HOUSTON — A 9-acre property in Houston featuring what is being called one of the most expensively built homes in Texas has hit the market for the first time.
Dallas-based Icon Global Group has been hired to list the Romanov Estate in the heart of Hunters Creek Village in west Houston. The company has launched an international marketing campaign aimed at ultrahigh net worth individuals.
The property is home to a 22,000-square-foot mansion, as well as a 3,500-square-foot guest lodge.
The primary residence was designed in the Richardson Romanesque style and took inspiration from the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina; Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California; and even the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
“Like Hearst Castle, the interior of the home incorporates architectural elements personally selected by the client and shipped from England, France, Belgium and Italy," architect Ken Newberry said.
The steel, concrete and limestone home was completed in 2005 after six years of construction, which was delayed by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The exterior of the home is clad in hand-cut limestone from Indiana. But after the attack on the Pentagon, the U.S. government diverted all of the available limestone from the Bybee quarries of Indiana to aid in the reconstruction of the Defense Department’s headquarters.
Once the supply of limestone was restored, the home’s undisclosed owners were able to move ahead with interior finishes, which they sourced from across Europe.
The custom and hand-built finishes include a wrought-iron elevator, carved interior railings and chandeliers. The home was also built with energy efficiencies, embedded technology and additional privacy features.
"For some of the more formal rooms, we cast our own trim of bronze buttons for controlling the lights,” builder Jeff Thomsen said. “There are carvings in wood, stone and metal that were the result of hundreds of hours of work."
To see photos of the estate, click here.
