The Most Expensive House in the World

Have you ever wondered what the worlds most expensive house looks like?

Welcome to the Antilia Tower in Mumbai, India. Built with the idea of extravagant opulence in mind, the ceilings of this 27 storey home are more than twice normal height, soaring it to the size of a 60 storey building while the tower itself contains some amazing features such as a 6 level parking garage for 160 cars, three helipads, 9 elevators, a 50 seat theatre, a grand ballroom and a permanent staff of 600 people.

The proud owner of the Antilia Tower is Mukesh Ambani, Forbes Magazine's 4th richest man in the world, who has boasted that the home is a green home with Babylonian style Hanging Gardens on every level. Critics of the Tower have said that it promotes unsustainable living and extravagance, especially as its purpose is to house only Ambani, his wife and his three children! Interesting to note that each child has their own Health Club within the property! The Antilia Tower has taken 7 years to build and has been estimated between $1.8 Billion and $2 billion dollars in value, making it the most expensive residential home in the world by a long way.


Built mostly from glass and steel, the Antilia Tower soars above the Mumbai skyline over looking the surrounding slum neighbourhoods further polarising the divide between the rich and poor in India's economic Renaissance.

Balmain is not a suburb known for its wide and car friendly roads and this is perhaps because the tram ruled the streets between 1882 and 1958. A long tram line ran the route of Darling Street from the wharf in Balmain East to Glebe via Victoria Road. Originally the trams were steam powered and used a unique “counter-weight” system on the steep incline in Balmain East to control the speed. A risky game was played by the young boys of Balmain, who would jump on to the cup used to buffer the tram on the hill and ride it as it travelled towards the wharf.

Much of Darling Street at that time was hilly and unsuitable for tram travel. Parts of the original street height were excavated by a few feet to allow a smoother run for the trams to pass through.



Balmain today: The drop from the original street height and stairs leading to an old tram stop.




In 1902, the old steam trams were replaced by electric models and extensive overhead cabling was installed down Darling Street to power them. These trams lasted for over fifty years as the main mode of transport from Balmain into the city until buses later replaced them in 1958. The old tram tracks were tarred over and the electric cabling removed. All that now remains of the old trams is the rusting tracks in the Rozelle depot yard.

It’s been an exciting week of sponsorship for Sarah Lorden Real Estate. On Saturday, our McGrath Breast Cancer Foundation Stall attracted a flurry of donations from Balmain’s generous public. Every October, Sarah Lorden Real Estate supports the McGrath Foundation by donating $500 for every home that is sold during the month. We also hold the popular stall every Saturday of October at Loyalty Square, selling merchandise from cook books, hats and wristbands. In particular, the face painting, balloons and cupcakes were a huge hit with the children. The stall has managed to raise over $800 in the past two weeks. Thank you to all the Sarah Lorden agents who generously donated their time at the stall, in particular, our property manager Ben who looked amazing in his pink apron! The stall will be on again for the next two Saturdays between 10am – 2pm. Come down and say hello to the team.












On Sunday, Sarah Lorden Real Estate was one of the major sponsors for the “A Day On The Green” Charity cricket match played at Birchgrove Oval. The Gods blessed us with an amazing day, with local celebs Samantha Tolj, Jonathan Pease and James Tobin MC-ing the 3 hour match. There was plenty for the family to do from watching the cricket, to the kids playing on the jumping castle to munching down on a good ‘ol sausage sizzle. We would like to thank everyone who came along and enjoyed the day. We look forward to next’s years battle!

I'm moving to a new blog!

Hi everyone,

Just letting you know some good news.
The Sarah Lorden Real Estate team has employed me to write their blog full-time on their website.
The blog will be similar in topics, but will also involve Twitter & Facebook.

This is an exciting opportunity! If you still want to keep in touch and read my posts, subscribe to the Sarah Lorden Real Estate Blog

Look forward to reading you posts on the new blog!

The Balmain Hospital

Next Tuesday, on August 10, the Balmain Hosptial will be holding an open day to celebrate its 125th Anniversary of providing health care for the district. The hospital will host the public in a festival full of guided tours, music, food and showbags! Everyone is welcome and it should be a fantastic day.

The hospital began in 1885 to support the growing population of the penninsular. In the beginning, only men could recieve treatment at the hospital, while women still had to commute to the city. This changed when as the hospital grew and changed it's location to Booth St, where it still stands today.