Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@sriharikaranth
Architectural vanity projects crop up all around the world, using grandeur to show off the extravagant wealth of its owner, yet one fascinating $20,000,000 replica house has been left unattended for nearly a decade after its owner encountered significant legal trouble.
Many of the biggest landmarks across the world are luxurious buildings that are almost unbelievable in their scale and stature, yet some of the richest people in the world have used their overwhelming fortunes to replicate these for themselves.
Much like the Eiffel Tower you'd find on the Las Vegas strip, Indian businessman Vijay Mallya made the bold decision to not only build a luxury home on top of a 400-foot tall high-rise apartment block, but also to have it be a stunning $20 million replica of the White House.
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Spanning roughly 40,000 square feet, this behemoth of a home was completed in 2010 and remains both marvellous and utterly absurd to look at in comparison to the skyline of UB City, Bengaluru that surrounds it.
It's truly a one-of-a-kind structure - not just because of it's uncanny similarity to the US President's place of residence - and features a stunning surrounding garden, a rooftop helipad (because how else would you get there), and an infinity pool out front that would make anyone's knees wobbly.
What remains the most shocking part of this not-so-humble abode though is the fact that Mallya might never actually get to live in it, as he's currently embroiled in significant legal trouble that prevents him from re-entering his native India.
As reported by LADbible, Mallya fled India for the United Kingdom in 2016 after defaulting on debts that totalled over $1,000,000,000, in addition to facing charges of fraud that the businessman himself denies.
It has been nearly 10 years since Mallya was last in India and over a decade and a half since the lavish home finished construction, yet for the majority of its lifespan it has laid empty with its owner trapped abroad.
He is currently fighting bankruptcy charges in the UK too, having lost an appeal in April of this year, and continues to resist any expedition process that would return him to India, even if that would let him live in this rooftop mansion once more.
Mallya himself claims that his debts have been paid after Indian authorities siezed his assets, yet former UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat outlined in 2023 that he doesn't intend the country to be 'a place where those who are seeking to evade justice can hide'.
