17 Biggest (And Ugliest) Houses Ever Built In The US
America loves going big, especially when it comes to houses. Some wealthy homeowners have taken ‘dream home’ to wild extremes, building mansions that make our jaws drop – and not always in a good way.
From mind-boggling square footage to questionable design choices, these massive homes prove that money can’t always buy good taste.
1. The One – Bel-Air, California
Imagine a house so enormous it feels like its own zip code! Built by film producer Nile Niami, this 100,000-square-foot monstrosity sits atop a hill like a concrete spaceship that crash-landed in Bel-Air.
Originally listed for $500 million, the mansion eventually sold for a fraction after bankruptcy proceedings. With 21 bedrooms, 42 bathrooms, and a nightclub inside, it’s the definition of excessive luxury gone wrong.
2. Versailles – Windermere, Florida
What happens when you name your house after a French palace but give it the charm of a shopping mall? Jackie Siegel’s infamous 90,000-square-foot dream home has been under construction for over 15 years.
Featured in the documentary ‘The Queen of Versailles,’ this gaudy behemoth boasts 14 bedrooms, 32 bathrooms, and 11 kitchens. Gold-plated everything and marble overload make this palace painfully tacky.
3. Fairfield Pond – Sagaponack, New York
Billionaire Ira Rennert apparently needed 29 bedrooms and 39 bathrooms for his Hamptons getaway. At 63,000 square feet, this compound looks more like a corporate retreat than a home. Locals have nicknamed it “the house that ate the Hamptons.”
With its own power plant, two bowling alleys, and a 164-seat theater, this beachfront eyesore has neighbors constantly complaining about its imposing presence on the otherwise charming coastline.
4. Pensmore – Highlandville, Missouri
Rising from the Ozark countryside like a concrete fortress, Pensmore spans 72,000 square feet of pure architectural confusion. Built by astrophysicist Steven Huff, this mansion was designed to withstand tornadoes, earthquakes, and apparently, good taste.
Looking like a strange mix between a medieval castle and a community college, this concrete monstrosity features 13 bedrooms and supposedly enough concrete to build a highway. Rural neighbors can spot this eyesore from miles away.
5. Taos Earthship Mansion – Taos, New Mexico
Sustainability meets psychedelic fever dream in this bizarre 10,000-square-foot compound. While standard earthships can be charming, this super-sized version looks like something from a sci-fi movie gone wrong.
Made from recycled materials including thousands of tires and bottles, the mansion features wildly uneven walls, random glass bottle mosaics, and an interior that resembles a cave system. Solar panels and water collection systems are its only redeeming qualities.
6. Updown Court – Beverly Hills Style, California
Attempting to recreate European elegance but achieving Las Vegas casino vibes instead, this 47,000-square-foot mansion is what happens when every luxury feature gets crammed into one property.
With 103 rooms including five swimming pools, a bowling alley, and a private theater, subtlety was never considered in the design process. Marble columns, gold fixtures, and gaudy chandeliers create an atmosphere that screams “nouveau riche nightmare.”
7. Lynnewood Hall – Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
Once magnificent, now magnificently decrepit, this 110-room Gilded Age mansion spans 70,000 square feet of crumbling grandeur. Built in 1900 by streetcar magnate Peter Widener, it’s been abandoned for decades.
Broken windows, peeling paint, and collapsing ceilings have transformed this neo-classical palace into a haunting monument to excess. Despite preservation efforts, this architectural corpse continues to deteriorate, its 55 bedrooms and 20 bathrooms slowly returning to dust.
8. The Manor – Holmby Hills, California
TV producer Aaron Spelling apparently needed 56,500 square feet to feel at home. Completed in 1991, this mega-mansion looks like someone supersized a suburban McMansion to absurd proportions.
Famously containing a doll museum, gift-wrapping room, and bowling alley among its 123 rooms, the mansion screams 90s excess. Daughter Tori Spelling once revealed she still hadn’t seen all the rooms despite living there for years – that’s how ridiculously massive this place is.
9. Xanadu 2.0 – Medina, Washington
Bill Gates may have revolutionized computing, but his 66,000-square-foot lakefront compound proves tech genius doesn’t translate to architectural taste. Looking like a corporate conference center rather than a home, this high-tech hideaway cost over $60 million to build.
Despite its price tag and fancy features like underwater music systems and digital art displays, the mansion resembles an upscale lodge that somehow mated with a Microsoft office building. Even billions can’t buy style!
10. Champ d’Or – Hickory Creek, Texas
Everything’s bigger in Texas, including architectural mistakes! Modeled after France’s Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, this 48,000-square-foot gold-trimmed monstrosity stands out in rural Texas like a sore, gilded thumb.
Cellular phone magnates commissioned it in the 1990s, then moved out after just 18 months. A two-story closet modeled after a Chanel boutique and a theater replicating the Paris Opera House prove subtlety wasn’t on the blueprint. Even Texans think it’s too much!
11. Le Palais Royal – Hillsboro Beach, Florida
When you want your Florida beach house to scream “I have more money than taste,” you end up with this 60,000-square-foot Versailles knockoff. Complete with 22-karat gold fixtures and the first-ever residential IMAX theater, subtlety is nowhere to be found.
Featuring a $2 million staircase and 11 bedrooms, this oceanfront eyesore boasts a 30-car garage for your collection of equally tasteless vehicles. The asking price once topped $159 million, proving there’s no ceiling on ostentation.
12. Flower Hill Mansion – Flower Hill, New York
Resembling a cross between a Renaissance palace and a shopping mall food court, this 35,000-square-foot Long Island monstrosity features more columns than ancient Rome.
Marble-everything dominates the interior, with gilded moldings and crystal chandeliers fighting for attention in every room. Local architectural critics have called it “a textbook example of how not to spend $30 million” – a masterclass in conspicuous consumption gone horribly wrong.
13. Casa Casuarina (Versace Mansion) – Miami Beach, Florida
Fashion designer Gianni Versace’s former home proves that 23,000 square feet is plenty of space to commit numerous design crimes. Now operating as a hotel, this Mediterranean Revival mansion features a 24-karat gold-lined swimming pool because… why not?
Mosaic-covered walls, wildly clashing patterns, and enough gilt to make Midas blush define this South Beach landmark. Sadly famous as the site of Versace’s murder, the mansion remains a testament to 90s excess and the perils of unlimited decorating budgets.
14. Woodland Mansion – Duluth, Georgia
Looking like a McMansion that ate ten other McMansions, this 35,000-square-foot monstrosity features more architectural styles than a history textbook.
With 12 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms, and a garage for 20 cars, excess is the only consistent theme. Random turrets, multiple roof lines, and a confusing mix of brick, stone, and stucco create what architects diplomatically call “a unique visual experience.”
15. Barbie Dreamhouse – Malibu, California
Someone actually built a 15,000-square-foot life-sized version of Barbie’s Dreamhouse, and it’s exactly as horrifying as you’d imagine. Constructed as a promotional stunt that somehow became a permanent residence, this pink nightmare assaults the senses from every angle.
Literal plastic-looking furniture, a closet the size of an average home, and a kitchen that never saw a meal cooked in it—this mansion embodies superficial living. Even Barbie would find the hot pink exterior and heart-shaped swimming pool a bit much.
16. Sci-Fi Dome Mansion – Cave Junction, Oregon
Aliens wouldn’t be caught dead in this 12,000-square-foot collection of interconnected geodesic domes. Built by a tech entrepreneur with a science fiction obsession, this architectural experiment gone wrong sits awkwardly in the Oregon forest like a crashed spaceship.
A tech entrepreneur with a science fiction obsession dreamed it up, resulting in a 12,000-square-foot collection of interconnected geodesic domes. Aliens wouldn’t be caught dead in it. This architectural experiment gone wrong sits awkwardly in the Oregon forest like a crashed spaceship.
17. Mountain Castle – Aspen, Colorado
Somebody watched too many Disney movies before designing this 25,000-square-foot alpine eyesore. Looking like Neuschwanstein Castle had an unfortunate encounter with a Colorado ski lodge, this mansion sits precariously on a mountainside.
Commissioned by a hedge fund manager who visited Germany once, the home features turrets covered in fake snow year-round, a moat that freezes and cracks the foundation annually, and interior décor best described as “medieval hunting lodge on steroids.” Local wildlife actively avoid the property.
