AMERICA's most expensive house could finally hit the market for $500million this year as the developer adds the final touches to the LA hilltop super-pad.
The One sprawls over 100,000 sq ft and boasts 20 bedrooms, four pools, a bowling alley and 360 degree views over Southern California from its prime location in Bel-Air.
Film producer turned developer Nile Niami says the interior is nearly finished and he's finally ready to "test the market" four years after he first announced the eye-watering price tag.
He said in a recent interview: “When you have something that’s as rare as the Mona Lisa, you can command whatever you want for it.”
If he achieves anything like the asking price it would smash the record for America's most expensive home – currently the $238million penthouse bought by hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin in Manhattan.
It would also eclipse the reported $275million a Chinese tycoon is paying for a mega-mansion in London's Knightsbridge, and the world record $300million a Saudi Prince paid for a French chateau.
Niami began working on The One seven years ago.
One early design feature that won a lot of attention — a room with tanks of live jellyfish lining the walls — has been dropped because it was too difficult.
But Niami said he’s got something planned that’s “even better”.
Other features are said to include a bowling alley, a beauty salon and a 45-seat IMAX cinema.
Thirteen of the 20 bedrooms are in the main house, including a vast 5,500ft master suite that on its own is twice as big as the average US house.
There are at least four swimming pools, not counting the moat and an indoor spa.
It also has a garage with space for 30 cars.
Neighbors include Friends star Jennifer Aniston and Tesla boss Elon Musk.
The exact layout and specs are still a secret as Niami won't let anyone inside until it is finished.
He believes other recent blockbuster house sales – including six of over $100million in the US last year – prove his asking price is not fanciful.
He said: “When the house was started, I had no basis to ask $500 million — now there are so many triple-digit sales in LA and the world that the asking price is not unreasonable any more.”
The architect behind the project is Paul McClean, a Hollywood designer whose recent clients include modern-day princes and princesses of Bel Air, such as Bitcoin billionaires the Winklevoss twins and style icon Calvin Klein.
Property expert Jonathan Miller said the eye-catching features of the house actually make it less sellable.
He told Bloomberg: “The problem is, the more amenities you add, the more you personalize the property.
“Even though the intention is to draw eyeballs to the property, you are also personalizing it, which may reduce the size of the market pie.
"It’s a very small, very tight market.”
But Niami says that’s not a problem and he has already been talking to potential buyers.
However the market is fragile, as shown by another Bel-Air super-mansion that was once the most-expensive home for sale in America.
The 38,000 sq ft property called Billionaire was listed by developer Bruce Makowsky for $250million but eventually sold for $94million in October, a 62 per cent price cut.
And a prime plot in Beverly Hills called The Mountain – listed for $1billion despite being undeveloped – sold at auction last year for $100,000.
Another house dubbed America's most expensive, a palatial Bel-Air estate where The Beverly Hillbillies was filmed, had $160million knocked off its $350million asking price.
Niami has previously courted publicity by using semi-naked models draped in gold to advertise another LA mansion, named Opus, which went on sale in 2017 for $100million.
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