Mumbai tycoon's home has 27 storeys of luxury

  
With 27 floors, three helipads and parking space for 160 cars, one would be forgiven for mistaking Antilla - the palatial new home of the fifth-richest man in the world - for a hotel.
Current Font Size:

The building, a few blocks from the residence of Indian singing star Lata Mangeshkar, is the home of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, his wife, Nita, and their three children and is already the talk of the country with an estimated price tag of $1-billion.

According to a select group of businessmen and media who have been invited to tour Antilla - said to be named after a mythical island in the Atlantic Ocean - Nita got inspiration for it during a visit to New York.

Thereafter, India's richest businessman, whose nett worth, according to Forbes, was $43-billion in March, commissioned Chicago-based architects Hirsch Bedner Associates and Perkins Will to work on the skyscraper.

Antilla's living quarters begin in a lobby with nine elevators, as well as several storage rooms and lounges.

Down dual stairways with silver-covered railings is a large ballroom with 80% of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. It features a retractable showcase for pieces of art, LCD monitors and embedded speakers, and stages for entertainment.

The hall opens to an indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms and powder rooms, and allows access to a nearby "entourage room" for security guards and assistants to relax.

Ambani plans to occasionally use the residence for corporate entertainment, and the family wants the look and feel of the home's interior to be distinctly Indian.

Antilla's shape is based on Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like feng shui, said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects.

Said a guest: "I have seen several houses, including that of Lakshmi Mittal (owner of Arcelor Mittal). But Antilia is marvellous. I remember the house having a Picasso painting, it was one of its kind."

Once the Ambanis move inthe next two months, more than 600 employees are expected to maintain the house.