Mariah Carey considers buying one of the most expensive estates in the world

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It looked like a cold news day when singer Mariah Carey and her husband, actor-rapper Nick Cannon, started talking about buying "the most expensive estate in the world."

They decided it was a home listed at $125 million. They were wrong. Even so, the pop diva made the owner of the estate an offer the owner did not want to refuse. "She's a diva, and she deserves it," said a fan about Carey and her possible purchase.

The estate, known as "Fleur de Lys," wasn't the most expensive home in the world. It wasn't even the most expensive one in the neighborhood. Candy Spelling's Holmby Hills home was pricier at $150 million, and there are homes overseas that are even more.

"Fleur de Lys" was built on five acres in Beverly Hills for Texas billionaire David Saperstein, and now it is owned by Saperstein's ex-wife, Suzanne. She is now the owner, having won the estate in her divorce settlement.


The 53,000 square foot late 18th century French Palace style home, fashioned after the Vaux le Vicomte palace outside of Paris, is one of the most opulent homes, and it makes one giddy.

What do you do with 15 bedrooms, gold-embossed leather wall coverings, gold-leaf crown moldings and a ballroom that can accommodate more than 600 guests?

What do you do with a 50-seat cinema, a 70-foot-long swimming pool, a spa with a pavilion, a nine-car garage, a private jogging track?

Just compiling a list of uses could take years.


Carey and Cannon haven't yet announced when they might move into the palace they may buy. They haven't hinted at the changes, if any, they will make in the décor. It's a way of life the rest of us can only imagine. We thought that kind of life was over, but we linger, wanting one last look.

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Golden Brooks, who plays a secretary who becomes a successful author in the CW program "Girlfriends," has listed her Hollywood Hills contemporary at slightly less than $2 million.

The home has an open floor plan and a three-story entry hall. There are four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms in 3,500 square feet. The home also has an office, two fireplaces a covered patio and a two-car garage. The house can be leased or purchased. The lease runs $8,950 a month.

Brooks, 38, starred in 42 episodes of "Girlfriends," which ran from 2000 to 2007. She also played Rachel in "A Good Man is Hard to Find," a film released in 2008.

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Norm Zada, publisher of Perfect 10 magazine, has put his Beverly Park home on the market at $24.5 million.

The house was designed by architect Richard Landry.

The 20,000-square-foot home has a 5,000-square-foot guesthouse linked to the main house by a glass and stainless steel bridge. Multistory walls of glass provide for mountain and city views.

The 6.9-acre estate has 10 bedrooms, a gym and a great room.

The grounds are landscaped and have a pool, pool pavilion with reflecting ponds; a waterfall, spa and paddle tennis court.

Brian Adler of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

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The owner of circus entrepreneur James Bailey's 1880s mansion in New York has reduced his asking price for the home to $6.5 million. It was listed at $10 million. The drop in price was 35% in less than half a year.

The free-standing home in Harlem is turreted and whimsical, measures 12,000 square feet, and has its original stained-glass windows and mahogany paneling.

Bailey was a half of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, which Ringling Bros. bought in 1907. Marguerite Blake, a formal funeral home director, has owned the home since 1951.

The home could be turned into a bed-and-breakfast, a school or a hospital facility, but it requires "a significant amount of work," according to Lori Huler Glick, who shares the listing with Cindy Kurtin, both of Stribling.

Harlem is one of the hardest-hit markets in Manhattan. Corcoran Group recently closed its office there.

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"Blame It on Rio" actress Michelle Johnson has sold her home in the Sunset Strip area for $4.1 million.

The three-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom contemporary was built in 1970 and was later remodeled. The gated property has water elements. There is also a pool, ocean and city views.

Johnson not only sold her home, but she sold a three-bedroom contemporary built in 1970.  There are views of a pool, the city and the ocean. The sale price was a 30% reduction from the original list price.

Johnson, 43, was modeling before co-starring with Michael Caine in the 1984 film "Rio." Her credits include "Death Becomes Her" (1992), but she did little in the entertainment industry after that.

She is the ex-wife of former All-Star third baseman Matt Williams, who played for the San Francisco Giants, the Cleveland Indians and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Brett Lawyer of Sotheby's International Realty, Sunset Boulevard, had the listing, and Paul Kellogg of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, represented the buyer, according to the MLS.

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