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THE TOP TEN

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$165,000,000
Beverly Hills, Calif.
The Beverly House Compound
Kurt Rappaport, Stephen Shapiro
Westside Estate Agency

$125,000,000
Greenwich, Conn.
Dunnellen Hall
David Ogilvy
David Ogilvy & Associates

$125,000,000
Los Angeles, Calif.
Fleur de Lys
Robert Kass, Joyce Rey
Windermere Properties,
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

center in the kitchen came from a restaurant in New York.

$100,000,000

_{Palm Beach, Fla.} To understand the true value of any of these properties, Chase believes you have to take a step beyond the finishes and amenities and look at the experience the entire property offers. “I think it's not about the feature but about the benefit,” she observes. “In this uncertain world, people are looking for a place to reflect and rejuvenate. When you are at Tranquility, you just want to stay there for the rest of your life, there is such a peaceful feeling.”

Donald Trump’s estate at 515 N. County Road comes with almost 500 feet of unobstructed Atlantic Ocean frontage.

The benefit comes not from a single amenity or opulent finish, but rather from the overlay of every facet. Although both ranch properties, BootJack Ranch and Bell Ranch, offer a total escape, the experience is not unlike any of the top 10. Discos, ballrooms, private ponds, stables, trails,

gardens, art studios, two-level libraries, boat houses, huge theaters, Pilates and yoga studios
all incorporate experiences that bring value. Buyers in this echelon “want privacy and securi-
ty as well as all the recreational amenities. They want to be entertained and to entertain at
home,” says Kay Coughlin.

Nothing, no detail, escapes scrutiny. A good example is 1236 South Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach. The driveway is composed of more than 500,000 small stones from the Pacific coast in Mexico, hand-selected on the basis of size, shape and color. Throughout the grounds, orchids stud the trees. Inside, a perfect symmetry of material, space and light elevates the rooms to a higher aesthetic. “Wherever you look in this house, there are view corridors that are really vignettes. Everything is so carefully crafted and thoughtfully placed, it's truly an inspiration,” says Paulette Koch, who is listing the house for the Corcoran Group in Palm Beach.

Also changing is the way ultra-high-end properties are marketed. Not only are they geared to an international audience, but owners are desiring a greater degree of privacy than in the past. Much less information about the property may be made public and to receive additional information, prospective buyers often must speak with the listing agent or even be prequalified in some manner.

Among luxury agents, ensuring that a prospective buyer is actually qualified to buy a
property before giving them extensive information or having them view the property is not a
new practice. In the past, sometimes all that was required is knowledge of their standing on
the annual rankings of billionaires and millionaires.
Like the owners themselves, as the overall real estate market hangs in balance, the Ulti-
mate home market remains insulated from the fray. Will the trend continue? Next year's Ulti-
mate will tell the tale.

$115,000,000
San Miguel County, N.M.
Bell Ranch
John B. Watson, Rye Austin
Orvis/Cushman & Wakefield Ranch and Rec. Prop.

$100,000,000
Zephyr Cove, Nev.
Tranquility
Shari Chase
Chase International

$100,000,000
Palm Beach, Fla.
515 N. County Road
Lawrence Moens
Lawrence A. Moens Associates

$95,000,000
Stamford, Conn.
Hillandale
Joseph Barbier
Sotheby's International Realty

$88,000,000
Pagosa Springs, Colo.
BootJack Ranch
Mike Heraty
Pagosa Source Real Estate Advisors

$85,000,000
Holmby Hills, Calif.
An estate designed by Wallace Neff
Joyce Essex, Danny Harvey
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

$81,500,000
Palm Beach, Fla.
Movie Producer Sidney Kimmel’s home
Paulette Koch, Dana Koch
The Corcoran Group