Villa Leopolda: Lily Safra Owns the Second Most Expensive Home in the World

Summary: Brazilian philanthropist Lily Safra owns Villa Leopolda, ranked by Forbes magazine as the second most expensive home in the world.

Villa Leopolda: Miniwark, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

American business magazine Forbes ranks Lily Safra (born Dec. 30, 1934), with a net worth of $1.3 billion ($1,300,000,000.00), as the 1,415th richest person in the world for 2015.

Born in Porto Alegre, capital of Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, Lily Watkins has been married four times, divorced twice and widowed twice.

Her first husband was Montevideo, Uruguay-based Mario Cohen, scion of an Argentinian hosiery manufacturing empire. The marriage lasted from September 1952 until divorce in the early 1960s.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-based second husband Alfredo "Freddy" João Monteverde (June 12, 1924-Aug. 25, 1969), a twice-divorced, Romanian-born entrepreneur, founded Ponto Frio in 1946 as a refrigeration enterprise. He groomed Ponto Frio into a multi-million dollar enterprise encompassing electronics and furniture as well as appliances. Their marriage in 1965 ended four years later with Freddy's apparent suicide from two gunshots to his chest.

Lily eloped with third husband Samuel H. Bendahan, a Morocco-born English businessman, in January 1972 in Acapulco, southwestern Mexico's popular beach resort. Lily was on the rebound from marriage-shy Edmond Safra. Samuel and Lily separated shortly after returning to London and divorced in Reno, Nevada, in 1973.

Fourth husband Edmond Safra (Aug. 6, 1932-Dec. 3, 1999), born in Beirut, Lebanon, to an international gold and currency exchange dynasty, moved across the Atlantic Ocean in 1952 to expand the family's financial network into Brazil. In London, the globetrotting eligible bachelor secured Lily's interests in her second husband's multi-million dollar estate and finally overcame his commitment shyness to marry Lily in 1976. Their marriage ended tragically with Edmond's smoke inhalation death from arson in their 10,000-square-foot penthouse in idyllic Monaco.

Lily's first marriage produced three children: Claudio, Eduardo and Adriana. Tragically, Claudio (July 16, 1953-Feb. 17, 1989) died in a car accident, along with Lily's grandson Raphael (November 1984-Feb. 17, 1989), in Rio de Janeiro.

In 1988, Edmond Safra purchased Villa Leopolda in Villefranche-sur-mer, ideally located between opulent Monaco and beautiful Nice on the star-studded French Riviera in southern France. Honored as a historic monument in the general inventory of France's cultural patrimony, Villa Leopolda dates its storied history to purchases of neighboring properties, in 1898 and in 1904, by King Leopold II of Belgium (April 9, 1835-Dec. 17, 1909). Joining the properties with a bridge, King Leopold II established a fragrant park with centennial carob trees (Ceratonia siliqua), citrus trees (lemons Citrus x limon and oranges Citrus x sinensis), cypresses (Cupressaceae) and olive trees (Olea europaea).

Villa Leopolda's hint of scandal -- which always increases fascination with an estate's back stories -- derives from its design as a love nest for Blanche Zélie Joséphine Delacroix (May 13, 1883–Feb. 12, 1948). The king's favorite mistress, who, bewitchingly younger by 48 years, beguiled the amorous king's last decade.

American architect Ogden Codman Jr. (Jan. 19, 1863-Jan. 8, 1951), a devotee of French chateaus and of Beaux-Arts styles popular in the United States from 1880 to 1920, finessed the property as his architectural magnum opus. He transformed it into a spectacular estate, irresistibly outstanding amid the jeweled chain of French Riviera villas.

Villa Leopolda has captivated Hollywood, with such classic films as The Red Shoes (1948) and To Catch a Thief (1955) featuring on-location scenes at the photogenic estate.

The exquisite estate boasts panoramic views of elegant Cap Ferrat, ranked in 2012 as the world's second highest for residential property prices, and of the sparkling Mediterranean Sea.

The turreted mansion with spiraling outdoor staircases regales with exterior and interior spaciousness. Eleven bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, bountiful balconies, a superb outdoor swimming pool with pool house and sweeping terraces exemplify the villa's grandeur.

In August 2008 Lily Safra accepted a purchase proposal from Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov (born May 3, 1965), ranked by Forbes as 131st richest person in the world in 2014 with a net worth of $9.7 billion. The Russian billionaire paid a deposit of 39,000,000.00 euros ($44,750,550.00 in 2015).

The sale, which was set for finalization Jan. 20, 2009, however, was never completed. The French court in Nice determined in 2010 that the deposit was non-refundable.

In her announcement of the successful legal outcome, Lily indicated that the deposit would be donated to charities, identified as:
l’Institut Claude Pompidou pour la Maladie d’Alzheimer, Nice, France;
Pitié-Salpêtrière: l’Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris, France;
Sidaction: Ensemble contre le Sida (HIV/AIDS), France;
“A Window to Tomorrow” – A Computer for Every Child, Israel;
Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital, Tel Hashomer, Israel;
Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts;
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, New York City, New York;
neuroscience research at King’s College, London, England;
neuroscience research at Imperial College, London, England;
Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, Rwamagana, eastern Rwanda.

Forbes ascribes a value of $750 million to Lily Safra's incomparable Mediterranean villa and ranks Villa Leopolda as the world's second most expensive home for 2014.

Lily Safra's French Riviera villa: Architecture& Design ‏@DreamHouseX via Twitter April 23, 2014

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Villa Leopolda at Villefranche-sur-mer, viewed from le Chemin de la Condamine: Miniwark, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Villa_Leopolda_Villefranche-sur-Mer.JPG

Lily Safra's French Riviera villa: Architecture& Design ‏@DreamHouseX via Twitter April 23, 2014, @ https://twitter.com/DreamHouseX/status/459076129346039808

For further information:

Architecture& Design ‏@DreamHouseX. "Villa Leopolda. 2nd most expensive house in the world. Valued at $736m. Stunning." Twitter. April 23, 2014.
Available @ https://twitter.com/DreamHouseX/status/459076129346039808

Carlyle, Erin. "The Most Expensive Billionaire Homes In The World." Forbes > Business. May 13, 2014.
Available @ http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/05/13/the-most-expensive-billionaire-homes-in-the-world/#70a622434161

Largillet, Jean-Pierre. "Nice: Les 39 M€ d'arrhes de la villa Leopolda restent acquis à Lily Safra." WebTimeMedias Riviera. 1 mars 2010.
Available @ http://www.webtimemedias.com/wtm_article55001

Laurent, Del Rosso. "Maison de villégiature dite Villa La Léopolda." Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel. 2008/11/20. Web. Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication.
Available @ www.culturecommunication.gouv.fr

Marriner, Derdriu. "Christy Walton: The Richest Woman in the World in 2014 and Again in 2015." Earth and Space News. Friday, Jan. 30, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/01/christy-walton-richest-woman-in-world.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Mukesh Ambani Skyscraper Home: Antilia Is Most Expensive Home in the World." Earth and Space News. Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/mukesh-ambani-skyscraper-home-antilia.html