Let's dream a little and discover the houses that none of us could afford. A world tour of the most expensive homes.

Let's face it, the most expensive house in the world is worth €1.2 billion, but there's no chance of it ever hitting the property market: it's the Queen of England's residence, Buckingham Palace of course. So our top 5 most expensive houses are out of category, but here are the others.

1. One billion for Antilia

Are you sitting comfortably? The most expensive house in the world, here it is. No, it's not a tower that houses 50 families, but simply the relatives (five people!) of a Bombay businessman. Mukesh Ambani, India's biggest fortune, had this jewel called "Antilia" built for the modest sum of 1 billion dollars. 27 floors, 170 metres high, 37,000 square metres of living space and 2,000 rooms: there's no need to try a game of hide-and-seek here! Terraces, hanging gardens, heliports (three in all), an Olympic swimming pool, a theatre, a personal hospital... In other words, nothing is missing here, not even the 600 people responsible for the daily maintenance of the premises.

2. The Belgian king's villa... in France

On the second step of our ranking is a French property: the Villa Leopolda, sold for 500 million euros in 2008 to a Russian billionaire (but the sale was broken), estimated today at 600 million. The beauty dominates Villefranche-sur-Mer, on the French Riviera. For this price, the former residence of the Belgian king Leopold (who acquired it for a symbolic franc in 1902), some 2,000 square metres of living space are nestled in a park of eight hectares. Little is known about the interior of the Villa Leopolda, a true neo-renaissance palace. It has undoubtedly evolved with its owners: two kings of Belgium, an American architect, a Canadian financier, an Italian industrialist, a Syrian businessman and now the wife of the latter.

Image source: alux.com

3. The Billionaire, Los Angeles

Do you have $250 million to spend? Good thing this house is for sale! Located in California, "The Billionaire", as its owner calls it, overlooks the hills of Bel Air and has a surface area of 3,530 m². The white palace houses twelve bedrooms and twenty-one bathrooms, but also a spa, a bowling alley, a cinema room... Inside, everything is luxury and high-tech, and the whole is sold furnished. For that price (it's the most expensive house in the US), you also get a candy wall, a rooftop helicopter, a luxury sailboat and a hundred pieces of art.  

Image source: christiesrealestate.com

4. Fairfield Pond, on the east coast

Let's stay in the United States, but let's fly to the opposite coast and more precisely to Sagaponack (New York), to discover Fairfield Pond and its 10,000 square metres of living space. Facing the Atlantic, the property of American billionaire Ira Rennert is distinguished by the Italianate facades of its buildings - thirteen in all, including the main house of 6,100 m² (29 bedrooms and 39 bathrooms).

Image source: grablists.com

5. One Hyde Park, London

Valued at $248 million, Fairfield Pond has "relegated" London's One Hyde Park to 5th place in the world.^e in our ranking. But please note that we are not talking about the whole of this luxurious complex located in the heart of the British capital, but only about one flat, bought for the modest sum of 200 million euros. Admittedly, it offers a view of the whole of London and has a room specially designed to protect against gas attacks, but for that price, we would have expected a garden!