Homes With Famous American Views

Whether on vacation or on the real-estate market, consumers will often shell out more cash to enjoy a beautiful view—especially when that view is well known. It can be a point of pride to have an iconic vista or landmark visible through your home’s windows, and when a house is on the market, views become a selling point. The first thing the casual browser is likely to notice is that the majority of the following selections are urban. There are, of course, famous views elsewhere, but in the case of landmarks such as Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, a Yellowstone geyser or Niagara Falls, no one’s putting up housing developments nearby.
In densely populated urban settings, your view is quite likely to be another building, dark alley, or airshaft, so an appealing famous view will command more money on the market.
What follows are five houses for sale that feature famous views, most of them suggested by Realtor.com and Zillow.com, ranked in order from the lowest price to the highest.

Space Needle
Location: 425 Ward St., Seattle
Price: $1.067 million
Beds/Baths: 3/2.5
Square feet: 2,080

This multi-level modern home , designed by architect John Hunt, is situated in a protected view corridor. And rightfully so: It features a top-floor great room with tall windows that open to a huge deck for optimum views of the Space Needle and downtown Seattle.

Empire State Building
Location: New York City
Price: $1.395 million
Beds/Baths: 2/2
Square feet: 1,200

This south-and–east-facing corner unit in a 1914 building offers striking views of the Empire State Building, the New Yorker Building, and sunset over the river. The updated interior includes electronically controlled everything, such as recessed lighting, Bose surround sound, and—for days when those views become tiresome—electric solar and blackout shades.

Hollywood Sign
Location: Los Angeles
Price: $1.395 million
Beds/Baths: 4/5
Square feet: 4,162

For the same price of the previous 1,200-square-foot apartment in New York City, you could get this view of the iconic Hollywood sign and more than triple the amount of living space. The spacious contemporary home features an extensive deck facing the mountain, and plenty of sliding glass doors and windows along the same wall.

Las Vegas Strip
Location: Hughes Center, Las Vegas
Price: $10 million
Beds/Baths: 4/6
Square feet: 6,779

This palatial bi-level penthouse is about as subtle in its design and decor as anything else in Las Vegas, with a birds-eye view of the city. All the casinos and action of the Strip glows off in the distance, far enough away that presumably no celebratory searchlights will invade the residence , because there are already too many distractions inside. New romantic fans of ornamental scrollwork and garlands, Rococo paintings, bordello-style furniture and plush throw pillows may need to brace themselves upon first entry, or else plan to make use of one of the velveteen fainting couches.

Diamond Head
Location: 2500A Aha Aina Pl # A, Honolulu
Price: $17.3 million
Beds/Baths: 7/8.5
Square feet: 15,444

This tropical luxury mountaintop estate offers panoramic views from practically every room. Those views would include the volcanic tuff cone and tourist destination Diamond Head, downtown Honolulu, not to mention sunset over Waikiki, and mountain views of the adjacent protected forestland. More from the 2500 Aha Aina Place website: “Typically, the offshore islands of Molokai, Maui and Lanai can clearly be seen from the estate. In addition, the beacon from Kalaupapa on Molokai is also often visible at night. At certain times, you can even see the snow-capped summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island.”

Wouldnt it be great to have a view like this!