Big Fat Deal: $26 million gets you a baby Bellagio

Each week, BCBusiness takes you inside one of the most outrageously upmarket real estate offerings in the province

Address: 12133 No. 3 Road, Richmond
Price: $26,000,000
MLS: R2066397
 
The skinny: Five-bedroom, eight-bathroom, 12,400-square-foot property on a gated 18-acre estate in Richmond.
 
The bling: It may not have actually been built by the House of Medici, but this mammoth expression of profligacy is certainly in the spirit of the original nouveau riche Italian dynasty. It’s billed as “Tuscan-inspired,” which means you get terracotta roof tiles, poolside loggias and limestone walls, all without the hassle of leaving the country, learning Italian or having to introduce chicken livers and cannellini beans into your diet. Why be authentic when you can be “inspired?” Who wants to live in a hilltop village with narrow streets, endless stairs and markets you have to walk to because there’s nowhere to park your banana-yellow Hummer when you could spread out over the great flat expanse of Richmond? Right? This, then, is the Italian-lite home for you. The massive motor court that sprawls in front of the rotunda entranceway is perfect for the conspicuous, yet casual, display of a selection of your luxury motors (you can rotate the collection through the 2,500-square-foot garage). Inside, things are whimsically pick-and-mix—a vaulted cathedral ceiling here, a Victorian claw-foot tub there—and the entire colossus is constructed on one floor. Yes. What possible better benefit to a bottomless bank account than preserving your passion for ranchers, regardless of design logic? You spend your hard-earned scharole your way.
 
The hidden extras: Swimming pool, tennis court, caretaker’s residence, greenhouse, 5,000-square-foot barn and air conditioning.