We are used to famous people selling their mansions at million-dollar prices but have you ever wondered how much some of the world’s biggest and luxurious palaces would cost if they were listed for sale? These mansions may not be on sale any time soon, but they also have a monetary value. Valuers have estimated the value of some of the world’s famous palaces, and the results are jaw-dropping. Below are the valuations of some of the world’s most luxurious palaces.
Louvre Palace
This former royal residence in the centre of Paris is now a museum. The palace was built in the 14th century and is home to some of the world’s most famous and valuable art collections like the Mona Lisa, which is valued at $1.5 billion. There is also a variety of priceless antiques used by its occupants before the French revolution. According to Patrice de Moncan, a French historian, the Louvre palace alone is worth $10.5 billion as it stands on a 210,000 square meters piece of land in the centre of Paris. The 35,000 artworks and 38,000 antique objects in the museum have an estimated value of $35 billion. So, the total value of the Louvre and its contents is more than $45.5 billion.
Tokyo Imperial Palace
Built in 1888 on the site of the ancient Edo Castle, Tokyo’s imperial palace is home to the Japanese Emperor Akihito ( position 24 in the Royal family CV). The palace occupies 3.41 square kilometres of land in the middle of Chiyoda. In addition to the main palace, there are also administrative buildings, gardens and museums on the land. The palace and its grounds were once estimated to have a higher value than all the real estate in the state of California. Chidoya area is still one of Tokyo’s prime real estate areas, where the estimated cost of a square metre is $33,000. So, the value of the palace based on land alone is $11.25 billion, and everything else is valued at $1 billion.
Winter Palace
This palace in St Petersburg, Russia was the official residence of the Russian royal family before it became part of the Hermitage Museum. The Winter palace occupies 60,000 square metres and contains 1,500 rooms, which are decorated in both neoclassical and baroque styles. The palace also has valuable treasure like Classical Greek Sculptures, Egyptian mummies, diamond-encrusted Faberge eggs and some Old Master paintings. The average cost of land in St Petersburg’s prime areas is $24,000 per square meters, meaning the Winter Palace is worth $1.44 billion based on land alone. The treasures estimated value is $5 billion, so the total value of this property could be more than $6.44 billion.
Buckingham Palace
This palace in Westminster, London, is the queen’s official residence. Build in the 17th century, this building has 775 lavish rooms, a stable block, swimming pool and 40 acres of ground. Each of the rooms is decorated with high-value antique furniture and objects.
There are also 450 super-valuable paintings on the palace’s walls at any given time. A top real estates firm valued the palace at $2.68 billion based on its size. The value almost doubles when you factor in the value of the furniture, artworks and luxury amenities, and the total estimated value is $5.04 billion.
Istana Nurul Iman Palace
Built in 1984, the Istana Nurul Iman Palace is the official residence of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei.
Its enormous size of 200,000 square metres makes it the world’s largest palace that still serves as a royal residence. The palace boasts of 1,788 rooms, 5,000 guests banqueting hall and a mosque that can accommodate 1500 worshippers. There are also luxury amenities like the swish nightclub and five swimming pools. The total cost of building the palace back in 1984 was $1.4 billion, but it is worth $3.5 billion today as a result of inflation.
Windsor Castle
Windsor castle dates back to the 11th century, making it is the longest-occupied palace in the world, and has served 41 Monarchs. The palace occupies 53,000 square meters of land at the Berkshire’s Windsor great Park and its design is a combination of Victorian, Georgian and Gothic Styles. Some of the Treasures in the Palace include King Charles II’s bed and priceless artworks. The estimated value of this palace is $219 million.