Samudra Mahal duplex, Worli in Mumbai, making it the most expensive property transaction in India

In April 2010, an HNI paid in excess of Rs. 36 crore, or about Rs. 99,000 per sqft, for a duplex in Samudra Mahal, Worli in Mumbai, making it the most expensive property transaction in India. The apartment, previously owned by ABN Amro bank, is located on the 19th and 20th floors of the sea-facing building. Spread over 3,640 sqft, the flat has four bedrooms. Samudra Mahal also has a swimming pool, a children's play area and a football field

Ratan Tata's Elegant Mumbai Mansion

(inset) Ratan Tata's Colaba bungalow. Image courtesy: Reuters

An elegant sea-facing house at Colaba is getting ready to welcome Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata, as he prepares to hand over the reigns of the salt-to-steel-to-software business group to his successor.

The house, yet unnamed, has received a partial occupancy certificate from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, but it will be at least six months before it is fully fitted to receive the head of India's biggest corporate house by market capitalisation. Ratan Tata is set to retire in December next year, when he turns 75. And if the all-white house with floor-to-ceiling glass windows is anything to go by, like most other things, he has planned his walk into the sunset well.

The three-storied house, located opposite Colaba post office, is divided into seven levels and has an infinity pool at the top.

Inside the House
The 13,350 square foot property, twenty minutes drive from Bombay House, the Tata Sons headquarters, rises 13.5 metres from the ground and has a living room, a kitchen, a study and a bedroom on the ground floor. The ground floor itself is elevated a few feet from the ground.

First-storey up, every floor has two levels. While living areas occupy the first level on each floor, the bedrooms and other rooms are on level two. The first floor, which has a large sun deck running across the entire floor, has a living area, two bedrooms and a study. Though Tata is not known to throw too many parties, the sun deck can easily accommodate around fifty people, a bar and barbecues.

The second floor has three bedrooms, a living room, and a library. The third floor, which looks like the place where Tata will spend a lot of his time, has a sophisticated media room, a bedroom and his personal gymnasium.

The second level of this floor has a swimming pool, a lounge and a sun desk. The basement of the bungalow has a servant's quarters and parking space for 10-12 cars. "The work on the lawn, a small garden and a ramp for cars is underway. Simultaneously, work on the interiors has also begun," a source said.

All the necessary approvals and permissions for the bungalow were given in 2008 by the Mumbai Heritage Committee, the Urban Development Department and the fire brigade. Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority's no-objection was also sought before the plans were given a go-ahead as the building that was demolished to make way for Tata's retirement home was a building and the entire area is a heritage precinct.

Author: Geeta Desai

http://luxpresso.com/news-lifestyle/ratan-tatas-elegant-new-mumbai-mansion/5990

Lalit Modi's London home on 117, Sloane Street, London

(inset) Lalit Modi's London home on 117, Sloane Street, London. Image courtesy: BCCL

Wonder what Lalit Modi is up to, when he's away from the country? Well not much, than just relaxing around in his London home. Modi's family shifted to a new residence last month. Their London home we hear is situated on 117, Sloane Street in upmarket Belgravia, a district in Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Staying true to his personal style, Modi's 7000 sqft 5-storey mansion comes with eight double bedrooms, seven bathrooms, two guest rooms, four reception rooms, two kitchens and a dedicated lift.

The unfurnished mansion, which had been on the market for an affordable rent of £11,500 (approx Rs. 8.2 lakh) till Modi moved in, has been taken on a long lease with a provision for extensions. This will be Modi's home during his temporary stay in London

http://luxpresso.com/news-lifestyle/inside-lalit-modis-london-house/6153

Viyay Mallya's yacht

Viyay Mallya's yacht, Indian Empress

They've got the fastest cars, palatial houses. And now they will soon use the surplus to realise their sailing and flying fantasies. Wealthy Indians are now splurging on private jets and yachts and the trend is set to increase in the future.

Recently, a poll of 160 advisers at a private bank within global financial firm Citigroup Inc - which represents 5,000 clients who are worth, on average more than $100 million (approx Rs. 440 crore) each - found that super loaded Indians are more keen on buying jets and yachts, increasing their spending by 93 percent.

According to all the private banks that contributed to the survey, rich Africans and Russians clients are likely to increase the amount they devote to philanthropy and charitable generosities, a Reuters report stated. Russian clients picked up spending on jets and yachts over the last five years, but only half of that is expected to increase over the next five years

http://luxpresso.com/news-indulge/wealthy-indians-eye-jets-and-yachts/4218

Indian Apache Houses

Apache Houses

Hogans were made with a frame of logs and sticks and usually covered with mud. 

Hogan

Outside view of a mud hogan


Inside view of a hogan

Hogans are the name of one of the styles of homes that the Apache people lived in. Hogans were made with a frame of logs and sticks and usually covered with mud. Hogans were one room dwellings that were unique in the fact that they were classified as male or female dwelling according to their shape. A male Hogan was cone shaped, while a female Hogan was a six or eight sided dwelling. The door of a Hogan always faced east. The floor of the Hogan represented Mother Earth and the roof, Father Sky.

Kowa

Another Apache dwelling consisted of a dome shaped frame of cottonwood or other poles, thatched with grass. The house itself was called a Kowa and the grass thatch, "Pi". Sometimes these thatch houses are incorrectly referred to as just pi houses.

In another variation, the thatched house was built into the side of a hill or a mound of dirt. This style house was later adopted by white settlers who homesteaded on the plains, until a more permanent house could be built. The settlers called them sod houses.

Apache Wickiup

 
Apache Indians Building Wickiup Art Print
Buy at AllPosters.com
Framed   MountedThe wickiup was the most commonly used style for apache houses. The frame of the wickiup was made from thicker branches and covered in brush. Sometimes the brush was also covered with a buffalo hide. Wickiups were small dwellings, often the size of a modern camp tent, and an Apache woman could build a new wickiup in two hours if there was enough brush available.

Apache Tipi

The Plains Apache and many of the Lipan Apache tribes adopted the buffalo hide tipi style house. Tipis were easier to keep warm than wickiups and usually had more room inside than a wickiup

Ambani's Home is Cheap Compared to This Swiss Mansion

Mukesh Ambani's $1 billion home Antilla, which is possibly under investigation right now, has some serious competition. There's another billion-dollar home that's reported to be coming up in Switzerland. And this one makes Antilla seem modest, with its astonishing $12.2 billion construction cost.

What's making this Swiss villa the most expensive in the world is some seriously bling interior decor. It seems  the owner is some kind of bling king, for over 200,000 kg of precious metal, including gold and platinum, has been used to bring in the 'bling' element.

The glitzy decor, mostly fixtures and fittings, has been designed by Stuart Hughes (who else could it be). He teamed up with Kevin Huber of exklusivHAUS, a firm that adds customised features to homes.

The other exclusive features of the villa include a bar, which is further raised by using meteoric stone with shavings of original dinosaur bone from the 65 million-year-old Raptor, the T-REX. 

The uber-opulent den accommodates eight rooms with special stone wine cellar and a garage with only four parking places. It took the team about five and half years to build this mansion. Although the exact location isn't out yet, we're pretty sure access too it is going be quite a luxury too.

Images via exklusivHAUS

http://luxpresso.com/news-lifestyle/ambanis-home-is-cheap-compared-to-this-swiss-mansion/6878

Ambanis’ Antilla , World's Most Expensive Home,Valued At A Cool $1 Billion (VIDEO)

To everyone’s surprise, price tagged at $ 2 Billion, Antilla (named after the mythical island) is in India and is World’s First Billion Dollar Home. Indeed, like its name, it houses stuff that surrounds myth!

Owner is India’s richest, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance fame whose net worth was 43 Billion in March of this year and was the 5th richest in the world.

The only remotely comparable high-rise property currently on the market is the 70 million dollar triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York, designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air.

When the Ambani residence is finished in January, completing four years of design and construction, it will be 27 story and 550 feet high (height which normally houses 60 floors) with 400,000 square feet of interior space. Click on the picture to see the video.

However, all of this has not been without its share of controversies. Antilla is being built on land sold to Ambanis’ to be used as orphanage by Waqf Board.The land measuring 11793 sq yards was sold in 2004 by the trust for a charitable purpose of looking after the destitutes and orphan children belonging to the Khoja Mohammedan community. The land was given to the Maharashtra State Board of Waqf by Jivagi Raje Scindia in 1957. The MoU was signed with four companies namely Antillia Commercials, SaphireRealtors, Rockline Constructions and Baun Foundation trust.

The Waqf Board has told the Supreme Court that it sold the property thinking it was to be used for an orphanage and that commercial buildings are not allowed on Waqf land.Property having a market value of Rs 400 crore was sold only for Rs 21.05 crto M/s Antillia Commercial, a company of Reliance group of Industries. Rs 16 crores were also paid to Waqf Board for No Objection Certificate.

The Supreme Court on Friday decided not to intervene in the construction of the building on Waqf board land in Mumbai and has directed the matter back to the Bombay high court.

Critics have also said that showing off such extravagant wealth in a country rife with poverty is insensitive and ethically questionable. This is excessive and ostentatious given that more than 65 percent of Mumbai’s 18 million residents live in tenements.

Features which have made it the world’s best:

• The first six floors will be reserved for parking alone, and that too for cars belonging only to Mukesh’s family. Space for a total of 168 imported cars has been earmarked here.
• Where possible, the designers say, whether it’s for the silver railings, magnificient crystal chandeliers, woven area rugs or steel support beams, the Ambanis are using Indian companies, contractors, craftsmen and materials firms.
  
• Elements of Indian culture juxtapose newer designs. For example, the sinks in a lounge extending off the entertainment level, which features a 65 seat movie theater and wine room, are shaped like ginkgo leaves (native to India) with the stem extending to the faucet to guide the water into the basin.
• The top floors of entertaining space, where Ambani plans to host business guests (or just relax) offer panoramic views of the Arabian Sea.
• No two floors are alike in either plans or materials used. If a metal, wood or crystal is part of theninth-floor design, it shouldn’t be used on the eleventh floor, for example. The idea is to blend styles and architectural elements so spaces give the feel of consistency, but without repetition.
• Atop six stories of parking lots, Antilla’s living quarters begin at a lobbywith nine elevators, as well as several storage rooms and lounges.
• Down dual stairways with silver-covered railings is a large ballroom with 80% of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. It features a retractable showcase for pieces of art, a mount of LCD monitors and embedded speakers, as well as stages for entertainment. The hall opens to an indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms, powder rooms and allows access to a nearby “entourage room” for security guards and assistants to relax.

• On the health level, local plants decorate the outdoor patio near the swimming pool and yoga studio. The floor also features an ice room where residents and guests can escape the Mumbai heat to a small, cooled chamber dusted by man-made snow flurries. Each family member has a separate gymn here.

• For more temperate days, the family will enjoy a four-story open garden.In profile, the rebar-enforced beams form a “W” shape that supports the upper two-thirds of the building while creating an open-air atrium of gardens, flowers and lawns.
• Gardens, whether hanging hydroponic plants, or fixed trees, are a critical part of the building’s exterior adornment but also serve a purpose: The plants act as an energy-saving device by absorbing sunlight, thus deflecting it from the living spaces and making it easier to keep the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. An internal core space on the garden level contains entertaining rooms and balconies that clear the tree line and offer views of downtown Mumbai.
• Antilla’s shape is based on Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like Feng Shui that is said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects. At Antilia, the overall plan is based on the square, which is Vaastu’s basic geometric unit, and a garden level occupies the tower’s midsection, the point where all energies converge according to the Vaastu Purusha Mandala.
• The 27-story building is eco-friendly, with hydroponically grown plants cooling the building and filtering its air, limiting the need for air-conditioning. With vertical gardens, you can use the whole wall almost like a tree and increase the green area of the site by five or 10 times over what it would be if you just did a green roof.

The four floors at the top, just below the hellipad that provides a view of the Arabian Sea and a superb view of the city’s skyline, is where Mukesh with his wife Neeta, their three kids and Mukesh’s mother Kokilaben, will reside. Nearly 600 people would attend to the six in the family.

The residence tower stands on Mumbai’s Altamount Road on an acre site where real estate costs as much as $1800/square foot. Mumbai is the densest city of India with almost 30,000 people per square kilometer.

The architects, Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates, the designers behind the Mandarin Oriental, based in Dallas and Los Angeles, were picked up by Nita Ambani, who was recently in news for being gifted a $59 million air jetby her husband on her 44th birthday! The jet, like their new home, was fitted with a plush bar with mood lighting, a master bedroom, showers and a state-of-the-art entertainment cabin.

The architects and designers say,”You are looking at the model for the buildings of the future.”

http://helloji.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/ambanis-antilla/

Antilla, World's Most Expensive Home,Valued At A Cool $1 Billion (VIDEO)

A ballroom lit with chandeliers of solid gold. A 50-seat theater and nine cocktail lounges. Three helicopter pads and six underground floors of parking.

These are just a handful of the amenities one can reportedly find at Antilla, the newly-completed Mumbai home of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani. Valued at a staggering $1 billion, the 27-story, 400,000-square-foot home -- which employs a housekeeping staff of 600 -- is beingbilled as the world's most expensive home. According to MSNBC, a glitzy housewarming party is planned for the end of the month and promises to be a much-sought-after invite among India's elite.

One less-than-savory aspect of the home which designers have yet to tout -- Antilla, named after a mythical island, also provides a bird's eye view of Mumbai's slums, home to 60 percent of the city's population. Named by Forbes as India's richest man and the world's fourth richest, Ambani has been slammed for building a "soaring monument" to the divide between the country's rich and poor.

Watch MSNBC's full report on the home here:

Update: This article originally stated that the house was built for $1 billion. It is currently valued at $1 billion, but was built for less

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/05/antilla-worlds-most-expen_n_779409.html

Ambanis Reluctant to Move Into Antilla

Image courtesy: Reuters

For over a year now, Mukesh and Nita Ambani have been dilly dallying about formally shifting into their Rs. 4000 crore new home even though Nita has moved her trousseau into Antilla as a symbolic gesture of grah pravesh.

It has been learnt that though the towering home on Altamount Road is regularly used as a venue for film screenings, sundry parties and informal get together with friends, the Ambanis are clearly in no hurry to vacate their current Cuffe Parade residence, Sea Wind.

Society watchers believe the procrastination can be blamed on the adverse attention their lavish residence has attracted of late. While there is no official confirmation on whether the Ambanis have completely shelved plans of relocating into arguably one of the world's costliest home there is speculation that they may still be scouting for another suitable property.

When the US consulate moved from Bhulabhai Desai Road to Bandra Kurla Complex, they put Lincoln House - estimated to be worth over Rs. 600 crore - on the market. Almost immediately, rumours of Mukesh Ambani being one of the many private bidders started doing the rounds.

India's Smallest & Coolest Luxury Hotel

Looking for absolute privacy on your next holiday? Try checking into the Anopura, the smallest luxury hotel in India. Located in the Aravali mountains close to Jaipur, this high-end hotel is designed by Philippe de Villegas, the ex-honorary Belgium consul in Marakech and has just three rooms. 

This exclusive property, touted to be a global destination, has just two suites located in a luxed-up version of a Rajasthani-style thatched hut. Another sleeping option is in a luxury tent set up in the garden that gives you access to lush green farmland.
 
The suites, Kedjeri and Champa are available for $370 per night (Approx Rs. 17,427), whereas the tent, Jasmine is available for $340 (approx Rs. 16,014) per night. You can also rent out the whole of Anopura for a $1050 per night (apporxRs. 45,455). The designs of the rooms are inspired by a traditional Rajasthani country home.

The rooms are decorated with local art. Other than super-comfy beds and cooling from the Indian summer, the place also stocks up on books so that the guests feel at home. Anopura, set in an agricultural environ complete with a deep-plunge pool, lures the traveller to rural India.

What to Do
You can explore the vast property on foot, on camel-back, on a jeep or a mountain bike. Other leisure activities you indulge in during your stay there are bird watching, elephant riding, kite-flying or playing petanque, a French sport similar to bocce or boules.

Images via Anopura

http://luxpresso.com/news-indulge/indias-smallest-coolest-luxury-hotel/7664

World's Most Expensive Kitchen Costs Rs. 2 Crore

Image via Born Rich

While some would say you can get an entire kitchen in a few lakhs, the Colosseo Oro, designed by Marazzi Design, a London-based kitchen designer costs as much as a small house in Mumbai.

At £300,000 (approx Rs. 2 crore), this kitchen has come to be known as the world's most expensive. Unveiled at a recent design trade show in London, the Colosseo Oreo is limited edition. If you're one of the lucky few to make the purchase, you will be one of the only 10 people in the world to own it.

Cook in Luxury 

Why the high price? This kitchen presents you with ultra luxury finishes. Detailing like 24k gold leafing, crocodile embossed leather, metallic gloss Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances and Venetian ink-stained gold glass are just the beginning. The cabinets and surfaces have been finished with 12 coats of clear laquer applied by hand and finished with glitter. And that is still not all, the lights are made of none other than Swarovski crystal.

The bill for all the appliances in this kitchen is an incredible £55,000 (approx Rs. 42 lakh). The mirrored steel max-fired oven hood costs £8,000 (approx Rs. 6 lakh) and the Zaha Hadid designer tap costs £6,000 (approx Rs. 4 lakh).

And this kitchen isn't for just anyone. The target group is said to be high end social food lovers who like to entertain while making a statement

http://luxpresso.com/news-indulge/worlds-most-expensive-kitchen-costs-rs-2-crore/7971

Rishikesh Holiday Home by Rajiv Saini

Dream of owning a home overlooking the Ganges? Take a look at this house in Rishikesh built by well-known architectRajiv Saini. This holiday home at the foothills of the Himalayas with three expansive bedroom suites is just the place to go to for some peace and quiet. 

Inspired by energy of the gushing Ganges, the house has informal places for you to relax with family and friends. Just at the main teakwood door entrance is a lounging area with a view to the river. It holds a glass and wood framed dining area.

You can access the bedrooms via a corridor lined with bamboo trees.  The corridor also leads you to the TV lounge on the other side. The master bedroom comes with a bathroom and gives you an access to the outdoor bathroom as well. The place also houses a private spa.

Most of the house is made of natural materials except for the ceiling and the retaining walls which are made of concrete. The internal walls are made of bricks that are painted white or random rubble masonry. The flooring is of ochre sandstone and timbre whereas furnishing on the teakwood furniture is with cotton or linen.


http://luxpresso.com/news-indulge/rishikesh-holiday-home-by-rajiv-saini/8037

Inside Sachin Tendulkar's New Home

Image courtesy: BCCL

On Wednesday, Sachin Tendulkar shifted to his newly-constructed home at 19-A, Perry Cross Road, Bandra (West). With this, India's most famous cricketing star realised a long-cherished dream of living in a house of his own.

As a battery of photo journalists clicked away, Tendulkar, clad in a simple striped Tshirt and trousers and accompanied by his mother, children and wife, entered the villa, spread over 6,000 sq ft. Fans had put up a special banner, welcoming the family to the quiet neighbourhood. Many waited long to catch a glimpse of their favourite cricketer. Among them was a bunch of school kids. 

As Tendulkar stepped out to meet them, he spoke to the waiting media and said, "I am really thrilled and happy today, especially for my mother and my family. Everyone has a dream of owning a house. I, too, had this dream. I am happy that I was able to fulfil it. I had received the flat where I used to live earlier under the sports quota. I have now vacated that place, so that some other sportsperson can live there," he said. 

Tendulkar spent his early childhood in Sahitya Sahawas Colony, Bandra (E), and later shifted to La Mer Housing Society. He purchased the Bandra (W) property to construct his dream home a few years ago at a whopping Rs. 39 crores. 

Inside the Villa

According to reports, Tendulkar and his wife Anjali are likely to have their bedroom on the top floor, while the rooms of their two children - son Arjun and daughter Sara - and a guest room will occupy the two floors below. 

A temple, living and dining rooms, besides arrangements for displaying various awards and trophies won by Tendulkar who holds most of the batting records and is one short of completing a century of international tons - will occupy most of the ground floor.

The first basement will house servant quarters and master surveillance room, while the second basement has been kept for Tendulkar's other passion - cars. Besides, there is also a swimming pool on the terrace. 

The villa has been secured with highwalled fencing, CCTV cameras and sensors

http://luxpresso.com/news-lifestyle/inside-sachin-tendulkars-new-home/8047