Ambanis' 'only home in the world' is world's most expensive house

New Delhi: Billionaire Indian industrialist Mukesh Ambani's 27-storey, 48,780 square ft residence in the city of Mumbai, Antilia, has been declared the world's most expensive house by Forbes.

 

The billion-dollar mansion has six underground levels of parking, three helicopter pads, a 'health' level, and reportedly requires about 600 staff to run it, says Forbes. 

 

Named after a mythical island, Antilla had sparked off multiple controversies with many citizens expressing reservations about it-- while some declared the house an extravagent display of wealth in a country so deeply impoverished, others questioned the aesthetic appeal of it.

 

On top of it all, a New York Times report claimed the Ambanis had not moved in to their new home, considered one of the most expensive private residences, and family members only slept there "sometimes".

 

But contrary to speculation that the Ambanis had not moved into their home as it did not conform to the ancient Indian architectural doctrine of 'vastu shastra', Nita Ambani told Vanity Fair that they had moved into the house around September 2011 and some of the media reports about their house were "exaggerated."

 

"This is the first time I am talking about my home. There have been exaggerated reports in the media about it I must say," she said in the article 'The Talk of Mumbai,' the title referring to Antilla.

 

"We moved in two months ago. And then it was going around that we have not moved in. It is a modern home with an Indian heart...It is the only home that we have in the world," she said in the interview which was conducted in November.