Understanding the owner: the estate as a commitment
I look after estates of several hundred million dollars and run them quietly, as homes rather than assets.
1
First, the owner
Before I think about staff, budgets or buildings, I want to understand who the owner really is. What do they enjoy? What irritates them? How do they like to arrive, to eat, to entertain, to rest? Some of this is said in a first conversation. Much more is learned quietly over months, by noticing small reactions and remembering them.
An estate run to a general standard of excellence can still feel wrong to the person who owns it. An estate run to their own standard feels right, even when a visitor could not say why. So my work begins with listening, and then making sure the whole household works from the same understanding.
2
Every owner is different
This is the caveat I always give. No two owners want the same thing, and a budget only makes sense once I know what it is for.
Some owners want the best of the best, whatever it costs. My role then is to make sure the money is well spent and the standard truly exceptional, not simply expensive.
Some want a home that feels just as good, achieved with careful and modest spending. That takes knowing where quality really shows, and where it does not.
Some want an estate that reflects their standing. Others prefer quiet luxury: understated, private, and built to be handed on to the next generation.
None of these is right or wrong. Each leads to a different estate, team and set of costs.
3
The estate as a commitment
Any house is a commitment. An estate, more so one spread across several properties, is a much bigger one: buildings to maintain, grounds to keep, staff to lead, suppliers to manage, security to consider, and a family calendar that rarely stands still. Left to the owner, it can become a second job.
A good estate manager takes that weight away: planning ahead, solving problems before they are noticed, and keeping standards steady whether the family is in residence or away. A really good one goes further. Over time, the estate becomes the world the owner always wanted to live in, and the staff anticipate rather than wait to be asked.
4
The reality of cost
An estate carries significant costs, and it is better to be honest about that from the start. The main areas are usually the same, though their weight varies: household and estate staff, grounds and gardens, security, property taxes, maintenance and repairs, utilities and energy, and insurance.
To illustrate the scale, the third example below is an estate valued around $400 million.
- A large single home (valued around $5–15 million): about $0.3m–$2.1m a year.
- An estate with house, grounds and staff (valued around $20–50 million): about $0.8m–$6.8m a year.
- An estate valued around $400 million: about $6.3m–$36.2m a year.
From my experience these figures sit on the low side, and they cover running costs only, not capital projects such as renovations, new buildings or major replacements, nor expensive pursuits such as an equestrian operation, a private animal collection or aviation. Owned aviation, like a superyacht, can easily exceed the value of the estate itself.
A long-range private jet is more like a luxury apartment in the air. New ultra-long-range business jets are listed at about $80 million to $85 million each, typically equipped. A Boeing 787-8 converted for private use lists at $239 million before a cabin of $15 million to $60 million, and an Airbus ACJ319neo comes to around $100 million to $110 million, cabin included. A superyacht costs roughly 10 per cent of its value every year to own and run.
No published source gives an all-in figure for any of these, so each total is a sum of its parts. Staff, grounds, security, maintenance and utilities figures rest on thin evidence. Insurance above $20 million rests on a broker range only. Security is not included for the large home, as no figure was found.
These are estimates built from published surveys, agency pay data, BLS employer costs, Tax Foundation rates and insurer/broker data. They cover all of those areas, before technology:
Annual running costs, US dollars. Logarithmic scale.
- Large single home (valued around $5–15m)$0.3m–$2.1m
- Estate with house, grounds and staff (valued around $20–50m)$0.8m–$6.8m
- Estate valued around $400m (illustrative)$6.3m–$36.2m
Some owners want the best of the best, whatever it costs.
Some want a home that feels just as good, achieved with careful and modest spending.
Some want an estate that reflects their standing.
Others prefer quiet luxury: understated, private, and built to be handed on to the next generation.
View as table
| Tier | Low | High | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large single home (valued around $5–15m) | $0.3m | $2.1m | $0.3m–$2.1m |
| Estate with house, grounds and staff (valued around $20–50m) | $0.8m | $6.8m | $0.8m–$6.8m |
| Estate valued around $400m (illustrative) | $6.3m | $36.2m | $6.3m–$36.2m |
These figures are a guide, not a quote. What an estate costs depends on who the owner is and what they want, far more than on the size of the house. That is why I begin with the owner.
Sources
- Purchase Planning Handbook, Business & Commercial Aviation (B&CA), Q1 2026, via GlobalAir
- Boeing BBJ 787: Buyer's and Investor's Guide, Corporate Jet Investor, 2025
- 20/Twenty: Airbus ACJs Offer Room And Range, Aviation Week, 2022
- The Superyacht Report 222, The Superyacht Group, 2024
- Estate and Household Staff Compensation Report, Morgan Stanley / Botoff Consulting, 2022 (published 2023), https://www.familyofficerecruitment.com/app/download/5816604995/Estate+and+Household+Compensation+Survey+-+Botoff+Consulting.pdf
- Beyond The Butler: Household staff salaries and shortages in UHNW households around the world in 2025/26, Morgan & Mallet, 2025, https://www.householdstaff.agency/wp-content/uploads/Beyond-The-Butler-Household-staff-salaries-and-shortages-in-UHNW-households-around-the-world-in-2025_26.pdf
- Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm
- Property Taxes by State and County, 2026, Tax Foundation, 2026, https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/property-taxes-by-state-county/
- Deferred Maintenance Reporting for Federal Facilities (quoting Committing to the Cost of Ownership, 1990), National Research Council / National Academies Press, 1998, https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/10095/chapter/35
- Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2020, Table CE1.1, U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2023 (revised 2024), https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2020/c&e/pdf/ce1.1.pdf
- Best High-Value Home Insurance Companies of 2026, Forbes Advisor, 2026, https://www.forbes.com/advisor/homeowners-insurance/high-value-home-insurance/
- How to Insure a $5M-$20M Home in 2026, Latent Insurance, 2026, https://www.latentinsure.com/blog/how-to-insure-5m-20m-home
- Understanding the Costs of High Value Home Insurance, The Allen Thomas Group, 2026, https://allenthomasgroup.com/high-value-homeowners-insurance/cost/
- Concierge Services and Lifestyle Admin in Family Offices, Family Office Advisory, 2026, https://family-office-advisory.com/articles/concierge-real-assets-lifestyle-administration
- Facts + Statistics: Homeowners and Renters Insurance, Insurance Information Institute (NAIC data), 2022 data, https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-homeowners-and-renters-insurance
- Here's How Much It Costs to Maintain a Mansion, Robb Report, 2023, https://robbreport.com/lifestyle/news/luxury-home-maintenance-cost-insider-1234869346/
- Global Family Office Report 2024, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, 2024 (context only)
- North America Family Office Report 2025, Campden Wealth / RBC, 2025 (context only)