the mansion is in Houghton Upper, not to be confused with the plebs in Houghton.

It’s lovely but I think I’ll stick with the mountain and the sea and visit the Big Smoke from time to time, provided the cost of a flight drops.

You can see the full listing here.

[source:property24]