Whilst the Wall Street journal is predicting more doom and gloom for Manhattan luxury real estate following the Lehman Brothers fall, a new record sale has been made across the Atlantic, in the south of France.

Le Grand Jardin, Ile Sainte Marguerite

Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya has purchased a unique piece of luxury real estate on the Island of Sainte-Marguerite, the largest of the four islands of Lérins., two of which are uninhabited. The property is known as “Le Grand Jardin,” or “The Grand Garden.”

Price – between €37 million and €43 million ($53-61 million US)

Apparently, the only thing keeping the price from being more astronomical was the lack of a private dock. Competition to purchase the property was fierce, mostly from celebrities and Russian billionaires, but Nice Matin is suggesting Mr. Mallya was the winning bidder thanks to his “special,” relationship with the French government and the fact that his airline, Kingfisher, is one of the first customers of EADS-Airbus. No comment.

Île Sainte-Marguerite is perhaps the most attractive real estate on the French coast, and one of her claims to fame is the fortress where The Man in the Iron Mask was held prisoner for a time. The Fort Royal is now open to the public and is a popular tourist destination, with a regular ferry running across from Cannes.

Fort Royal, Ile Saint Marguerite

The property itself, Le Grand Jardin, is the only piece of private property in the heart of the island. The property has been for sale since 1990 but because of the history, a special arrangement was needed to allow the sale. The property is actually an asset of “Claude Muller Investment SARL,” a real estate business. Mr. Mallya has made a commitment to continue to run the business as a going concern.

Le Grand Jardin (the name may not be changed) is a large green garden named “Le Jardin du Roi,” or “Garden of the King,” with three houses: the Governor’s House, the House of Métayers and La Tour – all surrounded by a wall that was built on the orders of Cardinal Richlieu.

Certainly, a King’s ransom was paid.

Luxury real estate news from around the world. Ups, downs, new developments and disasters abound.

The Wall Street Journal reports on a new luxury development in downtown Houston. The WaterLights District.

The WaterLights District will include a careful planned array of office, hotels, restaurants, boutique retail, and residential structures amid a park setting along the banks of Clear Creek, just south of the world’s largest medical and research center, the Texas Medical Center.

1927 villa for sale, Bucharest, Romania

The Diplomat, a Bucharest-based online magazine announces a refurbished interwar villa for sale or rent.Price - €15,000 per month; for sale at  €3.5 million.

Pache Protopopescu Built in 1927 and completely refurbished in 2007, this interwar villa in the east-centre of Bucharest was built for a Jewish family 80 years ago and is now available for sale or rent. Avoiding nationalisation, the house was acquired by Romanians, whose descendants still retain ownership. The iron entrance gate gives access to an impressive interior court with high walls, arches and two beautiful terraces placed on the ground and first floor of the building.

TRLV Group will be at this year’s Cityscape Convention in New York’s Javits Center, Booth D36, September 10th and 11th presenting a unique project site on the Las Vegas Strip next to the MGM/Dubai/Kerzner future hotel & casino and the Stratosphere Hotel & Casino recently acquired by Goldman Sachs.

A $1.74 billion residential development on the north coast, about a two hour drive from Cairo, Marassi will eventually cover more than 1,500 acres and include a marina, golf course, retail space and 3,000 hotel rooms.

Perth’s millionaires are finding it hard to move their second (or third or fourth) homes. Dunsborough, the premier town of the region and conveniently close to the Margaret River wineries, has seen the median house price fall 11.4% to $655,000 in the year to June.

One of Manteca’s biggest builders - Woodside Homes - has filed for bankruptcy protection. The home builder has housing projects that are part of the 402-lot Tesoro neighborhood bounded by Woodward Avenue, Atherton Drive and Van Ryn Road as well as a portion of the 497-homeUnion Ranch East directly east of Del Webb at Woodbridge on North Union Road.

The purchase is not his first property in Singapore. Modi has two other luxury condominiums in Singapore located in Orchard Road, the city’s shopping district. He also has another penthouse in Sentosa Cove, described as “an exclusive weekend hideout” on Singapore’s Sentosa Island.

An industry source is quoted as saying Trump flew to Bangkok last month to talk with a Gaysorn executive about development plans for a four rai plot located at Ratchaprasong intersection.

Cher no longer wants to be Malibu Barbie. She’s putting her (approximately) 14,000-square-foot mansion (Mr. Big Time lists it as just over 13,000 sq. ft., as does Real Estalker) up for sale. To the tune of $45,000,000. That’s just crazy talk! But, it’s true, and listed with Hilton & Hyland.

The Wall Street Journal wrote about the listing today. And this evening, we found the listing on the MLS. Unfortunately, there’s only one picture right now. We’re hoping for more at a later time (we’ll see).

You don’t often find 1.7 acre estates in Malibu. That alone probably makes this property worth quite a bit. But $45 million? She must be very hopeful during the current real estate market.

The monstrous home has 6 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, a theatre, gym, and several verandas — according to listing information. Apparently even the tennis court has quite a view. The property also has an infinity pool and a guest house.

We really wish there was a more detailed description of the property available so we could tell you more. We’ll keep researching and let you know if we come up with a bit more about this estate.

Update: For more info about the home, including some great pictures, see the Architectural Digest write-up on Cher’s home. Hat tip to reader Mike for the link. Thanks, Mike!

A private jet could be considered to be the ultimate in luxury lifestyle accessories. Apart from the luxury of not having to deal with the cattle market approach most airlines seem to use, a private jet allows you to pick and choose destinations, timeframe, and perhaps more importantly, travel in luxurious comfort.

The Bombardier Aerospace Learjet range is one of the more well-known personal jet manufacturers and one of their mid price options is the Learjet 45XR.

The Learjet 45XR is an upgrade of the original 45 model and offers faster cruise speeds, quicker time-to-climb rate and an increased takeoff weight. The ‘plane is equipped with 2 FADEC-controlled Honeywell TFE731-20BR engines giving a maximum speed of 534 mph, a cruising speed of 525 mph and a range of over 2,400 miles. The service ceiling is 51,000 feet. Including the toilet, which apparently counts as a seat, the 45XR carries 9 passengers in sumptuous luxury and is optimized to deal with high altitude airports such as Aspen, Colorado.

Interior options include a range of communication systems such as an AirCell Airborne Cellular Telephone, a telephone system that uses the AirCell cellular ground network, interfacing with existing ground cellular systems, designed not to interfere with ground-based units. Plus the “Airshow network,” which gives a cabin display of the aircraft’s current position, other information pertaining to the trip, up-to-the-minute financial news from Bloomberg and business updates from the Wall Street Journal.

Apart from the traditional cash purchase, Bombardier offer a range of ownership options including their “Flexjet,” fractional program. As an “owner,” in this program, you are entitled to use the entire fleet in the program for a certain number of hours per year. Costs vary, and details of the program can be found here:

Bombardier Flexjet