The new luxury in Real Estate

In Puget Sound, $1 million doesn't get you a luxury home anymore.

Sure, you can buy a 4,000-square-foot view home in Mukilteo, complete with a pool and indoor home theater. Or a 3,250-square-foot home on 3 acres in Woodinville. Or a new McMansion on a regular-sized lot on the Sammamish Plateau. Maybe a 1,300-square-foot condo in Belltown or Bellevue.

But luxury you won't get. Nowadays, a luxury home will cost double, even triple, that in some neighborhoods, agents and appraisers say. The luxury price threshold is more like $3 million.

At the end of November, 110 single-family homes and eight condos priced at more than $3 million were listed for sale in King County, and 10 single-family homes but no condos above $3 million were for sale in Snohomish County, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Here's a look at what you could get if you were home shopping with a budget big enough for luxury:

The most expensive home on the market in King County is a 22,779-square-foot Mercer Island mansion listed for $40 million. The mansion, belonging to Chuck and Karen Lytle, has been on the market more than two years. Some of its more interesting features include a closet with a climate-controlled vault for furs, two wine cellars, four laundry rooms, two saltwater pools — one indoor, one outdoor — and lots of marble.

The priciest place in Snohomish County, a 12,232-square-foot home, lists for $7.95 million and has six bedrooms, seven-and-a-half baths, a 75-foot swimming pool, four-car garage, wine cellar, conservatory and 9 acres with a water view. It has a buyer in a deal subject to inspection.

There's the $10.5 million Highlands mansion just north of Seattle that belongs to Space Needle developer and arts philanthropist Bagley Wright.

The 7,478-square-foot modern home, designed to evoke an art-gallery setting, has three bedrooms and four-and-three-quarter baths in the main house plus a two-bedroom guesthouse, all on nearly 9 acres.

For $3.9 million in Everett, there's a 6,861-square-foot brick Tudor-style four-bedroom home with a separate 1,159-square-foot gym, tennis court, swimming pool, hot tub, home theater, wine cellar and eight-car garage.

The home is owned by Maurice F. Olson, who sold Olson's Food Stores to QFC in 1995.

Luxury home

Wine cellar, indoor driving range

So what do you get in a luxury home, aside from square footage and lots of zeroes in the price-tag?

Homes that fit the Puget Sound luxury category typically have more than 4,000 square feet of space and price tags of at least $2.5 million, says Julie Scozzafave, an agent at Windermere Real Estate in Bellevue who represents the seller of a $9.75 million home in Clyde Hill.

Those who buy luxury homes choose them not so much for the neighborhood but for their amenities, style and ability to function as a combination of entertainment space, office space and personal retreat.

Look at Scozzafave's listing in Clyde Hill for a few examples of what you'll find in a mansion: a grand entry, space for formal entertaining, recreational spaces and livability.

The 15,000-square-foot home sits on just under an acre and is set back from the road to give a sense of privacy.

The Italian-style entry with marble columns is decorated in earth tones — a perfect place for a band to play during formal entertaining.

The top floor has a separate master wing with a large bedroom, two bathrooms and a balcony.

A large home office splits that wing from a children's wing with bedrooms and bathrooms, another home office and an upstairs laundry room.

The ground floor features a large kitchen and den, walk-in pantry, an elevator entry between floors, formal dining and living rooms, bathrooms and views of the split-level yard and putting green.

The daylight basement is a kind of private country club. It features an indoor pool and hot tub, separate changing area and shower, workout room, full kitchen, golf simulator and a home theater with plush leather seats.

Luxury condo

Room service,

rooftop dog parks

The market for luxury condos is still relatively new in downtown Seattle and downtown Bellevue, says Leslie Williams, president of real-estate marketing firm Williams Marketing.

In the past, developers created a few penthouses or luxury corner units in buildings that offered a mix of types and prices, says Joseph Strobele, president of Lexas, which is developing the 276-unit Escala in Belltown. That meant luxury buyers who could afford higher-end services and amenities had to settle for mainstream features affordable to their neighbors downstairs.

Now, Strobele said, Seattle is ready for all-luxury and all-penthouse buildings.

Many new condo projects downtown are focusing on an "all-penthouse" approach, the marketers say. These include the 1521 Second Avenue, Madison Tower, and the forthcoming Four Seasons project and Escala, where the average unit will cost more than $1 million and several will cost more than $4 million.

How does an "all-luxury" building differ from a regular condominium project? For starters, there's price: Most luxury condos cost $1,200 a square foot or more.

But then there's setting. At Fifth and Madison, a condo project Williams is marketing, tall ceilings once reserved only for penthouses are built into every unit. Homes are built with automated or programmable home-entertainment and appliance systems and Lutron blinds, which automatically raise or lower at sunrise and sunset and start around $50,000.

Finally, there's outdoor space and outdoor access. Strobele says units at Escala will have private foyers and large outdoor spaces. Decks will be 15 to 20 percent of the square footage of the unit, meaning a 2,200-square-foot condo could have a 400-square-foot deck.

Many luxury condos have concierge services.

Breffni McGeough, an agent at Windermere Real Estate in Kirkland who has the listing for two condos in Madison Tower in Seattle, says residents can have food delivered from BOKA Kitchen + Bar downstairs or have valets park their cars.

McGeough listings in Madison Tower, above Hotel 1000, have a total of 3,478 square feet and a combined price tag of $4.57 million. The presumption is that one buyer may want to buy both units and merge them into one by building a staircase or elevator to connect floors.

Luxury units must have views, McGeough says, and such amenities as indoor gyms, spas, golf ranges and dry cleaners. And major closets — think 100 square feet, the size of a bedroom in many single-family homes.

Buildings must have the latest construction styles.

"If the buildings don't have steel, glass and concrete, people aren't looking at them," says McGeough.

Rooftop access — furnished and with barbecue or dining areas and perhaps a dog park where pampered pooches can stretch their legs — is also important. Not everyone can have the penthouse, and roof-level amenities soothe what McGeough refers to as "penthouse envy."

If that's not enough to envy, there's always that $40 million Mercer Island mansion.

Jane Hodges is a Seattle freelance writer: janehodges@hotmail.com