Enormous Burr Ridge megamansion with 22-car garage is back on the market for $7M

The infamous megamansion previously known by the names “Villa Taj” and “The Palace Royale” is back on the market and looking for a buyer in suburban Burr Ridge, Illinois. The enormous 31,000-square-foot home, built in 2009 by wealthy dentist Husam Aldairi for a reported cost of $18 million, has had a troubled past to say the very least.

The Byzantine and Moorish revival structure faced construction delays from the start as well as official complaints from neighbors who initially mistook the large building and its unusual architecture for a mosque. Aldairi and his wife changed their minds about living in the massive home before its was completed and placed the partially built residence on the market for a whopping $25 million.

Interior details of the property—along with random images of the yachts, Bentleys, and the Chicago skyline—can be seen in this Villa Taj marking video from 2010:

In 2011, a burst pipe flooded the home with 6 million gallons of water. The mansion went into receivership shortly thereafter, facing liens totaling more than $9 million, according to a Chicago Tribune report at the time. Its new owners, a group of investors, bought the property out of foreclosure for “just” $3.1 million in 2012 and went to work finishing the home and repairing the water damage.

In 2016, the group offered the restored megamansion—rebranded as “The Palace Royale”—for $10.95 million. Finding no takers, the property recently returned with a substantially lower ask of $7 million—a price that current listing agent Lisa Petrik of Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty told Crain’s represents a break-even point for the sellers, who are reportedly “ready to move on.”

Wrapped in Jerusalem limestone and 15,000 square feet of the covered terraces, the former Villa Taj is still every bit as over-the-top as you might imagine. The space features eight bedrooms, nine and a half bathrooms, an elevator, a grand ballroom with a 38-foot glass conservatory style ceiling, and a 22-car garage.

Although large, highly customized mansions are typically slow to sell outside of Chicago, the palatial Burr Ridge property may find a new life as a combination residence and event space, according to Crain’s. Provided village officials sign off on the plan, a potential buyer ”could live in part of it and rent the rest for weddings,” Petrik told the publication.

• 6501 S. County Line Road, Burr Ridge, IL [Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty]
• Giant Burr Ridge mansion, once listed at $25 million, now at $7 million [Crain’s]
• Infamous ‘Villa Taj’ megamansion returns for $10.95M [Curbed Chicago]
• 30,000-Square-Foot Burr Ridge megamansion damaged in flooded [Curbed Chicago]