That said, as of Sunday, May 5, Casa Ischia, as it's known in real estate circles, is no longer for sale. For those keeping score at home (and as near as we can determine), the most expensive house for sale in the U.S. right now is [drumroll, please] Gordon Pointe, a nearly 23,000-square-foot compound on the Gulf Coast in Naples (Florida!), which hit the market on February 8, 2024, and is still offered at the original asking price of $295 million. According to the listing, "There is nothing like it, anywhere."
P.S.: We stand by our assertion that the very rich are different from you and me, even though — and this should go without saying — we didn't make it up.
The original story is below:
Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They buy fancy modern houses on tiny manmade islands, and then they get tired of them and sell them to other very rich people.
At least, that's how it works in Miami.
Today's example: 428 S. Hibiscus Dr. in Miami Beach — or, more precisely, just off Miami Beach proper, on Hibiscus Island. Like many fancy modern houses that go on the market in the Magic City, it has a name — Casa Ischia — meant to evoke someplace far, far away from Miami that in hardly any way resembles Miami.
![view from the patio of 428 S. Hibiscus Dr., designed by Ralph Choeff and built in 2017 on Hibiscus Island, Miami Beach](https://media1.miaminewtimes.com/mia/imager/u/blog/19750356/casa_ischia_428_s_hibiscus_dr_mls_1577056_3.jpeg?cb=1715001500)
What do you get for $70 million? Eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and a dock for your yacht, to name just a few amenities.
Photo via Zillow
That's $6,374 per square foot if you're keeping score at home. And according to Realtor.com, it's the most expensive newly listed house on the U.S. market in the past week.
![nighttime view from the terrace of 428 S. Hibiscus Dr., a contemporary manse designed by architect Ralph Choeff and built in 2017 on Hibiscus Island, Miami Beach](https://media1.miaminewtimes.com/mia/imager/u/blog/19750355/casa_ischia_428_s_hibiscus_dr_mls_1577056_2.jpeg?cb=1715001500)
This is how to live in Miami but not live in Miami at the same time.
Photo via Zillow
It was commissioned by Formula 1 racecar driver-turned-spec-home-developer Edmund "Eddie" Irvine, who bought the lot for $5.2 million in 2012 and put his creation on the market before he'd even had it built. It finally sold in its completed form to an undisclosed buyer for $27.75 million in 2019, but not before the likes of Drake and Jay-Z slept there (paywalled). Now it's for sale again.
![one of eight bedrooms in 428 S. Hibiscus Dr., designed by Ralph Choeff and built in 2017 on Hibiscus Island, Miami Beach](https://media1.miaminewtimes.com/mia/imager/u/blog/19750774/casa_ischia_428_s_hibiscus_dr_mls_1577056_4.jpeg?cb=1715001500)
If you get tired of sleeping in this bedroom, there are seven others to choose from.
Photo via Zillow
![one of eight bedrooms in 428 S. Hibiscus Dr., designed by Ralph Choeff and built in 2017 on Hibiscus Island, Miami Beach](https://media2.miaminewtimes.com/mia/imager/u/blog/19750775/casa_ischia_428_s_hibiscus_dr_mls_1577056_5.jpeg?cb=1715001500)
Which bedroom do you like better?
Photo via Zillow