The brokerbabble for this "distinct" contemporary sprawl asking $15M in Rio de Janeiro boasts the place is "Architectural Digest's 2008 Trophy Property," a five-bedroom manor "in the Middle of Paradise." Arch Digest indeed featured the greenhouse-inspired edifice, with five levels stacked against cliffside, lauding as "clever and gentle ... with a minimal footprint." Architect Roberto Gonçalves won the owners' approval to build a home on the land opposite their old property, a bit of rocky cliffside that "edged a meadow bearded on the far side by a national park, populated with monkeys and other tropical fauna." The owners told AD, "On his second visit he came back with a design, and we climbed up the property, and he asked me to lay my head on the rock. 'This is the view you'll have from your bed,' he said. With the rock as my pillow, I could see mountains on the left and the sea and beaches in front of us, and then there was the whole city below. I thought it was incredible."
Other noteworthy bits of the house, which measures more than 18,000 square feet: a glass roof that "cascades down the façade," a floating stairwell, an elevator, a master bedroom with two walk-in closets and two bathrooms, a wine cellar, a fourth-floor library, and—cha-ching—a rooftop pool that, per the brokerbabble, "incorporates the crown of the granite composite wall found throughout the structure." All of this makes the place prime for "unapologetic"—whatever that means—views. Oh, and there's a "staff bungalow." Because duh.
· 130 Rua Sara Vilela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [Corcoran]
· Greenhouse Effect [Architectural Digest]