One Of The World's Most Expensive Homes

Villa Leopolda, Villefranche-sur-mer, France

Lily Safra, whose approximate net worth is $1.2 billion is the owner of the 3rd most expensive home in the world. The price in 2008 was $750 million or 500 million euro.

Lily Safra is a Brazilian philanthropist and social figure who attained considerable wealth after four marriages.

In regards to the home, King Leopold II reportedly built a series of waterside homes for his many mistresses.

This 20-acre estate, went up for sale in 2008, when Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov attempted to buy it. He eventually pulled out of the deal, forfeiting a 50 million euro deposit.

Villa La Leopolda in its current incarnation was designed and built from 1929 to 1931 by an American architect, Ogden Codman, Jr., on an estate once owned by King Leopold II of Belgium. Leopold had made the previous estate a present for his mistress Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix, also known as Caroline Lacroix, and it derives its name from him.

After Leopold's death, Blanche Delacroix was evicted, and his nephew, King Albert I, became its owner. During World War I it was used as a military hospital.

The Safras bought the home in 1988.