Most Expensive Houses in the US (2025): Inside the Top 5 Luxury Home Sales Ever Recorded

Date of Publishing: October 18, 2025

The Price of Prestige: When Architecture Becomes Power

In America, the richest don’t just buy homes — they reshape skylines.
From the limestone towers of Manhattan to the cinematic palaces of Bel-Air, the most expensive houses in the US reveal how money, design, and identity merge at the top of society.

“Ultra-prime buyers are collecting legacy architecture the way investors collect art,” says Liam Bailey, Global Head of Research at Knight Frank. “These properties are no longer about square footage — they’re cultural trophies.”

220 Central Park South, New York City — $238 Million (2019)

Property Summary

Buyer: Ken Griffin (Founder of Citadel)
Architect: Robert A.M. Stern Architects
Type: Multi-level penthouse
Size: ~24,000 sq ft (four floors)
Bedrooms / Bathrooms: 11 / 14
Sale Year: 2019

Ken Griffin’s $238M penthouse at 220 Central Park South overlooking Central Park. — The four-story limestone penthouse redefining New York luxury.

Why It’s One of the Most Expensive Homes in the US

Griffin’s $238M penthouse remains America’s most expensive residential sale.
The combination of location, craftsmanship, and timing — at the height of New York’s wealth boom — made it a once-in-a-generation purchase.

Architectural and Design Features

Robert A.M. Stern’s design blends classical grandeur with modern discretion: limestone façades, 12-foot ceilings, and vast salons overlooking Central Park. Every detail expresses permanence — the new definition of Manhattan power.

Cultural Context

For Griffin, it wasn’t a home but a statement: finance had conquered architecture.
As The New York Times noted, it redefined what “top floor” truly means.

Chartwell Mansion, Bel-Air, California — $150 Million (2019)

Property Summary

Buyer: Lachlan Murdoch (Fox Corporation)
Architect: Sumner Spaulding (1933)
Type: French Neoclassical château
Size: ~25,000 sq ft on 10.3 acres
Sale Year: 2019

Chartwell Mansion in Bel-Air, the $150M French-style estate bought by Lachlan Murdoch. — A Los Angeles legend where media dynasties meet Old Hollywood glamour.

Why It’s Worth $150 Million

Chartwell’s allure is its rarity: an authentic Old Hollywood estate reborn for modern billionaires.
Perched above Bel-Air, it’s part museum, part media dynasty residence.

Architectural and Design Features

Modeled after 18th-century Parisian châteaux, its limestone façade and symmetrical gardens recall Versailles. The interior glows with marble, walnut, and chandeliers — heritage in architectural form.

Cultural Context

When Murdoch bought Chartwell, he wasn’t purchasing space — he was securing cultural continuity.
It became the West Coast’s answer to a European palace.

3. Copper Beech Farm, Greenwich, Connecticut — $138.83 Million (2023)

Property Summary

Buyer: Reportedly Daniel Milstein (Finance Entrepreneur)
Built: 1896 for the Lauder Greenway family
Type: Gilded Age Seaside Estate
Size: ~13,500 sq ft on 50 acres
Sale Year: 2023

Copper Beech Farm in Greenwich, a 50-acre waterfront Gilded Age estate sold for $138.83M. — Connecticut’s most expensive home, where Gilded Age heritage meets modern wealth.

Why It’s Worth $138.83 Million

Copper Beech Farm’s value lies in its legacy and land.
It’s the East Coast’s largest waterfront private estate — a sanctuary of 19th-century craftsmanship.

Architectural and Design Features

Stone and slate construction, original fireplaces, coffered ceilings, and sprawling verandas frame panoramic views of Long Island Sound.
Every inch whispers permanence — a rarity in modern America.

Cultural Context

In a market chasing modernism, Copper Beech Farm embodies old money.
It represents a return to history, not novelty.

4. The One, Bel-Air, Los Angeles — $126 Million (2022)

Property Summary

Buyer: Richard Saghian (CEO, Fashion Nova)
Architect: Paul McClean
Developer: Nile Niami
Size: 105,000 sq ft
Sale Year: 2022

The One, Bel-Air’s 105,000 sq ft mega-mansion sold for $126M. — The mansion that broke every rule of architecture — and still made history.

Why It’s Worth $126 Million

“The One” was designed to be the ultimate fantasy — a $500M dream that became a $126M reality.
Even after foreclosure, it holds the record as the most expensive auctioned home in US history.

Architectural and Design Features

Walls of glass, floating decks, four pools, a nightclub, cinema, and 50-car gallery.
At over 100,000 sq ft, it’s architecture as performance — audacious, limitless, digital-age luxury.

Cultural Context

Saghian’s purchase bridged two worlds: fast fashion and forever property.
It’s the physical embodiment of modern entrepreneurial excess.

5. 924 Bel Air Road, Los Angeles — $94 Million (2019)

Property Summary

Buyer: Charles Cohen (WinterSun Properties LLC)
Developer: Bruce Makowsky
Type: Modern Ultra-Luxury Estate
Size: ~38,000 sq ft
Sale Year: 2019

924 Bel Air Road, the modern mansion once listed for $250M, sold for $94M. — “Billionaire” — the home that turned real estate into performance art.

Why It’s Worth $94 Million

Marketed as “Billionaire,” this home turned real estate into a lifestyle brand.
Its sale marked the end of LA’s speculative mansion era and the beginning of a more grounded market.

Architectural and Design Features

All-glass walls, chrome surfaces, and marble accents define its cinematic minimalism.
The infinity pool merges with the skyline — a literal reflection of status.

Cultural Context

Together with The One, it illustrates LA’s shift from spectacle to sustainability in ultra-luxury development.

Market Insight: The Geography of American Wealth

Across these five properties, America’s wealth map takes shape:

Region	Wealth Identity
New York	Discretion, permanence, architectural legacy
California	Spectacle, reinvention, cultural dominance
Connecticut	Heritage, continuity, generational wealth

As Liam Bailey notes, “In 2025, luxury real estate is less about ownership and more about narrative — buyers want their homes to express permanence in a transient world.”