Homes of the Rich Discussion

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Hi, this is Kenny, and I am the blogger who owns this website. I would like to hear from my readers on what I could do differently to make this site better. Please feel free to leave comments and give feed back.

Thanks.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 16th, 2008 at 7:04 AM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Homes of the Rich Discussion”

1. Anonymous says:

   August 16, 2008 at 4:36 PM

   i love what you’re doing! thank you.

   Reply
2. Anonymous says:

   August 18, 2008 at 9:02 PM

   Hello, I am tlp333 from over at VirtualGlobetrotting.com. I thought I would chime in a say that I really like your blog. You definitely bring some things to the table that no one else is doing. I prefer celebrity owned real estate, myself, but I am certainly glad there is someone out there covering this high end real estate in the way that you do. Keep up the great work!

   Reply
3. Anonymous says:

   August 19, 2008 at 5:24 PM

   I enjoy your site. Maybe a bit more commentary or description or history of the properties.

   I have really enjoyed the BP photos.

   Reply
4. bretton a. reinbold says:

   November 1, 2010 at 6:06 AM

   I spent about 2 hours going through your blog, is that how I say it or do I call it a website?

   At any rate I saw some pretty amazing architecture. I’ve love to hear what the architects have to say about their projects. I’m assuming that the homeowners dictated everything right down to the toilet paper rolls.

   As an artist I occasionally get strange requests. One couple wanted an oil painting for over their sofa in the family room, and they actually gave me paint swatches so the painting would match perfectly with the room. I often have to wonder what the architects are thinking while designing some of these houses. Or having to deal with someone with really bad taste.

   I’ve decorated three houses since I got my Master’s degree, and I’ll never do it again. The homeowners can’t help putting their 2 cents in. There actually comes a time when the artist/architect has to have a confrontation with the homeowners. At which point the architect basically does the drawings, with no imput, and then the house is built and it looks like every other house on the block.

   Whenever I drive by a HUGE ugly house I feel so sorry for the architect as his name is all over that huge ugly house. And like that painting I did to match the sofa, it’s not in my resume, or projects that I have worked on because I don’t want anyone to know that I did that damned ugly painting. And some of these houses are ridiculously indulgent with no shame in sticking a monster house in a nice quiet neighborhood with mere mansions. Like Ira Rennerts house in the Hamptons. When does a house become a home and when does a house become a building, resembling a hotel.

   My last comment has to do with size. I honestly don’t know how these homeowners sleep at night, they have a 45,000 sqft house, and probably just a mere mile or five away there is a family starving because of layoffs or whatever. Though I won’t get all judgemental, it’s their money and they can do with it as they want.

   How big it soo big? 45,000 sqft houses should not be built on a lot of only 2 acres, it needs room to breathe, at least 50 acres would allow the house to be more compatible with the land it’s built on. I still think that these homeowners have a problem. Can you imagine the taxes, the utility bills, the staff’s paychecks for keeping it sparkling clean. All of that money could have been saved, perhaps even donated, if they let their architect actually have a say and instead of ending up with a 45,000 sqft house, they end up with a 6,000 sqft house. It would take years to sell a house like that. I’ve heard, through the grapevine, that right after a couple’s house was finished, they actually put it on the market as they knew it would take up to 10 years to sell a house like that, and that’s an understatement.

   I was raised in a house very much like these houses, 5 kids and a nanny and my parents. Everyone had their own bedroom and ensuite, walk-in closets, an apartment for my beloved nanny and so much square footage, it’s mind bogeling. I remember when we first moved in, I was 7 or so and I got lost in the house, my parents finally found me hiding behind a huge solid mahogany bar, I was crying and confused. I’ll never forget that day and I’ll also never ever build a house so ridiculously large. Even Bill Gates, who is giving away a large portion of his money, as is Warren Buffet, but they both still have mega-mansions. I’ve seen Bill Gates’ house up close as we boated right by it and it’s hard to phathom why such a sensible man would subject his family to such a house. My parents built their mansion because my father grew up poor and on a farm and they had 11 kids etc. Now all of the brothers in the family, 7 brothers and 4 sisters, are in compitition over who has the nicest car, the greenest grass, and the biggest house it is relentless. Fortunately none of that wore off on me and now i’m a teacher who lives in a condo that is 700 sqft. I could build a mega mansion with my trust fund, I could do a lot of things with it, but I can’t, it’s too ostentatious, i’d be embarrassed. And I also never let my family see my condo.

   I live in Calgary, Alberta, and every house is seemingly over 4,000 sqft, for just two people or 3 at the most. Our city also loves to tear down beautiful character homes and then rebuild using all the land that they’re allowed to use and almost all have 3 stories and a basement. And the sad little house next door actually looks like a shack where the gardener/driver/maid/nanny or whatever could be living in. And these shacks are mansions in their own right but that’s how large their neighbors are, they make regular mansions look like guest houses.

   Even Frank Lloyd Wright stayed well below 10,000 sqft, only a handfull of projects that required that he design something in or around the 7,000 sqft.mark. Mr. Wright’s houses weren’t huge by any means. He was about the family spending quality time together in the living room, they didn’t have family rooms or dens at that point. But even his smallest dwellings looked monumental, with curb appeal so enormous that no one ever noticed its footprint.

   Bottom line is that I have the means to build a mansion, but I don’t need to prove to anyone how much money I have by building a mega-mansion. I’m single and childless, how much room does one person need? So instead of building something huge with my money, I collect art, ironically my condo is so small and has floor to ceiling windows, I don’t have any wall space to exhibit my collection.

   I do have to admit though that century old houses, or older, are gorgeous mansions, but they have beauty and grace and are in or around the same size as the rest of the houses on the street.

   Thank you for this opportunity to talk about a subject i’m so passionate about.

   Bretton Reinbold

   Reply