clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Mapping the 16 Most Expensive Rental Listings in America

View as Map

Why buy a multimillion dollar home when you can simply pay a modest six figures a month to live there, leaving the owner to deal with the mortgage, the paperwork, the pesky upkeep? That's exactly what the recent uptick in ultra-pricey rental listings suggests—well that, and the fact that times must be really freakin' good. A year ago, the nation's priciest rental listing rang in at $250K a month, a figure that seems downright paltry when compared to today's frontrunner: a SoCal chateau asking a rather audacious $600K a month—that's more than $833 an hour, all for the right to take your shoes off upon walking through the (gilded or hand-carved, no doubt) front door. Even the Hamptons, that ever-reliable goldmine for six-figure seasonal rentals, have outdone themselves, so much so that included in the map below is only a small handful of the dozens or so listed through Sotheby's and Corcoran for $500K and above for the summer. Go on now, have a look:


And now, city by city: Atlanta · Boston · Cape Cod · Chicago · Hamptons · Los Angeles · Miami · New Orleans · NYC · Philadelphia · San Francisco · Seattle · Ski · Toronto · Vancouver · Washington DC

· All Renters Week 2013 posts [Curbed National]

Read More

$600,000 a month: The Beverly House

Copy Link

For those who just can't quite commit to $115M ask, the Beverly House, in Beverly Hills, is the country's priciest rental listing by a landslide—at $600K a month, it's nearly 2.5 times as expensive as the most expensive rental when Curbed took stock around this time last year. Sited on more than three and a half acres of land, the H-shaped home was built in 1927 by architect Gordon Kaufmann; in 1946 actress Marion Davies bought the place for her paramour, publisher William Randolph Hearst. A couple of years after Hearst's 1951 death, John F. Kennedy and Jackie O. honeymooned here. The Beverly House starred in The Bodyguard and The Godfather, as well. With Hollywood history like that, splitting $600K a month 28 ways—there are 28 bedrooms—doesn't sound half bad, particularly when one factors in the "Art Deco" nightclub, the "herringbone parquet floors and a massive carved stone fireplace mantle from San Simeon," and the "lighted tennis court with indoor bar and media center."

$550,000 a month: The Sandcastle

Copy Link

Mega-builder Joe Farrell's mega Hamptons Sandcastle mega-funhouse has been looking for a buyer since biblical days, and while it really wants $43.5M, finding someone to pay $550K for the month of July will do, too. By far the most expensive Hamptons summer rental this year—and that's no puny feat—the Sandcastle is stocked with a 40-foot-long living room, a 2,800-square-foot master suite with an additional eight bedrooms, a two-lane bowling alley, a golf room, a skateboard half pipe, a rock-climbing wall, a media room, a nightclub, a "children's performing area," and a combination squash, racquetball, and basketball court (with a retractable hoop), all on 11.5 Bridgehampton, N.Y., acres.

$400,000 a month: Southampton, N.Y.

Copy Link

It may look like just a blip from this aerial listing photo, but this Southampton estate is going for $1M for the whole summer (and $400K for July). In the words of Curbed Hamptons, the place seems to whisper things like "This summer, I shall not settle for anything less than Ionic columns around my marble bath. No other order will do. I need my volutes."

$300K a month: The Linden Estate

Copy Link

At $45M it's a hair more expensive, sales wise, than the Sandcastle, but Southampton's Grosvenor Atterbury-designed Linden Estate actually costs hundreds of thousands of dollars less to rent. (Not that $300K a month is anything to shrug off.) The 1915 estate, which includes an 18,000-square-foot main house, two pavilions, each with its own kitchen, and staff quarters, has been trying to find a buyer since mid-March.

$300,000 a month: Bridgehampton, N.Y.

Copy Link

Many a Hamptons estate wants six figures for a month, but this Ocean Road number in Bridgehampton, asking $300K for July, wins the award for the best brokerbabble intro: "Traveling with an extensive retinue? A royal court? An extended Family? Half a dozen CEO's and spouses? No problem!" Looking past the 10,391-square-foot shingle-style main house, the property's more unusual amenities include a sand volleyball court, a Har-Cru tennis court, and staff quarters meant, uh, "to accommodate the chef, butler, chauffeur, lady's maid, nanny, majordomo, masseuse, and multiple housekeepers."

$250,000 a month: Redcraft

Copy Link

Known as Redcraft, this Southampton, N.Y., estate was built in 1897 and has since been renovated and given a major overhaul by designer Steven Gambrel. As is always the case with Gambrel's work, the interiors and landscaping are indeed spectacular, which makes the brokerbabble's claim—that this "is one of the finest properties to ever come to the rental market"—not so easy to scoff at. Redcraft is asking $250K for July.

$230,000 a month: Southampton, N.Y.

Copy Link

This Southampton property is currently listed for $25.8M or $700K for the summer (about $230K a month). Like many of its fellow East End chateaus, this, too, is a "magnificent shingle-style mansion" that's "set on park-like grounds with main and service driveways." It's got 10 bedrooms and eight baths.

$217,000 a month: Southampton, N.Y.

Copy Link

The priciest single-family rental in the Hamptons last year still deserves a spot on this list. Even as other, more expensive rentals have come to market over the last 12 months, this Southampton estate has remained steadfast in its $650K/summer (about $217K a month) ask. Sited a mile away from the beach, the 16,000-square-foot shingle-style mansion boasts seven bedrooms and 10 baths.

$200,000 a month: Sagaponack, N.Y.

Copy Link

Being marketed as "Sagaponack Seabreezes" isn't the only thing this castle-like rental has going for it: in August Bill and Hillary Clinton rented the place for an estimated $200K. Perhaps the simple act of summering was a more carefully considered show of bipartisanship on the part of the die-hard Dems: the 3.5-acre property, which boasts an 8,000-square-foot mansion, belongs to regular Republican donor Michael Saperstein.

$200,000 a month: Malibu, Calif.

Copy Link

This five-bedroom, 5,700-square-foot Malibu house is a spectacular, glassy mansion with an open floorplan, a guest house, and 180-degree views from the floor-to-ceiling windows. At $200K a month the 1979 contemporary doesn't come cheap; then again, though, neither do nearly 130 private feet of Malibu beach.

$195,000 a month: Palazzo di Amore

Copy Link

In Beverly Hills, this $195K/month estate, named Palazzo di Amore, is less like a "palace of love" and more like the...palace of a revolving dancefloor in a 24-car garage. Owned by billionaire Jeff Greene, the 25-acre estate (which includes six acres of working vineyards, duh), has been looking for a renter for years, and is even rumored to be quietly floating it on the market for $150M. Better test out that 6,000-square-foot ballroom before making the call.

$175,000 a month: Beverly Hills, Calif.

Copy Link

Perfect 10 founder Norm Zada built this Richard Landry contemporary in 2000, selling it a decade later to a Saudi businessman for $16.5M. That owner, in turn, put it on the market for $25M in Feb. 2011, but quickly pulled it off. Now the 6.79-acre estate, which includes main and guest houses connected by a glass-and-steel bridge, is asking $175K a month.

$149,000 a month: Contenta

Copy Link

Known cheerily as Contenta, this palatial Med-style mansion is Miami's most expensive rental, clocking in at $149K a month for 11,000 square feet. The six-bedroom home sits on a rare corner lot of Palm Island, an exclusive area of town.

$135,000 a month: Waldorf Penthouse

Copy Link

A quartet of rental listings share the honor of Manhattan's most expensive; first up is this penthouse, perched high atop the Waldorf Towers and asking $135K a month. In this "anything but ordinary" unit, there are crystal chandeliers, a 20-person dining room, French doors, a rotunda, and views of the Chrysler Building, all designed for a "very special resident," as the brokerbabble puts it. (Non-special residents can stop reading now.) Amazingly, the place is still $5K shy of tying the most expensive rental in the Waldorf Towers, ever: Cole Porter's old apartment, which asked $140K a month in 2010.

$135,000 a month: The Pierre Suites

Copy Link

Not to be outdone by the its fellow countryman The Waldorf, The Pierre, at the moment, has three separate suites all listed for an even $135K a month. Sure, hotel amenities are nice, but even a "rich, opulent history of decorative style" or "white-glove elevator attendants" won't fool most folks into paying well into six figures a month for 1,100 to 1,400 square feet.

$125,000 a month: Malibu, Calif.

Copy Link

Contributing handsomely to the growing stable of celebrity landlords out there, this summer mega movie guy Steven Spielberg was quietly asking $125K a month for his Malibu beach house (well, beach compound—a guy like Spielberg doesn't own single houses). Included in the deal: a 7,237-square-foot Craftsman-style main house, a two-bedroom guest house, a massage room, a screening room (of course), and 130 feet of beach frontage.

Loading comments...

$600,000 a month: The Beverly House

For those who just can't quite commit to $115M ask, the Beverly House, in Beverly Hills, is the country's priciest rental listing by a landslide—at $600K a month, it's nearly 2.5 times as expensive as the most expensive rental when Curbed took stock around this time last year. Sited on more than three and a half acres of land, the H-shaped home was built in 1927 by architect Gordon Kaufmann; in 1946 actress Marion Davies bought the place for her paramour, publisher William Randolph Hearst. A couple of years after Hearst's 1951 death, John F. Kennedy and Jackie O. honeymooned here. The Beverly House starred in The Bodyguard and The Godfather, as well. With Hollywood history like that, splitting $600K a month 28 ways—there are 28 bedrooms—doesn't sound half bad, particularly when one factors in the "Art Deco" nightclub, the "herringbone parquet floors and a massive carved stone fireplace mantle from San Simeon," and the "lighted tennis court with indoor bar and media center."

$550,000 a month: The Sandcastle

Mega-builder Joe Farrell's mega Hamptons Sandcastle mega-funhouse has been looking for a buyer since biblical days, and while it really wants $43.5M, finding someone to pay $550K for the month of July will do, too. By far the most expensive Hamptons summer rental this year—and that's no puny feat—the Sandcastle is stocked with a 40-foot-long living room, a 2,800-square-foot master suite with an additional eight bedrooms, a two-lane bowling alley, a golf room, a skateboard half pipe, a rock-climbing wall, a media room, a nightclub, a "children's performing area," and a combination squash, racquetball, and basketball court (with a retractable hoop), all on 11.5 Bridgehampton, N.Y., acres.

$400,000 a month: Southampton, N.Y.

It may look like just a blip from this aerial listing photo, but this Southampton estate is going for $1M for the whole summer (and $400K for July). In the words of Curbed Hamptons, the place seems to whisper things like "This summer, I shall not settle for anything less than Ionic columns around my marble bath. No other order will do. I need my volutes."

$300K a month: The Linden Estate

At $45M it's a hair more expensive, sales wise, than the Sandcastle, but Southampton's Grosvenor Atterbury-designed Linden Estate actually costs hundreds of thousands of dollars less to rent. (Not that $300K a month is anything to shrug off.) The 1915 estate, which includes an 18,000-square-foot main house, two pavilions, each with its own kitchen, and staff quarters, has been trying to find a buyer since mid-March.

$300,000 a month: Bridgehampton, N.Y.

Many a Hamptons estate wants six figures for a month, but this Ocean Road number in Bridgehampton, asking $300K for July, wins the award for the best brokerbabble intro: "Traveling with an extensive retinue? A royal court? An extended Family? Half a dozen CEO's and spouses? No problem!" Looking past the 10,391-square-foot shingle-style main house, the property's more unusual amenities include a sand volleyball court, a Har-Cru tennis court, and staff quarters meant, uh, "to accommodate the chef, butler, chauffeur, lady's maid, nanny, majordomo, masseuse, and multiple housekeepers."

$250,000 a month: Redcraft

Known as Redcraft, this Southampton, N.Y., estate was built in 1897 and has since been renovated and given a major overhaul by designer Steven Gambrel. As is always the case with Gambrel's work, the interiors and landscaping are indeed spectacular, which makes the brokerbabble's claim—that this "is one of the finest properties to ever come to the rental market"—not so easy to scoff at. Redcraft is asking $250K for July.

$230,000 a month: Southampton, N.Y.

This Southampton property is currently listed for $25.8M or $700K for the summer (about $230K a month). Like many of its fellow East End chateaus, this, too, is a "magnificent shingle-style mansion" that's "set on park-like grounds with main and service driveways." It's got 10 bedrooms and eight baths.

$217,000 a month: Southampton, N.Y.

The priciest single-family rental in the Hamptons last year still deserves a spot on this list. Even as other, more expensive rentals have come to market over the last 12 months, this Southampton estate has remained steadfast in its $650K/summer (about $217K a month) ask. Sited a mile away from the beach, the 16,000-square-foot shingle-style mansion boasts seven bedrooms and 10 baths.

$200,000 a month: Sagaponack, N.Y.

Being marketed as "Sagaponack Seabreezes" isn't the only thing this castle-like rental has going for it: in August Bill and Hillary Clinton rented the place for an estimated $200K. Perhaps the simple act of summering was a more carefully considered show of bipartisanship on the part of the die-hard Dems: the 3.5-acre property, which boasts an 8,000-square-foot mansion, belongs to regular Republican donor Michael Saperstein.

$200,000 a month: Malibu, Calif.

This five-bedroom, 5,700-square-foot Malibu house is a spectacular, glassy mansion with an open floorplan, a guest house, and 180-degree views from the floor-to-ceiling windows. At $200K a month the 1979 contemporary doesn't come cheap; then again, though, neither do nearly 130 private feet of Malibu beach.

$195,000 a month: Palazzo di Amore

In Beverly Hills, this $195K/month estate, named Palazzo di Amore, is less like a "palace of love" and more like the...palace of a revolving dancefloor in a 24-car garage. Owned by billionaire Jeff Greene, the 25-acre estate (which includes six acres of working vineyards, duh), has been looking for a renter for years, and is even rumored to be quietly floating it on the market for $150M. Better test out that 6,000-square-foot ballroom before making the call.

$175,000 a month: Beverly Hills, Calif.

Perfect 10 founder Norm Zada built this Richard Landry contemporary in 2000, selling it a decade later to a Saudi businessman for $16.5M. That owner, in turn, put it on the market for $25M in Feb. 2011, but quickly pulled it off. Now the 6.79-acre estate, which includes main and guest houses connected by a glass-and-steel bridge, is asking $175K a month.

$149,000 a month: Contenta

Known cheerily as Contenta, this palatial Med-style mansion is Miami's most expensive rental, clocking in at $149K a month for 11,000 square feet. The six-bedroom home sits on a rare corner lot of Palm Island, an exclusive area of town.

$135,000 a month: Waldorf Penthouse

A quartet of rental listings share the honor of Manhattan's most expensive; first up is this penthouse, perched high atop the Waldorf Towers and asking $135K a month. In this "anything but ordinary" unit, there are crystal chandeliers, a 20-person dining room, French doors, a rotunda, and views of the Chrysler Building, all designed for a "very special resident," as the brokerbabble puts it. (Non-special residents can stop reading now.) Amazingly, the place is still $5K shy of tying the most expensive rental in the Waldorf Towers, ever: Cole Porter's old apartment, which asked $140K a month in 2010.

$135,000 a month: The Pierre Suites

Not to be outdone by the its fellow countryman The Waldorf, The Pierre, at the moment, has three separate suites all listed for an even $135K a month. Sure, hotel amenities are nice, but even a "rich, opulent history of decorative style" or "white-glove elevator attendants" won't fool most folks into paying well into six figures a month for 1,100 to 1,400 square feet.

$125,000 a month: Malibu, Calif.

Contributing handsomely to the growing stable of celebrity landlords out there, this summer mega movie guy Steven Spielberg was quietly asking $125K a month for his Malibu beach house (well, beach compound—a guy like Spielberg doesn't own single houses). Included in the deal: a 7,237-square-foot Craftsman-style main house, a two-bedroom guest house, a massage room, a screening room (of course), and 130 feet of beach frontage.