Dream homes

This stunning London mansion was unbelievably once a squat filled with drop-outs and hippies. But walking through the marble entrance hall, past limestone-lined suites and up the original stone staircase, it is hard to imagine that One Cornwall Terrace has ever been home to anyone short of cash.

On the market for £100 million (Dh589 million), it is the world’s most expensive terraced house.

Situated on the edge of Regent’s Park in Central London, it boasts seven bedrooms, 11 reception rooms, nine bathrooms, a private gym and a garage with number-plate recognition that can accommodate two limousines.

The Grade I listed building, whose lights are controlled by an iPad, also has a heated indoor swimming pool – set in Portland stone – complete with spa, sauna and his-and-hers changing rooms.

The dining room, which has been restored to its former Regency glory, seats 16, while there are two massive kitchens. The family kitchen has lantern-style windows, a Portland stone floor and heated window seats. The industrial-sized below-stairs kitchen, where most meals will be prepared, also includes a ‘wine cave’ and cold room.

Staff at the neoclassical house, which the estate agent describes as ‘one of the most important private residences in London’, have a suite of rooms next to the kitchen.

Set in half an acre, the Italianate gardens are below street level and completely private. Thanks to two sweeping staircases, the dramatically lit yard and gardens have the appearance of an external ballroom.

Designed and built in the 1820s by architect Decimus Burton, the construction of the whole of Cornwall Terrace was supervised by John Nash, who designed Buckingham Palace. It was named after King George IV, whose titles included the Duke of Cornwall.

The mansion is most famous for serving as the official London residence of the New Zealand High Commissioner from 1955 until the Seventies. The High

Commissioners, from Sir Thomas Clifton Webb onwards, hosted lavish parties where guests included celebrities, ambassadors and royalty.

But in January 1975, London was shocked when the building was hijacked by hippies, who broke in when the terrace was temporarily empty and turned it into a squat.

One Cornwall Terrace was transformed into a ‘temple’. Groups known as the Rainbow People and the Divine Light Mission spent hours meditating and opened a health-food shop on the premises.

After the squatters were evicted in the autumn of 1975, Cornwall Terrace was converted into the headquarters of property company British Land. In recent years, the house has changed hands several times. In 2002, it was registered to telecoms millionaire Charles Wigoder.

Then in 2007, developer Oakmayne Properties bought Cornwall Terrace and gave the houses a makeover. Supervised by English Heritage and the Crown Estate, each home took 83,000 man hours to refurbish. If One Cornwall Terrace sells for the asking price, it will set the record for a terraced house.

‘The most likely buyer would be a businessman from Eastern Europe or Russia,’ said Gary Hersham of Beauchamp Estates.

‘The buyer is unlikely to be from the Middle East because, despite its superb interiors, One Cornwall Terrace does not have enough bedrooms.’

(From The Daily Mail, London)

Tree houses used to be seen as being just for adventurous kids or slightly eccentric adults, but a new generation of designers has begun making ‘tree homes’ that are so luxurious the rich list are paying serious attention.

Architects and interior designers have turned their hands to these deluxe ‘nests’ – and celebrities have been among their first clients.

JK Rowling recently won planning permission to build two £250,000 (Dh1.5 million) tree castles, complete with Hogwarts-style turrets, in the garden of her home in Edinburgh.

The proposed two-storey structures will sit on stilts and feature secret tunnels and a rope bridge.

Meanwhile, Sting, fashion designer Donna Karan and Julianne Moore have already retreated to the branches with their own luxury custom-built tree houses.

It’s not just carpenters creating these new high-up homes, either.

‘Serious’ architects have turned their hands to metal houses suspended from the trees on steel cables, and fitted out with flatscreens and solar panels.

Others are complex structures hidden in the trees in the guise of birds’ nests.

One, concealed in the forests of northern Sweden, is a mirrored cube that simply ‘disappears’ when viewed from some angles (lead picture).

(From The Daily Mail, London, 2012)

It may look more like a theme park than a home, but this huge water park in the Nevada desert is in fact the private pool of an outrageous mansion near Boulder City.

A lazy river meanders round the backyard, taking swimmers past features such as a 20-foot diving pool and a cobblestone-lined water slide. And once the residents have worn themselves out, they can relax in a secret grotto hidden behind a waterfall or take a stool at the old-West saloon.

Yet however successful the owner was in creating an outlandish backyard, it seems their other businesses were not as fortunate – the home has been foreclosed and is on the market for $3 million (Dh11 million).

For the prospective buyers who are not interested in splashing around in the crystal-blue pools or stealing away to a secret waterfall grotto, there is still plenty of fun to be had as the property features a tennis court and two putting greens.

The mansion at the centre of it all is nothing to sneer at either…

The house is 9,245 square feet sitting on 1.5 acres of land with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms covered in marble, two family rooms and large living spaces, including a dining room that sits 10.

According to the listing, the property features ‘Disneyesque’ finishes and strong attention to detail.

The estate also has a garage that can fit more than five vehicles, multiple fireplaces, a sprawling wood-panelled library, an in-house fitness center, a wine cellar and even a private elevator.

While the identity of the luxury home’s previous owners has not been revealed, it is known that the estate was built in 2004.

(From The Daily Mail, London)