If you can't afford the bat cave, maybe you can just be Batman for Halloween?

It's not that I wasn't intrigued by all of the homes listed in Forbes' write-up of America's Strange Homes for Sale, but when Move.com referred to this house as the bat cave, I just couldn't resist.

Photos of the house, which features ceiling-to-floor glass walls that provide a 180-degree view of the ocean, certainly didn't hurt.

But the part I like best about this house in Laguna Beach, Calif., is its stealthiness. Not only is the home invisible from the street, but the owners also get to take a secret tunnel into the subterranean garage that also includes a hydraulic lift so you can bring a car straight into the home.

I don't know how much more like "Batman" you could get!


As you probably guessed, all this secrecy does not come cheap, with the house up for grabs at $11.85 million.

In addition to all the mystery, the home also has all the usual amenities, plus a few added perks. The 5,300-square-foot home has four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a gourmet kitchen, an office, a meditation room, a family room with a fireplace and a game room. All the bedrooms boast spacious walk-in closets, and the master bedroom also has 180-degree ocean views from its upper level.

Just because it looks like the house is jutting out from a cliff doesn't mean you can't get to the beach. And you can do so safely, by way of a secured stairway.

Some of the other homes listed in the Forbes article include the Volcano House, which I wrote about earlier this month, in addition to a couple of castles in California and Arizona, a lighthouse and a "residential community at sea" that has a few nautical apartments available for between $1.4 million and $13.5 million. It's like having a gigantic yacht, except you don't have to do any of the work. At all. If that's not the best way to retire, I don't know what is.

- Mai Ling; MSN Real Estate

posted by Castles Magazine @ 9:19 AM