$533 million Roman villa gets zero bids at auction

Published January 23, 2022 11:15am ET



A 1570 Roman villa containing a treasure trove of art and history could be the most expensive home ever sold — except no one wants to buy it.

The Villa Aurora in Rome, Italy, went up for auction Tuesday following a bitter inheritance dispute with the staggering price tag of $534 million, eclipsing the most expensive single-family home ever sold up until that point: a fashionable Hong Kong neighborhood dwelling that went for $361 million in 2017. But there weren’t any takers for the Rome domicile at the online auction, which started the bidding at just under $401 million.

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