When most think of a life of luxury, they picture royal families with the biggest and most expensive homes. The most expensive house in the world is located on a hill in the heart of Rome and is owned by Italy’s Ludovisi noble family.
Not only is Villa Aurora the best of the best but it also features the only ceiling mural ever painted by the Italian Baroque old master Caravaggio, upping the home’s price tag significantly. The mural was reportedly painted by Carravaggio in 1597 and is estimated to have a value of $310 million itself.
The 30,000-square-foot, 16th-century villa is also located a short walk from the famous Via Veneto, the Piazza di Spagna and the Porta Pinciana.
The Villa Aurora was originally used as a hunting lodge but now finds itself at the heart of a legal battle. The Italian court has already ruled that it should be sold at auction. The only problem seems to be that the price set for the property is so high that no one seems interested in paying for it.
“You have to have a billionaire; a millionaire is not enough for this,” Princess Rita Boncompagni-Ludovisi, the villa’s current occupant, said. “It needs someone with deep pockets, who doesn’t care if you have to spend ten thousand on a water leak or something.”
The 72-year-old princess and three sons from her husband’s first marriage are engaged in a legal battle since the parties couldn’t come to an agreement about the home. The auction was meant to sell the home with the group splitting the profits between them.
in January 2022, the first auction was held. Villa Aurora had a price tag of $539 million because of its historical and artistic value. The property was unable to find a buyer then and they’re still in the same boat now even after multiple other auctions.
“I would have been amazed if a buyer had come forward. The price is too high,” Alessandro Zuccari, a professor at Sapienza University in Rome who helped with the valuation, said.
Now, Princess Boncompagni-Ludovisi has asked the Italian Government to purchase the villa and preserve it. Her wish aligns with the nearly 40,000 signatories of a petition, but despite the heavily discounted price, Villa Aurora will most likely remain on the market.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/01/19/1074096108/villa-aurora-auction