To real estate broker Amir Davidson, the Caesarea mansion his company is marketing is much more than Israel’s most expensive home.

“This is a modern palace, a piece of art, built in the style of Versailles in France but with modern technology,” said Davidson, CEO of Davidson Real Estate.

He walked past one of the gold-leafed fountains surrounding the property known as Bat Sheba’s Palace during an exclusive tour given to The Times of Israel, adding, “It’s larger than the floor area of the White House. There is nothing like this in Israel.”

The massive estate includes nearly 7,000 square meters (73,700 square feet) of built interior area across 11,000 square meters (2.7 acres) of landscaped grounds. Designed with gold and marble in Baroque and rococo styles, the home was completed in 2015 by Italian craftsmen, with custom-made furnishings crafted from marble, onyx, lapis lazuli, tiger’s eye, and malachite stone.

And with multiple swimming pools, spa and entertainment facilities, and countless spaces for hosting guests, it ostensibly lacks nothing — except a buyer.

With an asking price of $210 million, the property is accessible only to a tiny circle of the ultra‑wealthy around the world, even as interest in Israel’s ultra-luxury real estate market has exploded over the last decade, Davidson said.

“I’d say there are about 300 people in the world who could potentially be buyers,” he estimated, saying his target market is affluent Jews. “Since our office took over the listing about a month ago, we have been working to reach out to them. There are offers on the table that are currently under consideration.”

A stunningly ambitious project

The central hall of Bat Sheba’s Palace, a chandeliered room of marble, gold and statues, calls to mind the world’s greatest palaces and fairytales.

While modern trends in home design tend to favor minimalist aesthetics, with a focus on clean lines, open spaces and neutral colors, the home’s owner, Valery Kogan, the co-owner of Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, clearly had a very different vision.

Beginning in 2008, Kogan acquired six neighboring homes in Caesarea’s exclusive Cluster 5 enclave and demolished them, creating a combined lot so large that it spans two streets and is considered both first- and second-line to the sea.

By 2010, local workers began work on the mansion’s structural foundations, while Italian architects, led by Citterio F.lli and Cristiano Mattia Ferme, brought in teams of stonemasons and artisans from abroad to create the regal, neo-Baroque finishes he demanded.

Floors, walls, and ceilings were clad with 24‑karat gold leaf and rare marble, and inlaid with laser‑cut gemstones privately sourced and imported to Israel by the boxful. Crystal chandeliers and golden candelabras were coordinated with silk-trimmed couches and tapestries. Double-height pillars that sat unsold in a warehouse in Italy for a century were shipped to Israel in one piece in a painstaking delivery process.

“The level of planning and detail that went into this home is hard to comprehend,” Davidson said.........

© The Times of Israel