How does one define a house? According to the wordnetweb online dictionary, house is defined as a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families. Thanks to my conditioning and an education that was steeped in the use of idioms and phrases from centuries ago, my mind swirls with sentences found on doormats and tiny showpieces displayed in mobile houses, like, Home is where the heart is, and East or west, home is the best and then I remembered something I read in the Sunday section of the newspaper attributed to Charles Swindoll, “No price tag can adequately reflect its value,” (the its being home). But sorry Mr. Swindoll, price tags matter, at least when you are talking about the biggest houses in the world, after all real estate is never cheap.
The house that tops the list of the biggest houses in the world is in royal hands, literally! Windsor Castle in Berkshire, one of the official residences of the British royal family, is the biggest house in the world, which is inhabited. Along with Buckingham Palace in London and Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, it is the third official residence of the monarch. It was in 1952 that Queen Elizabeth II decided to make the Windsor Castle, her official weekend retreat. Today it is used for many official banquets and parties. There have been rumors that once Prince Charles ascends the throne, Windsor Castle may become the royal court.
History of Windsor Castle
The Windsor Castle built at the spot, where earlier stood the Manor of Clewer, which belonged to King Harold Godwinson. King Harold lost the Manor when he was defeated and killed while fighting a war for England against William the Conqueror. It was he who built the first castle made from wood at the site, where the present day Windsor Castle stands. In the 14th century, King Edward III started rebuilding the castle with stone. This construction of the Windsor Castle took almost 24 years. William of Wykeham was given the responsibility of overlooking the reconstruction of the castle.
After that several monarchs kept adding structures to the castle and restoring structures which were in need of repair. It was in the 1500′s when the plague hit London that Queen Elizabeth I moved to the Windsor Castle. After the English Civil War in the 17th century, the castle became the headquarters for the Cromwell army. After monarchy was restored in 1660, the royals spent a lot of time and money restoring the Windsor Castle and made it one of their official residences.
Facts About Windsor Castle
There are fourteen important structures that form the core of Windosr Castle. These structures are listed below:
* The Round Tower
* The Quadrangle
* The State Apartments
* Private Apartments
* South Wing
* Lower Ward
* St. George’s Chapel
* Horseshoe Cloister
* King Henry VIII Gate
* The Long Walk
* Norman Gate
* North Terrace
* Edward III Tower
* The Curfew Tower
The Windsor Castle occupies an area of almost 13 acres and has a square feet area of almost 45,000 square meters. The castle has almost 1000 rooms and is not only the largest inhabited castle in the world but is also one of the only castles in the world that has been constantly occupied since the middle ages. When the Queen is residing in the Windsor Castle, the Royal Standard is unfurled at the Round Tower. The rest of the time, the Union Jack flies at the castle. The entire castle was remodeled starting 1824, for a period of 12 years, under the supervision of architect Jeffry Wyatville. There are only two royals who have been born in the Windsor Castle, one being Edward III and the other, King Henry VI. Being the top at the list of the biggest houses in the world does not come at an easy price. In 1192, after being ravaged by a fire that broke out in the Queen’s private chapel, destroying almost 9000 sq ft of the castle, a whopping 37 million pounds was spent on restoring the castle. 70% of this damage was paid for by opening the state rooms of Buckingham Palace to the general public for the first time.
Another house that has been contesting for the title of the largest house in the world is the home of Sultan of Brunei. The Palace of Faith Light as the palace is known is situated south of Brunei’s capital, Bandar Segi Begawan, on an area of 2,152,782 square feet, has five swimming pools and was built in 1984 at the cost of USD 1.4 billion. Soon to make its spot at the top of the list of most expensive houses in the world is the 27 story building, Antilla, that is going to be home to Mukesh Ambani, the Indian billionaire and his family. Antilla, which is being built in downtown Mumbai, is expected to cost around USD 2 billion on completion. But if there is any country that tops the list of countries having the biggest houses in the world, the honor would go to Australia. A recent report from the Australia Bureau of Statistics revealed that Australians while building new homes opted for houses that were bigger in area than anywhere else in the world. The average floor are of a new house in Australia has reached 214.6 square meters. Most house owners are now opting for houses that have four or five bedrooms and even an entertainment center.
So, there you have it; the biggest houses in the world include Windsor Castle and Palace of Faith Light. Charles Dudley Warner once said, “No man but feels more of a man in the world if he have but a bit of ground that he can call his own.” Well if that is true, I wonder how the owners of the biggest houses in the world feel.