The Gaetano Group
Selling Mountains, Coast, Town & Country
Lairs any supervillain would love
By Morgan Brennan | Forbes.com – Thu, Jul 12, 2012 4:52 PM EDT
It’s most often called the Spy House or the Floating Glass Home. Perhaps the Bat Cave would make a better comparison. Access to 32013 Point Place in Laguna Beach, Calif., is an elaborate, secretive affair that starts with a garage door opener.
The $10 million compound, pictured here, sits completely hidden from the street below it. The only sign that you have arrived at the Floating Glass Home is a wooden garage door quietly nestled off the side of a private road. When the door opens, you drive your car into the space and onto a hydraulic auto lift. The lift then drops you underground into the entryway of a guesthouse. Leave the car parked there (on display, if you will), and then meander down the winding subterranean path to the main house. Perched on a cliff with 180 degree views of the coastline, the main house is comprised of glass curtain walls and cantilevered floors that jut out over the ocean below, giving the impression of home “floating” above the beach below it.
“This is perfect for a buyer who doesn’t want people to know they are home,” says Donna Pfanner, the Coldwell Banker Previews International agent representing the $10 million property. “It’s like living in a piece of artwork or a sculpture.” Or a safe house crafted for a superhero like Bruce Wayne.
While you’ll have to wait a few more days for the latest Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises,” you can take your pick of real-life lairs sure to inspire a comic book fantasy. We culled through striking and unusual properties both on the market and off capable of making a would-be supervillain or superhero salivate. With help from the folks at Realtor.com, Coldwell Banker Previews International, Sotheby’s International Realty and others, we unearthed properties from around the world touting architectural designs, outrageous security features, exclusive locations and high-tech gadgetry one would surely demand if looking to rule to world.
The Gaetano Group 