World's most expensive house for sale at $524 million

The millionaires' playground of the French Riviera has hosted all the great and good throughout the ages.

Residents and holidaymakers have included everyone who's anyone, from tech royalty (Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen) to fashion royalty (Coco Chanel and Hubert de Givenchy), political royalty (Winston Churchill), financial royalty (the Rothschilds), movie royalty (Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) and, of course, real royalty.

And now it's the site of the world's most expensive house.

Located in the once humble fishing village of St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat is the property of Villa Les Cedres, which was formerly owned by King Leopold II of Belgium.

Built in 1830, the 14-bedroom mansion has an Olympic-size pool, no fewer than 30 stables, and grand 19th-century interiors complete with a wood-panelled library holding 3000 books (the fortunate purchaser can also buy the furnishings). 

It's set in 14 hectares, and has a flourishing garden with 25 greenhouses and a lily pond. Its imposing driveway is lined with palms and cedar trees, and sweeps up to the pillared and porticoed house.

It went on sale last year for a rumoured $1 billion price tag, which was denied by the current owner, the parent company of Grand Marnier liqueur. Now up for a comparatively modest 350 million euros, the potential purchaser will own a piece of history and a grand mansion in one of the world's most desirable locations.

See the photos at Bloomberg here.