Imagine you're looking to buy a sweet slice of Spanish real estate and your budget is €15M, or $20,559,211. Luckily, there are plenty of options at that very price. But how do you choose? The answer is simple: you shove them all into a metaphorical cage and let them battle it out until one emerges victorious. Yep, that's right: it's time for a Real Estate Deathmatch.
It's the ultimate showdown of Spanish estate-dom: six villas, €15M, one winner. Where one boasts 18 bedrooms, another brags about its heated infinity pool. Where one comes with two (2) types of saunas, another includes three (3) pools. There's much to consider, but before studying the photos of yet another batch of dueling houses, here's a side-by-side stats comparison:
Villa in Andalucia
↑ Plunked in the Andalusian town of Marabella, this villa is built like a resort, complete with a huge outdoor living room and a pool dipped into verdant lawns. The interiors, which include five bedrooms and a "grand" reception room with a pyramidal skylight, are uninspired to say the least, but it looks like the 1.295 acres of impeccably manicured beachside gardens may be enough to tip the scales. Have a look, above.
Port Andratx Waterfront
↑ At $3,184/square foot, this six-bedroom listing is the most expensive of the lot—the premium for having killer views of the Mediterranean. Also on offer: a heated infinity pool (all the better to watch the sunset) and a wine cellar.
Barbie Kitchen in Costa Del Sol
↑ It's always fun to flip through a dozen or so utterly banal listing photos only to have the kitchen from Barbie's 1986 Malibu dream house spring from the beige like a pink-bikini'd lady from a Costco sheetcake. Besides that hot-pink-accented kitchen (easily the No. 1 draw), the 25,081-square-foot marble spread comes with a Turkish bath and sauna and no less than five (!) other kitchens. It's also the largest—and, at $788/square foot, the most economical—house of the bunch.
Costa Brava Manse
↑ This "outstanding modern designer villa," as the brokerbabble describes, sits just an hour north of Barcelona and boasts 23,056 square feet. Included: an elevator, a "gorgeous chill-out area"—which, as far as one can tell, is "family room" in regular-people speak—and a basement with an "enormous" spa and gym. Oh, and there is a wet sauna as well as a dry sauna.
Proper Spanish Estate
↑ This estate gets points for charm and, you know, actually resembling what people think of when they hear "Spanish villa." Pergolas! Sea views! Vine-covered façade! Saltwater pool! Small lake with waterfall! It's all here. And somehow there are 18 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms in its 16,167 square feet. No big deal.
Mallorca Mansion in the Mountains
↑ Known as La Granja D'Adata, this Mallorca manor overlooks the mountain village of Esporlas and comes encompassed with "tranquil lakes and sculptured gardens." The nine-bedroom is also the only option that comes with a helipad.
· Villa in Andalucia [Sotheby's Realty]
· Port Andratx Waterfront [Sotheby's Realty]
· Barbie Kitchen in Costa Del Sol [Sotheby's Realty]
· Costa Brava Manse [Sotheby's Realty]
· Proper Spanish Estate [Sotheby's Realty]
· Mallorca Mansion in the Mountains [Sotheby's Realty]