In October 1992, Isabel Preysler opened the doors to the home she had just moved into with Miguel Boyer for an extensive feature in ¡Hola! The magazine featured the home room by room, generating such excitement that *El País* reported on it on October 30: it counted 36 photographs and described a residence with 1,370 square meters of usable space, complete with an indoor pool and a paddle tennis court. The images offered a glimpse of everything from the master bedroom—which featured a Picasso engraving—to Preysler’s office and her children’s rooms. That tour turned the mansion into one of the most recognizable settings in the celebrity press.
The house is located in the Puerta de Hierro neighborhood, in northwest Madrid—one of the capital’s most exclusive areas—and sits on a lot of just over 5,000 square meters. Its interior is everything you’d imagine from a socialite of Preysler’s caliber, although the decor has evolved over the years. When it was first photographed, it had a more English style with colors and patterns combined in almost every room; now beige has been gaining ground. In any case, the home’s basic structure hasn’t changed: large windows, fireplaces, living rooms, and plenty of wood and marble.
Indoor pool and outdoor pool
But it’s not the living rooms or the extensive library that usually stand out amid all this opulence, but rather the indoor, heated pool pavilion, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows that let in natural light and open up views of the garden. More than just a space for exercise, it functions as another living room—but next to the water—with wicker armchairs and colonial-style furniture. Outside, there is another pool, surrounded by lawns, lounge chairs, and trees, as well as porches furnished as outdoor living rooms.
But none of these features has garnered as much attention as its bathrooms, which earned it the nickname “Villa Meona.” Although the exact number isn’t entirely clear—some sources cite thirteen, while others put the count at fourteen by including the restrooms—the fact remains that the number is staggering. With its swimming pools, paddle tennis court, and family quarters, the house has maintained its reputation as an exceptional residence for decades. Estimates place its market value between nine and over ten million euros, though these figures do not constitute an advertised asking price or a published independent appraisal.