The Largest Home in the World
The largest occupied residence in the world is the Istana Nurul Iman Palace. It is the official home of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah. The name is Arabic and means "The Palace of the Light of Faith".
It not only is the largest palace in the world, but it is the largest residence of any kind in the world. Where many of the world’s palaces function mostly for administrative purposes and its secondary function is a residence, this palace serves primarily as a residence. The Istana Nurul Iman has over 200,000 square meters of floor space. It contains 1,788 rooms, 257 bathrooms, 5 swimming pools, an air conditioned stable for the Sultan’s 200 polo ponies, a 110 car garage, a banquet hall that can hold 4,000 guests, and a mosque that can accommodate 1,500 people. It was built in 1984 at a cost of over 920 million pounds. The home has 564 chandeliers, 44 stairwells, and 18 elevators. It is only open to the public three days a year.