Beachfront dream home sells for US record $150m

NEW YORK - A sprawling estate, situated on prime waterfront property along the US East Coast, has sold for US$120 million (S$150 million), setting a new record in the United States.

The sale of Copper Beech Farm, in the Connecticut town of Greenwich, was finalized Friday, according to the Greenwich Time newspaper.

"This is the most expensive property sold in America," real estate agent David Ogilvy told the newspaper.

The dream home had been listed for sale nearly a year earlier, in May 2013, for US$190 million.

The 13,500-square-foot (1,250-square-meter) main house, originally built in 1898 in French Renaissance style, has 12 bedrooms, nine bathrooms and 10 fireplaces, a library, a solarium, a wine cellar and a servant's wing.

The property also includes two islands, nearly a mile (1.5 kilometers) of beach, a tennis court, a swimming pool and a hot tub, all surrounded by a sumptuous garden with extraordinary Atlantic Ocean views, according to Christie's International Real Estate.

It sits on 50 acres (20 hectares) of land.

The identity of the buyer has not been made public.

Ogilvy said the sale was the priciest ever in the United States for a single-family home.

The previous record was set in January 2013, when a Silicon Valley, California property went for $117.5 million.

The Broken O Ranch in the western US state of Montana sold for the even higher price of $132.5 million in November 2012, but with 124,000 acres of land, it was not considered a single-family home.