The Sultan of Brunei owns a vast collection of cars, but he’s also the owner of the largest residential palace in the world.
It’s called Istana Nurul Iman and it cost $1.4 billion to build… in 1984.
For reference, that’s equivalent to around $4.6 billion in today’s money.
But what’s truly impressive is the number of bathrooms.
The Sultan of Brunei is a real estate mogul
Obviously, most heads of state own public properties at home and private estates abroad, but the Sultan takes this to the next level.
Through the Brunei Investment Agency, the Sultan owns the Dorchester Hotel in London, the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles County, Le Meurice in Paris, Hotel Eden in Rome, and a few more.
It’s a nice portfolio, and the value is spectacular, although the real estate market in Europe isn’t the same as it is in the US, which means it goes up but it can also go down.
Still, to a man worth billions of dollars, that probably doesn’t matter much.
And if all else fails, he can always go back to the majestic palace he owns back home.
The Sultan’s place is is a big as some villages and towns in Europe
In his homeland, he owns (among other things) a $1.4 billion grand palace with 1,788 rooms and 257 bathrooms.
All in all, the estate spans over 2.1 million square feet – roughly the same as the Old Town in Monaco.
Located on a riverside sprawl, the palace is situated on the banks of the Brunei River, a stone’s throw from the country’s capital Bandar Seri Begawan.
The Guinness World Records actually states the location as the largest residential palace in the world.
The interior is adorned with gold-woven carpet, and some of the fixtures feature actual diamonds.
On top of that, the Sultan had silk imported from China, and marble imported from Italy.
In addition to the 257 bathrooms, the palace also includes a banquet hall with enough capacity for over 5,000 guests, a mosque that can hold up to 1,500 guests, 110 garages for the Sultan’s immense car collection, an air conditioned stable for the Sultan’s 200 polo horses, and five swimming pools.
The icing on the cake? It apparently includes 44 stairwells and 18 elevators.