Well, it’s finally happened. A residential property has listed for a billion. Where, you ask? Beverly Hills, silly.

It’s called ‘The Mountain’; as in, ‘King of…’, which sums up the emotional desirability factor of a piece of land that is zoned residential and offers an imperious view of the most imperious neighborhood in the world. Dwarfing the rest of Beverly Hills is no mean feat, but 157 acres of hilltop land is essentially the last word of the final sentence.

The property contains seventeen parcels, with half a dozen of them cleared for individual residential use. But the incredible rarity of a piece of land like this—it may be the single most desirable property currently for sale in the world—would lend itself to an extremely well-heeled buyer interested in building a grandiose hilltop sanctuary in the most posh corner of Southern California.

Will it sell for a billion dollars, though? Such a lot has a distinct aura of potential disaster, both as a symbol, and as a financial and logistical reality for personal development. Merv Griffin couldn’t make it work, and neither could the Shah of Iran’s sister; two canny characters there, no doubt, and no house to show yet, anywhere on the 157 acres. Just a formidable-looking gate and a really, really nice driveway.

If it does sell for a billion, it’s going to set one whopper of a precedent. Such a sale will also make the property ground zero for a whole lot of indignation.

But, a billion? Come on! It’ll never happen.

Will it?