Best Real Estate Deal: Georgia Mansion Sold At 75 Percent Discount

By almost any measure, $11.5 million is quite a lot to pay for a new home. Most of us would be fortunate to be able to plop down a tenth of that sum for a piece of property - on our most healthy financial day.

However, $11.5 million can suddenly sound like a relative bargain when you discover that the the 82-room Georgia mansion depicted below was originally listed at $45 million. Yep, the new owners just landed themselves a 75 percent discount.

The home is known by the French nickname "Le Rêve" which means "The Dream." However, for Atlanta entrepreneur Hubert Humphrey and his wife, Norma, who spent three years and nearly $50 million to build the estate, almost bankrupting themselves in the process, the financial beating they endured in the sale is bound to feel more like a nightmare.

Humphrey undertook the construction Le Rêve in 2005, just a couple years shy of the housing bubble burst. Set on 72 acres, the home is comparable in size to the White House, with so many windows that two boats were required to import them from Europe.

The 82 rooms include 7 bedrooms and 14.5 bathrooms (no one will ever have to wait in line). In addition to the mansion's opulent appearance, the entertainment options are endless: an arcade (pictured below), model train room, golf simulator, massage parlor, gym, and bowling alley. Want more? How about a home theater with a marquee, concession stand and seating for 27 guests (see above).

And with Atlanta's warm weather, it's worth your while to venture outside too. That's where you'll find the campgrounds, 8-hole golf course, playground, and horse stables.

While $11.5 million may not be much in exchange for never having to leave home, you'd better make sure you have plenty of additional cash on hand for upkeep. According to listing agent Troy Stowe, it was this factor that ultimately made the property so hard to unload:

"Purchasing the home is the easy part. It's the maintenance that's tough. A lot of people could have afforded that house, but when the past homeowners were living there with full staff, with upkeep and taxes, it was running a million a year. You stay there for 10 years and that's $10 million," Stowe said.

What do you think? Is the bargain price of this fabulous mansion worth the maintenance cost tradeoff? Would you consider this a "best real estate deal?"

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