Touring a $25,000,000 Istanbul Penthouse with a Cat Named Simba
(birds chirping) (relaxing music) - What's up, everybody, it's Enes here, and welcome to another episode. Well, this week we flew across the world to Istanbul, Turkey, which is my home country, to look at these amazing Bosporus views from this stunning two-story apartment. Now this unit has seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, 750 square meters of interior space with an asking price of 215 million Turkish liras, which is around $26 million.
As always, we will leave more information about the property and the property link down in the description of this video. And before we start our tour, I want to thank the listing agent, Beril Benezra, and her brokerage, Space, for allowing us to tour their amazing listing and share it with all of you. And now, let's begin our tour. (upbeat music) All right, everyone, here we are at the entry. Elevator comes up to this level, and we've got a beautiful front door with this wood grid design.
And they carried out that pattern throughout the unit. We have a spacious entry here with some wardrobe space on the right-hand side. Natural stones throughout, and this hidden door right here takes us to a stunning powder room off of the entry.
Beautiful natural stone floors, and they carried out the same material as a countertop here, fabricated sink, beautiful LED-lit mirror. We have some ceiling lights, more of these wood grid details. Just a stunning pattern of an entry.
- [Mikey] It's a good first one to start with. - Exactly, all right, let's close this door, continue our tour. We're gonna go to the left-hand side. We have the staircase going up to the second floor. I have to mention, these steel staircase threads are wrapped with leather, which is super cool, something different.
I don't think we've ever seen a staircase wrapped in leather before. - [Mikey] Yeah, I can't think of one now. - There you go. Wood grade details, we have it as a columns here, we have some wall sconces. And underneath the staircase, they have some art pieces and we're gonna see a lot more throughout.
Mikey, let's continue this way before we cover the kind of like the formal living room area. I wanna go this way. We have the formal dining room area.
It's all open, gets ton of natural light. We have beautiful light fixtures that serves as your chandelier. Glass table that sits eight. And we have, I don't wanna wake her up, we have Simba here. - [Mikey] Oh, you woke Simba up.
- Hey, Simba is the coolest cat ever. And we've been hanging out with her over the last few hours. - [Mikey] Y'all may see some of Simba just kind of layered throughout some B-roll of this house. - Exactly. - [Mikey] She seems to like to just gravitate towards whatever area I'm shooting. - Simba has been keeping everybody company ever since we came to this apartment.
- [Mikey] Yeah, I'm surprised there's only one cat because I think she's in every one of my B-rolls, but yeah. - There you go. All right, so overall, great space. And what's so amazing about this apartment, and Mikey let's head out this way, is that it's literally all clad with glass on the exterior.
They have these recessed in columns, which they did this really unique texture detail with the concrete that looks really cool, and they even put some recessed in floor lighting underneath to really highlight these textures. But these concrete columns really allow this unit to have glass walls throughout because we're looking at some incredible Bosporus views. I mean, these views are breathtaking, And we're gonna talk more about 'em obviously later in the video.
Now, right next to the formal dining room area, we have the seating section. We've got a beautiful sofa here complemented with some chairs. I love this really bulky stack stone detail that they have on the back wall with a subtle LED lighting on each side.
And focusing the other side, we have a TV unit here with a pop-up TV. So it has that kind of minimalist look right now, but with a push of a button, your TV goes up. And again, this floor is kind of all open, focused towards the views. Continuing this way, we have pretty much natural stone floors throughout. Right in the center, we have this awesome contemporary fireplace design. And focusing the other side, we have a really kind of modern and round bar seating here with glass top.
Your liquor, just an awesome place to sit down, enjoy the views. - [Mikey] This house gets incredible light everywhere. I feel like it's one of the most light-filled rooms we've seen and it's just got a nice color. You have the water right there, it's great.
- You can't beat that. - No. - Now, going this way, we have another seating area here. Your couch set up, a couple chairs, stacked stone on the back. And focusing on the other side, we have the TV facing towards the views. Again, this unit is all about appreciating what's outside. In fact, why don't I take everybody out.
By the way, all these sliding glass doors, let's see, stack on each side. We've gotta do this, Mikey, we've got to show it to people. - Yeah. - This is why this unit is so valuable. Obviously, it's in a great, great location, right? Here in Istanbul.
But what's so important is that you don't really have a ton of these big two-story units with rooftop access and walls of glass opening up to these breathtaking views. I mean, obviously we're going to talk about the seating section first, but this is amazing. - It is. - You literally have this moving body of water right in your living room. You have boats going by, you have the iconic Bosporus in front of your living room, this is incredible. - [Mikey] Yeah, so, any of our American audience out there that doesn't know, the Bosporus is kind of like a really important historical waterway that connects what? The Black Sea to the Mediterranean? - That's right. - Yeah, so this
for thousands of years has kind of been used as like a pretty heavy shipping route. - Absolutely, I mean, the Ottomans used Istanbul as their headquarters, as their base. And what's so cool about this view right here is that we're currently on the European side.
Right across is actually Asian side. - Yeah. - This is the water that cuts Europe from Asia. - [Mikey] So if you're a strong swimmer, you can literally swim from Europe to Asia.
- You can, you absolutely can. Breathtaking views, and honestly what's great about this apartment is that you're not right on the water where there's a little bit of traffic. You're slightly pushed back. But yet, again, it feels like your living room is right by the water. - [Mikey] Yeah, and it's just a short walk down there. There's a lot of cool boats, a lot of cool restaurants, and bars, and everything.
- It's in a chic great neighborhood. - [Mikey] Yeah, this is my first time in this neighborhood. I've been to Istanbul twice before, but I never saw this. It's really, really cool. - Really cool, right? - Yeah. - It's a little windy today,
so I hope our mics are not picking that up. But looking at it this way, we have the same natural stone floors pretty much extend out to this wraparound balcony, outdoor seating, you have your recess lights, built-in speakers throughout. And again, all these pushed in and kind of streamlined columns really allow this unit to have this amazing flow to the outdoors. Of course, you have your automatic shades. Every little detail.
I mean, this is phenomenal. - Yeah. - Now I'm gonna bring everybody back inside. And there's actually more unique facts about this unit that we're gonna see in a bit.
But I wanna bring everybody back to the entry. Now, this hallway here, it takes us to the kitchen. Before we do that though, let's take the stairs and check out the second floor. (relaxing music) You have this spacious hallway off of the second floor landing.
Staircase comes up. Have this wall opening here. Position lighting for you to feature your art. And I'm gonna start from the backside on the second floor. The first door on my right-hand side opens up to a spacious bathroom, tile floors, tile walls. We have a skylight off of the entry, wall-mount toilet.
And over this side we have the vanity design here, very contemporary look. In fact, Mikey, if you look closely, we've seen this detail before. These drawers that come above the countertops.
- [Mikey] Oh yeah, we saw that in a construction site, didn't we? - That's right. - [Mikey] That's weird that we're in Istanbul and we're talking about details we saw in Bel Air. - There you go. - Michael Chance's property.
- Michael Chance, you're correct. - That's right. - It has a nice contemporary look to it. I love this natural stone countertop with the leathered finish. And they fabricated the sink out of the same material as well.
You have your chrome fixtures, LED-lit mirror. And on my right-hand side, we have this massive walk-in shower with a chrome rain head above. And that's a big one with some jets, also. - [Mikey] I guess that's popular here in Turkey too. - That's right, people like the water out here, you know? - That's right. - You have some shampoo niches here, LED-lit back wall, chrome fixtures, good-sized bathroom.
Now let me take everybody back to the hallway. On my right-hand side, we have a small room that's currently serving as like your arts and crafts room. Opens up to a wraparound balcony with some wardrobe space. And going back to the hallway, we have more wardrobe space here, and this door opens up to a dressing room.
We have ton of built-ins on the walls. Automatic shades, bit of a table set up here. And I don't know, Mikey, if you recognize it, each one of the rooms kind of have their own AC units. It's not US anymore. - I love that they do that
in Europe, I don't know why I've always liked those. Maybe because I like the air cold and no one else does. - Let me give you guys a little bit of information about Mikey. Mikey doesn't like when the air in the apartment or a house is not fairly distributed. This man likes to be in cold environment. - [Mikey] Well, Enes and I lived together and we'll have the AC at 69, but my room will be like 78 because I have three computers in there, and it's, yeah. - He doesn't like that.
- [Mikey] Yeah. - Now we also have another bathroom here. Full bathroom.
You have your walk-in shower here with natural stone walls and floors, brushed nickel finishes, your toilet setup here, heated towel racks, and this massive vanity here with arguably one of the biggest bathroom sinks I've ever seen in my life. - [Mikey] Just because we're in Turkey, why don't you turn it on? (Enes laughing) - Mikey, there ya go. It's a sleek design. You have a small mirror on the right-hand side.
Now, let's check out the only bedroom on this level. It starts here. You have the king size bed here. And again, I mean this bedroom is kind of sleek. There's not a ton of furniture or details around because, Mikey, it's all about these outdoor spaces and the views, man.
- It's all about that. - This is great. - [Mikey] The Bosporus view. - Just imagine having these doors honestly open and going to sleep, just listening and hearing Istanbul as you're going to sleep. You can't really beat that. - [Mikey] Does it get cold here in the wintertime? - It does, of course. - It doesn't snow though,
right? - It could. It can here and there. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Well, it's nice in the summertime. - Absolutely. It's perfect weather right now, and it's September.
And, Mikey, right on top of us actually we have a retractable awning for extra shade if you need to, right there. It's a nice detail. - Yeah. And amazing views, I mean, what can I say? You have a 350 year-old tree over there right next to your balcony. I know I'm just spinning, Mikey, from one side to another, but this is great. - [Mikey] I gotta ask, I know some people are gonna ask in the comments, we always get these comments, this place is $25 million.
- Give or take. - Give or take. What justifies that price, because I don't know this neighborhood, obviously, it's crazy. $25 million homes in Beverly Hills are still $25 million homes, and you're like "That's expensive."
But what makes this worth 25 million? - Two points, number one, this apartment actually has two units. We just toured the first unit and we're not even done yet. It's actually connected to the unit next door. We'll see that in a bit. And number two, your location.
Obviously we have amazing views, right? But this is not a location where you're gonna find a ton of new builds. So the fact that this current owner took this older apartment and really gutted it, really opened it up, and did all these finishes, I mean this is rare. It's hard to find an apartment like this, and that's why it's around $25 million. And that's pretty much it for the second floor. Now let's go back to the entry and continue our tour. (captivating music) Off of the formal dining room area, we actually have this hallway that goes to the back of the unit.
We have the sliding glass doors also here opening up to the wraparound balcony, some storage spaces here. And going through this glass door, we come to the kitchen of this unit. It's a nice open space. We have the massive island in the center.
- Hey. - Our friend Simba just passed by. - Hold on. - Mikey's like, "I'm getting distracted." - [Mikey] Hey, Simba.
(Simba meows) - There ya go, Simba said hi. And continuing our tour, we have a massive island right in the center. Quartz countertops, your commercial vent induction cooktop on the other side. Also, owners are currently occupying the space so we wanna respect their privacy a little bit. I'm not gonna go through every single cabinet. You guys get the point.
We have the sink here, dishwasher on this side, some uppers. And, Mikey, let's go this way. We have the fridge here, nice modern look. We get a small island, secondary island, like your seating setup.
And let's take everybody to the outside, Mikey. - [Mikey] What is it about just being in Europe in general? - It's cool. - [Mikey] No, it feels different here. - It does. - It's like the way people arrange their stuff in their kitchen. - It's the air, it's the texture, it's the vibe, it's everything.
- [Mikey] Yeah, I just can't put my finger on it, but something feels different about it. - I agree, also, Mikey, right around the corner, we have an awesome outdoor space dedicated kind of to the kitchen. And we even have an outdoor staircase that takes us to the second floor wraparound balcony.
Now, this is where this tour gets really interesting. Following this walkway, Mikey, on the backside of the property, we have this whole glass assembly here taking us to the second unit's kitchen. I say second unit, technically these units are relatively connected. But the current owners left them kind of separate. That way someone else can enjoy 'em. Like two different units.
- [Mikey] Yeah, well I guess they had a part of their family living in one, and the main family living in the other, so- - Exactly. - The other side had privacy. - This one also has a nice modern kitchen with stainless steel cooktops, induction griddle, all that good stuff. You have your paneled-in wine fridge, regular fridge. And going through this opening, Mikey, let's show this real quick, on my right-hand side, we have the door to this very unit.
So as you come up to this floor, there are two unit doors, and this is the second one. You've got a nice entry hallway here with some wardrobe space. And going this way, we have this door on my left-hand side leading to a smaller bedroom or a dressing room. And this glass door here opens up to a good-sized bathroom, natural stone everywhere. Your wall-attached toilet, vanity design.
And behind me, we got a spacious walk-in shower with a rain head. And this door right here, Mikey, it's an interesting route, goes into the second bedroom because they're kind of connected together through the bathroom. - Oh. - We have a double bed here, wardrobe space. This room is actually facing the side of this unit. You have your separate air conditioning, as well.
And going back to the main hallway, We have the same white plank hardwood floors throughout. Beautiful decor. And talking about wardrobe space, we have more even here. Something about European people, they value their wardrobe spaces. They're not really used to walk-in closets. - [Mikey] Well, there's not as much real-estate over here.
There's not as much space, ya know? - Our space is really valuable. - Yeah. - All right. This seamless door opens up to a stunning powder room. I really wanna know how heavy this stone-carved vanity setup is.
But it looks stunning. They have a nice floor mount fixture here. Handle is attached to the mirror assembly. And this wall is clad with beautiful, natural stone, brass inlays, LED lighting, wood paneling.
This bathroom is so chic. Now, getting back to the hallway, let's go through this door, Mikey. Let's check out this bedroom.
First floor on my right-hand side opens up this spacious bathroom. You have your double vanity, brass detail, beautiful modern finishes. You got the walk-in shower there with a heated towel rack. Now, getting back in, you have ton of wardrobe spaces. This one actually has a walk-in closet with this industrial barn door. And continuing our tour, you get a bit of a makeup area here.
And passing through that, we got this spacious bedroom with king size bed, electrical fireplace, some open shelving, TV. And you have this awesome seating nook here facing the incredible views, opening up to that amazing wraparound balcony that we saw earlier, because right next door is actually the living room off the first unit. - Oh, okay. - So they all connect. - Okay. I noticed there was a plant dividing 'em. I thought it was gonna separate unit, but no. - No, no, getting back to the hallway and continuing our tour, we're gonna check out the living room area, which is super cool.
This one is actually a little bit more modern and kind of dialed in. We're back here, wood paneling throughout, this awesome kind of spiral staircase goes up to the second floor that we're gonna see in a bit. Beautiful white plank floors.
And you have your formal dining room area here. A lot of brass details with the chandelier. This sleek, modern, steel and glass dining table that sits 8 people. And over here, they did this really cool brass detail with these mirrors, and the gravel rock on the bottom. It's kind of a creative touch honestly. It's a nice fabrication.
And over here we have this really cool cork art piece. And passing through that, we have the spacious living room area. - [Mikey] One of our friends, sorry to cut you off, one of our friends already beat us over here. I told you, Simba. - Literally, she's been following throughout the tour. We're not bringing Simba everywhere we go.
She's just like, "I wanna be on camera." - She's everywhere. - She's everywhere. Now we're in this spacious living room area. Beautiful couch setup. We have all these windows bringing a ton of natural light to the space. And over on this side, we have the built-ins here complemented with this stone piece right in the center where you have the fireplace on the bottom and TV right on top.
Of course you have your recess lighting, built-in speakers, all that good stuff. It's just a nice, cozy room. It's not like the biggest living room we've ever seen, but something about it. I don't know if it's the views, if it's the layout, I just feel very cozy and comfortable here. - [Mikey] Yeah, I like this piece of art behind you though. It reminds me of, you helped David Dobrik get that pizza art piece.
What's the artist? - I forgot his name. So, quick story to everyone so everybody understands it. We did a tour in Brentwood and this artist had this really cool piece. And a couple days later, I get a DM from David Dobrik.
He's like, "Hey, Enes, who's the artist of this art piece?" I was like, "I don't know but I can find out." So after making a couple of phone calls, we found the artist, and we got David to get in touch with him - Custom piece made. - And then he ordered it. So if you see this pizza mirror thing at his house, that's the art piece that we helped him get. - Yeah, pretty cool. - Pretty cool, right? All right, so we have these sliding glass doors here because this initially was probably an outdoor balcony or an outdoor space, but they enclosed it nicely, turned it into a sunroom and it's just a great place to sit down, watch your TV, enjoy. Just like Simba is over here.
Just sitting down, enjoying the peaceful life here. - [Mikey] Just a Turkish cat living the dream. - Living the dream, right? Of course we've gotta open up these sliding glass doors because how can we not? I mean, these views are amazing. These are big glass panels, by the way.
There you go. - [Mikey] Simba's like, "What are you doing?" - And they actually pocket to the other side, so you get that seamless indoor-outdoor transition, and these views. You know what's great about this view? It's always changing. Relatively. - Yeah. - Most part of it is fixed, but you have boats coming in and out, we got a really strong current today, and some wind.
But it's so refreshing, something about it. It's good to be back in Turkey. - [Mikey] When was the last time you were home? - I think it was 4 years ago. - [Mikey] It's been quite a while.
It's been quite a while, yeah. But we're definitely enjoying it. And that's pretty much it for the first floor of this unit. Now let's go inside and check out the second floor. (ethereal music) Here we are at the second floor landing. I'm gonna start from the right-hand side, and take us through this really cool hallway with marble floors, a lot of wall art.
And going through here, this bathroom that we're about to see opens up to a wraparound rooftop balcony that we're gonna check out in a bit. And, Mikey, we have to go inside of this bathroom because it has The Beverly Hills Hotel inspiration. With the wallpaper. - Kind of a vibe. - And this pink, color-variated mosaic tiles on the back. And you have the dark marble here, glass sink. Just a cool vibe.
And a black toilet. - Don't forget about the monkey light. - Yes, monkey light is super cool too. Good one, Mikey. - Yeah.
- Now going back to the hallway, we've got a really cool room ahead of us. I think it's one of the coolest rooms in this apartment. It starts here. And going through this door, we have kind of a top floor yoga room, hanging out, spa, you name it, it can really go any direction. We have some gym equipment here, some open shelving, another skylight, built-ins on this side with brass details, quartz countertops. And over here they have the chicest, coolest kind of low seating area with a TV.
And talking about that Beverly Hills Hotel influence, they have a swan hand-painted, this wall art here that looks really cool. Massive jetted tub with brass details. And of course, even this room, sliding glass doors, opens up to the outdoors to these amazing views. You have a retractable awning above you.
This is great. - [Mikey] Yeah, this is really nice. I gotta ask you though, before we move on, how is that Beverly Hills Hotel-inspired? I've never actually been there. - Well, the Beverly Hills Hotel has the pink in the wallpaper, that palm tree wallpaper.
Kind of like branding. - Okay. And everybody knows that, so as soon as you see it, you just kinda know. - Like a $70 salad there, I've never actually been, ya know? - Their McCarthy Salad is apparently really famous. Have I eaten that before? No. - Yeah. - But, yeah, so now, this outdoor area actually continues.
You have outdoor seating here. You have planters in the back with tomatoes, peppers, I mean it's super cool, and it pretty much wraps around to the back where we saw that bathroom. And, they actually have couple maids quarters on the back as well. And lastly, let's look at these views one more time. We have the Bosporus in front of us.
This is phenomenal. And that's pretty much it for this tour. I wanna give big thanks to the listing agent, Beril Benezra, and her brokerage, Space, for giving us the honor to tour their amazing listing.
As always, you can find more information about the property and the property link down in the description of this video. Now, if you enjoyed this video, just make sure to give us a like. Subscribe to our channel. If you have any questions or input, as always, leave us a comment down below.
And we'll see you guys next week. (lively music)
2021-10-10 20:16
