An enormous £306 million mansion that boasts 130 rooms is one of the biggest residential properties in the world but is shrouded by secrecy. Built in the 1990s, the Mansao Safra, which translates to Safra Mansion, is the 11th biggest residence in the world.

The massive property, which sits in southern Sao Paulo, Brazil, trumps the size of the White House and is twice the size of Alvorada Palace, the home of Brazil’s president. It occupies a massive 22,000 square metres and has more than 11,000 square metres of built up area.

Originally built by banker Joseph Safra, the mansion has five floors, three of which are underground, and more than 130 rooms that are connected by nine lifts. It was valued at around £8 million at the time.

Although the mansion’s value has skyrocketed over the years, which is in keeping with the Safra family’s wealth. Joseph’s widow Vicky is said to have a net worth of around £19.5bn, reports Forbes magazine. 

The huge mansion was inspired by the Palace of Versailles with the architecture designed by Frenchman Alain Raynaud. The interior is kept under absolute secrecy with very few people said to visit the property. 

According to Click Petroleo e Gas, the mansion was designed as a nod towards Roman noble palaces. The property boasts an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a helipad, seven family suites and a reinforced security system. 

Estimates believe the energy consumption from the property would be enough to power a town of 2,000 people. The building’s original owner, Joseph, was born in Lebanon in 1938, but emigrated to Brazil when he was a teenager.

He was at one point the 52nd richest person in the world, according to Forbes, and the wealthiest man in Brazil. That was thanks to the Safra Group, a banking and financial institution that operated across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean.

Joseph died in 2020, aged 82, leaving his fortune, including the Safra Mansion, to Vicky and his children. His death made her the second-richest Brazilian behind Eduardo Savrin, the co-founder of Facebook. 

Vicky, 73, married Joseph at the age of 17, starting a family partnership that would see the Safra Group becoming a financial behemoth. The business began in Syria but really started to gain momentum in Brazil.

Banco Safra launched in 1972, going on to become one of the biggest financial institutions in Brazil. Vicky and Joseph meanwhile went on to share four children and 14 grandchildren together.

Vicky now runs The Vicky and Joseph Safra Philanthropic Foundation, which supports projects in health, education, arts and culture, expanding the social impact of the financial legacy.