Houses: Expensive; Famous; Not Necessarily Big

"Mad for Mod: 10 places to get serious house envy"
George Hobica, FoxNews.com (May 08, 2012)

"Anyone with a pile of money can build a big pile of a house, and back in the day, that's what you did. (See, for instance, Downton Abbey.) But during the 20^th century, a group of architects staged a controversial revolt. Why, they asked, couldn't less be as impressive as more? Across North America, sensational - but often reasonably-sized and usually deceptively simple - homes stand as their legacy. Here are ten of the best. All of them are open to the public, but make advance reservations...."

The article lists each of these houses:

• Farnsworth House, Plano, Illinois
• Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania
• Phillip Johnson Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut
• Eames House, Los Angeles, California
• Miller House, Columbus, Indiana
• Luis Barragan House, Mexico City, Mexico
• 7 Neutra VDL House, Los Angeles, California
• Gropius House, Lincoln, Massachusetts
• Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona
• Sunnylands, Rancho Mirage, California

Each entry comes with a one-paragraph description: and a link to 'low air fares' to the area, in case you want to plan a trip.

The house in the photo up there is Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Two things that folks with the budget for a 'landmark' house like that might want to remember is that the architect is likely to be remembered longer than the original owner; and that bold, imaginative, innovative, houses can have serious maintenance issues.


(Phillip Johnson Glass House, via FoxNews.com, used w/o permission)
"You'd expect a man like Phillip Johnson, one-time associate of Mies van der Rohe and later an architectural legend in his own right, to live in a pretty amazing house. And he did, in a section of Connecticut's...."

Then there's the Phillip Johnson Glass House, where the original owner's name is associated with it. Possibly because Mr. Johnson stood out in 1940s America as someone who literally lived in a glass house. Or owned one, anyway.

The article's got eight more photos, one for each of the houses. It's a pretty good 'tour' for someone like the Lemming, who doesn't get out much. Not for transcontinental sightseeing jaunts, anyway.

Related posts:

• "The Varma Mansion: Revisited" (May 23, 2010)
• "These Houses aren't Invisible: They're Underground" (June 25, 2009)
• "The Varma Mansion: One Big, Fancy, House" (March 8, 2009)
• " 'Monte Silo' - Cool House" (January 13, 2009)
• "Skyway Retreat" (September 21, 2007)

"UP" House for Sale: Balloons Not Included?

" 'Up' for Sale: Cartoon House Comes to Life"
Colby Hochmuth, FoxNews.com (July 14, 2011)

"...A Utah builder has painstakingly built a house to be an exact real-life replica of the iconic animated home that took flight in the 2009 Disney film 'Up.'

"The project started when Blair Bangerter, co-owner of Bangerter Homes, saw the movie 'Up' which, with the help of a bunch of helium balloons, flies off to the wilds of South America with its 78-year-old owner...."

"...The house is selling for around $400,000 and Bangerter is looking for the perfect buyer....

"...While the asking price may be a little hefty for the Utah neighborhood where average home prices float in the $270,000 range, Bangerter hopes someone will be able to see past that.

"A reason why the price is so high, Bangerter says, is because a lot of the house had to be specially made and designed to resemble the original house from the film....

Make that closely resemble the UP house. Bangerter had a copy of the film on his laptop, referring to it more than 100 times during construction.

Still, there are some things a non-virtual house probably can't do - like float away, lifted by a gargantuan agglomeration of particolored party balloons.

'Mere Promotional Tactic?' There's Got to be Easier Ways

"...taking a cartoon home and making it life-size was challenging to build. The team found difficulties mimicking the pitch of the roof, the stairs, windows, and some of the small details of the house....

"...For those who say that Bangerter's project has just been a mere promotional tactic, he says it is something that has come from his heart.

" 'I'll be sad to say goodbye to it, its been a project a year in the making, but I hope someone with a great imagination will be able to call this place home. "
(FoxNews.com)

The Lemming's pretty sure that Mr. Bangerter knew how much attention an "UP" replica house would attract. But the Lemming's also pretty sure that there are easier - and less expensive - ways to get attention. Doing your own television ads, wearing full academic robes topped by a propeller beanie, comes to mind.

Not quite the same sort of attention as the "UP" house - but attention nonetheless.

If you're in the Salt Lake, Utah, area later this month, you could take a look at Mr. Bangertner's project -

"...Bangerter Homes brought the home to life for the 65th Annual Salt Lake Parade of Homes, which opens July 29 and runs until Aug. 14, where the public can get a close-up tour...."
(FoxNews.com)

Would the Lemming buy a house that looked like the one in "UP"? Probably not. It's not that the Lemming lacks imagination. Mostly, it's because the Lemming already has a pretty good place to live, here in central Minnesota: and $400,000, although the house is probably worth every cent, is more than the Lemming has to spend.

Still, the Lemming hopes that someone with the budget and the lively imagination buys the place: and thoroughly enjoys it.

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Hearst/Davies/Godfather Movie House: a Bargain at $95,000,000"
  (December 5, 2010)
• "Missouri's Guitar Mansion Sold: to 'Surprised Bidder' "
  (October 19, 2010)
• " 'Swanky Treehouse' in Oregon: The Wilkinson Residence"
  (February 9, 2010)
• "Seven Very Strange-Looking Houses"
  (August 26, 2009)
• "That's One Pink House!"
  (June 25, 2009)

Mansion for Sale: Complete With Glow-In-The-Dark Pool

Residential for Sale

"5 Bedrooms , 6.5 Bathrooms Built in 2007
10947 E WINGSPAN Way #1651
Scottsdale • AZ • 85255...."

"...Remarks: Custom Estate 1651- Grandeur and beauty grace the Upper Canyon in Silverleaf with this dramatic, Formal Mediterranean estate. From the quality of construction, to the unparalleled interior finishes, this lovely home is truly breathtaking. The grounds combine lovely city and mountain views with lush, colorful landscaping and multiple terraces providing one with outdoor living at its finest. Touring through the home is a pleasurable experience for the most discriminating buyer."

This 12,890 square foot pad comes with it's own glow-in-the dark pool - and you can probably get it for a little under $9,000,000. That's a little pricey for the Lemming: but it looks like a nice place.

The Lemming's noticed that the prose in sales pitches like this tends to be a trifle on the florid side. Well, it's not intended to appeal to someone at my end of the economic scale. Which is okay.

Anyway, the Lemming would much rather live in central Minnesota, where we get arctic blasts and tropic heat: sometimes in the same month.

Hearst/Davies/Godfather Movie House: a Bargain at $95,000,000

"Former Hearst-Davies mansion for sale at $95 million"
Lauren Beale, Money & Company, Los Angeles Times blog (September 20, 2010)

"In a sign of the times, the onetime Beverly Hills home of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst and actress Marion Davies, which was listed for sale briefly three years ago at $165 million, is back on the market at the 2010 price of $95 million. Its owner, attorney-investor Leonard M. Ross, filed for bankruptcy protection last week.

"The reduced price is not surprising given the condition of the housing market. Median home prices in Southern California have declined 43% since their peak in 2007, according to MDA DataQuick, matching the price drop reflected on the new listing.

"Called Beverly House, the 1920s mansion has had fairy tale moments. John and Jacqueline Kennedy honeymooned there. But it was also used to film scenes from the movie 'The Godfather,' including the one in which a horse's head was found in a bed.

"The longtime current owner filed for Chapter 11 on Wednesday even though his assets exceed his liabilities, court documents show. A press release announcing the sale said 'unusual circumstances' and 'bank maneuverings' led Ross to seek protection under federal bankruptcy laws...."

That drop in asking price - from $165,000,000 to $95,000,000 - is pretty steep. Even so, the Lemming won't be bidding on that property. It's nice to look at pictures of places like that, though.

Besides: this way, the Lemming gets the fun of thinking about a massive residence like that - without having to worry about maintenance or keeping up payments on the mortgage.

There's a larger version of that photo in the L.A. Times blog post.

Missouri's Guitar Mansion Sold: to 'Surprised Bidder'

"Historic Guitar Mansion sold to surprised bidder"
Columbia Missourian (October 18, 2010)

"It is more than an old home. The Guitar Mansion has survived the Civil War and other historical sea changes. It has gone through care and bustle, neglect and vacancy. It has been a family home, a business and a bed and breakfast.

"And it will remain standing.

"In a public auction on Monday, run by United Country Auction Services, the Guitar Mansion and six acres surrounding it on Oakland Gravel Road were sold for $155,500 to Elena Vega of Columbia, who outbid interested people from all over the country.

"Vega hadn't come to the auction to bid, however. She came to watch - a lover of historical homes who wanted a last look at a piece of Columbia history...."


(from Taylor Glascock, via Columbia Missourian, used w/o permission)
"Prospective bidders gather in front of the Guitar Mansion on Monday. A former bed and breakfast, the Civil War-era property drew bidders from all over Missouri. The property sold for $155,500."

The Guitar Mansion's current owner came to take photos, now buy a house - so this might be an example of auction fever. Or, not. Bidding started low, according to the article: so maybe Vega was jumping at an unexpected opportunity.

In a way, $155,500 is a bargain price. The article says that a previous owner put about three quarters of a million dollars into renovating the place to be a bed and breakfast. $155,500/$750,000? Not bad.

The name of the house doesn't have to do with music - at least, not directly. This article, and another, say that someone named David Guitar built the place in 1862. There's a bit of a story about the Guitar family, too: 'a house divided' and all that. The War Between the States was a messy business.

The Lemming did a little checking, and wouldn't you know it? The Guitar Mansion's Registration Form for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places is online.

More, in the news:

• "Historic Guitar Mansion to go on auction block"
  T.J. Greaney, The Columbia Daily Tribune (September 12, 2010)

Lemming Tracks: The Lemming's Distracted

The Lemming's had an interesting weekend. It started really early Friday morning, when a pipe burst in the laundry room. I've left a few notes in my personal blog.

Between dealing with quite a lot of water having gotten loose in the house, and the need for sleep: I may not get the usual three posts done today.

Or, if I do, they may be later than usual.

Please be patient with the Lemming: I'll be getting back on track as soon as I can.

Massive House, Massive Foreclosure: Mansion for Sale in Laguna Beach

"$20 million foreclosure hits the market"
The Orange County Register (September 3, 2010)

"A years-long construction project flirting with loan defaults finally reverted to the bank and is now listed as a foreclosure in Laguna Beach.

The massive property turned up in public notices late February 2009 owing $15,137,411.73.

"The property - located at 31401 Mar Vista Avenue in South Laguna - was then listed for $28 million. The coastal project was still under construction at the time the loan defaulted.

"The home escaped public auction and disappeared from the radar momentarily as the owners filed for bankruptcy; a move that stops the foreclosure process.

"Then, the property turned up again in public notices May 20, 2010 with an unpaid amount of $19,140,939.26 - considerably more than the previous unpaid amount...."

This isn't a particularly small house: the article says it's got 11,300 square feet of "living space" (what other kind is there in a house?). That includes four bedrooms and six bathrooms. Which seems an odd ratio. Another oddity is that the article says there are six bathrooms, and the listing they quote says there are seven. Somewhere along the line, somebody dropped a bathroom.

The lot this pile is sitting on covers 6.9 acres - and the listing quoted in the article says it has an ocean view. Also, that construction is now complete.

Sounds like a nice place, for someone with around $20,000,000 to spare - and the sort of income it would take to maintain a place like that.

The article explains why this house-for-sale item is newsworthy:

"...Now, the newly constructed home is listed as a foreclosure asking $19,950,000. That makes this foreclosure the fifth priciest home for sale in Laguna Beach and arguably the most expensive foreclosed home for sale in Orange County...."
(The Orange County Register) [emphasis theirs]

At $19,950,000 as an asking price - and it's the fifth priciest house for sale in Laguna Beach? Now, that's impressive.

What the article doesn't say is who was building this, and why: and what happened to the owner's financial situation.

Foreclosures are a sort of good news/bad news proposition: on the one hand, you've got someone who's facing tough times; on the other, situations like this can be an opportunity for someone to pick up a 'dream home' that they couldn't afford otherwise.

What an Odd Way to Market Mansion Floor Plans

"Mansion Floor Plans by Donald A. Gardner Architects"
Donald A. Gardner Architects Inc.

"If you are ready to build a new personal castle or mansion, we have designed an impressive collection of luxury and mansion floor plans for you. Donald A. Gardner Architects strives to create elegant sanctuaries with its mansion floor plans, each bearing enhanced features throughout its space.

"A great disparity exists between what is considered essential in luxury in mansion floor plans and what is essential in smaller home plans. This should not create a breach in practicality for luxury and mansion floor plans. Donald A. Gardner Architects believes your luxury mansion house should be the best of both worlds: the right mixture of extravagance and pragmatism to create a mansion floor plan of your dreams...."

So far, so good: an assurance in the first sentence that this firm has been around the block a few times and knows what they're doing; somewhat high-tone phrases like "great disparity" and "breach in practicality."

Then, below these well-crafted paragraphs, pictures and links to eight standard 'mansion' plans - the sort of thing you find on the grocery magazine rack, with titles like "500 House Plans You Can Build."

If you don't like the first set of eight cookie-cutter castles, the page's navigation suggests that there are 55 more sets to go.

Maybe the Lemming is missing something here, but even with the architectural firm's assurance that they'll add personal touches to their prefab plans: this doesn't feel like the sort of "personal castle or mansion" I'd want, if I had the budget for something like that.

Well, the Lemming isn't in that economic class - not even close - so I probably wouldn't understand.

And that's okay: I can still have fun, looking at the pictures, and daydreaming over the floor plans.

Glensheen Mansion, the Congdon Estate: Duluth, Minnesota

"Glensheen: the Historic Congdon Estate"
University of Minnesota Duluth

"A hallmark of extraordinary design. A businessman’s enduring legacy. A showcase of diverse interior styles. But at its very heart, a family home. Welcome to Glensheen, the historic Congdon estate. Along the shore of Lake Superior, a 7.6-acre expanse of wooded land enfolds the 39-room Jacobean Revival mansion that is Minnesota’s premier historic house museum. The interiors of the mansion have endured, boasting nearly all of the same furnishings and décor that graced the rooms when estate was completed in 1908...."

The University of Minnesota Duluth's website gives a decent introduction to the Glensheen mansion, along with information you'll need if you plan to visit the place. Which the Lemming recommends, by the way: I've been there, on one of their guided tours, and was impressed by the house and its history.

The U. of M. Duluth also points out that their Glensheen mansion and site hosts private parties, corporate events and weddings.


(from steffofsd, Flickr, used w/o permission)
Glensheen Estate, Duluth MN, August 15, 2006. Photo by steffofsd/Stephanie, on Flickr)

---

"History of Glensheen Mansion, Chester Congdon, and the Murder of Elisabeth Congdon"
Curtis Carper, Associated Content (September 20, 2007)

"At the start of his professional career Mr. Chester Adgate Congdon was a school teacher in Chippewa Falls Wisconsin. In 1892 Chester and his family moved to Duluth Minnesota, entering a law practice in partnership with William Billson...."

The style is a trifle on the dry side: but this piece is a fairly short read - split into two pages - and does a good job of telling the basics of the Congdon/Glensheen story. And yes: there was a murder at the mansion, of the youngest of Congdon's daughters.

Neither of these resources mentions one of the features of Glensheen that impressed me. Duluth winters are not particularly mild, and the Congdons had children. C. A. Congdon had a sort of enclosed gallery built on a lower level of the house, running the length of the south side. Its purpose was to provide a space where the kids could play - and run - during winter months without freezing.

Goodbye McMansion, Hello Common Sense?

"Say goodbye to the McMansion"
CNN Money (August 26, 2010)

"The American home is shrinking. Toll the bell for the McMansion.

"After years of growth, the Census Bureau recently reported that median new home size fell to 2,135 square feet in 2009 after peaking at more than 2,300 earlier in the decade.

" 'Home buyers are asking for less, cutting back on options and reducing square footage,' said Steven Pace of the North Carolina-based Pace Development Group, which builds both custom and tract houses ranging in price from below $250,000 to more than $2 million.

" 'They're saying, "Maybe we don't need that 5,000 square footage;" ' he said. ' "Maybe our bath doesn't need to be big enough for our whole family and all our neighbors to take a shower at the same time." '..."

Another change is going from having special-purpose rooms - like a media room for watching television and a game room for playing pool - folks in this country are opting for having rooms intended for more than one use.

The Lemming remembers when that sort of space in a house was called the "living room," and then "family room." I don't know what it's called now.

There's some interesting statistical information in the article, too. Like this:

"...Now, the typical U.S. owner-occupied home has six rooms, with three of them being bedrooms, according to the Census Bureau's annual American Housing Survey. The most common number of baths is two or more...."

For folks who are involved in building oversize houses with megabathrooms, this isn't particularly good news. For the most part, though, it sounds to me like a sensible adjustment of priorities.

Although the Lemming does like to read about those high-end homes.

A Quiet Life, Big Quiet Houses

"Mystery heiress abandons $100 million mansion in Santa Barbara"
HULIQ (August 2, 2010)

"A palatial $100 million mansion abandoned by a reclusive heiress remains empty in Santa Barbara.

"A Santa Barbara, California mansion worth $100 million has been empty for almost half a century. Bellosguardo estate overlooks the Pacific Ocean on one of the the west coast's most scenic bluffs. The owner is centenarian Huguette Clark, who is believed to have been absent for more than 50 years.

"A 23 acre estate Bellosguardo mansion

"Clark - a 104 year old heiress - lives in relative solitude in a medial care facility in New York. Her surroundings are drab compared to most homes, but the 23 acre estate she abandoned is meticulously cared for. At Bellosguardo mansion, the roses still bloom, the lawns are mowed, and it looks like the owners have just driven out for the afternoon...."

The article's a short overview of Huguette Clark's life: her two-year marriage, ending in divorce; the death of her mother; and her decision to live a secluded life.

Huquette Clark is in the news elsewhere:

"Report: Mont. copper king's heiress in NY hospital"
The Associated Press(August 2, 2010)

Mercer Island Mansion: Oh My, What a Magnificent Pile

"Mercer Island Mansion For Sale"
The Luxury Brokers (current listings)

"...Featured on HGTV's world premier of 'What's With That Really Expensive House'. The signature of a Patrician! A commanding estate palatial in its carriage; global in its attitude. Rich architectural embellishments; the great hall evocative of the palaces of fairy tales...."


(from The Luxury Brokers, used w/o permission)

And, if you have to ask how much it costs: you can't afford it. The asking price is $40,000,000 USD.

The page's literary style is a trifle florid: but it's real estate advertising copy, after all.

This place is - big. As the description says: "The specification are too elaborate and detailed for an all inclusive list." They had a shot at it, though. In addition to "unparalleled dining salons," the mansion has "a master suite of epic proportions encompassing the marble bath, personal workout gym, a wardrobe wing."

I particularly like that phrase: "a wardrobe wing." I'd like to know how many square feet it covers, and if there's more than one level.

The 22,779 square foot house was built in 2001, with four fireplaces and at least one room that looks like an upscale hotel lobby.

This Mercer Island mansion is probably worth the $40,000,000 price tag: it's on 2 acres, with 175 feet of lakefront - and space for a 140-foot yacht.

Mention of room for a yacht made me curious. Real estate listings can be - imaginative. There was a time when "secluded" might mean "you need a helicopter to reach it." Maybe you need a boat to get to Mercer Island?

Nope. I checked. Mercer Island is just east of Seattle, Washington, connected by Interstate 90. Looks like you can get there by boat - but that you've got the option of driving.

The Luxury Real Estate listing cautions that this mansion is "Only for the discriminating." I'm inclined to agree. The description doesn't use the word, "opulent," but it very well could have.

Remember, the brokers said: "The specification are too elaborate and detailed for an all inclusive list."

Toward the bottom of the page, they have a shot at listing them, anyway:

• Basement
• Bathroom Off Master Bedroom
• Bonus/Rec Room
• Den/Library/Office
• Dining Room
• Double Pane/Storm Windows
• Family Room/Great Room
• Fireplace
• Hot Tub and/or Spa
• Security System
• Sunroom/Solarium/Atrium, Indoor Vaulted Ceilings
• Wall-to-Wall Carpet
• Boat Dock
• Bus Line, On or Near
• City View

And the list goes on. There are several more photos, including one of the water - taken around sunrise, or sunset, it looks like.

As I've written before, I'm glad that some folks are able to afford places like this. When they come up for sale, I get the fun of reading about them, without the hassle of having to take care of two acres of landscaping and a house that's got almost as much floor space as five basketball courts, if I did the math right.

Denver, the Daniels Mansion, the Mayor's Wife, and a Fire Pole

"Denver Aims to Sell Home Too Odd to Be the Mayor's"
U.S., The New York Times (June 12, 2010)

"The mauve mansion on Shangri-La Drive is decidedly more James Bond than John Hickenlooper, the mayor of Denver.

"But the Cableland home, once the bachelor pad of the eccentric television magnate Bill Daniels, has served as the official mayoral residence here since Mr. Daniels gave it to the city in 1998.

"No mayor has actually chosen to live at Cableland: the 12-foot fire pole in the master bedroom, the 88 television sets and the retro tanning bed may have been deal-breakers...."

Mayor Hickenlooper (I am not making that name up) wants Denver to sell the house and give the money to "poor Denver public school graduates." So far, I have no problem with the idea. Then came these paragraphs:

"...'I used to joke that he was a man for whom money was no object and pleasure was the only object,' said Mr. Hickenlooper, whose wife vowed that she would sooner live in the county jail after staying a weekend at the Cableland mansion with their young son.

"Mr. Daniels, a former Navy pilot who made a fortune as a cable television pioneer and once partly owned the Los Angeles Lakers, was renowned not only for his business acumen and ardent philanthropy, but also for savoring his bachelordom...."

"Savoring his bachelordom" went far beyond that fire pole in the bedroom. Mr. Daniels seems to have led a moderately wild life. And now he's dead.

Don't jump to conclusions about that. Back to the article:

"...Mr. Daniels died in 2000 at 79, leaving a $4 million endowment to keep up the property, which includes an 1,102-square-foot swimming pool and mini-condominiums for squirrels., leaving a $4 million endowment to keep up the property, which includes an 1,102-square-foot swimming pool and mini-condominiums for squirrels...."

The house is worth millions of dollars, and even these days there might be someone who is interested - and is wealthy enough.

Last excerpt from that article:

"...One former business associate of Mr. Daniels, Robert Russo, says he would not have wanted the city to unload such a colorful place.

" 'He wanted to do something special for Denver by providing his home as a physical asset the city could use for generations,' Mr. Russo wrote to the City Council...."

Oh, Dear: Mr. Daniels Simply Wasn't Proper

I'll grant that a mayoral mansion probably shouldn't have a fire pole in the master bedroom: image, you know. The squirrel condominiums? That might be seen as an uncomfortable metaphor for a public official to have on the city inventory: particularly one whose wife doesn't like one of Denver's buildings, and apparently wants her husband to get rid of it.

I think I can see her point. The Daniels mansion might not be the best place to raise a boy - particularly if those "barely clad women in the bathroom" couldn't be removed. (Couldn't be removed?? Why?!) On the other hand - the place isn't, as far as I could tell, the Hickenlooper's personal property - even if Mr. Hickenlooper is mayor.

Is it really that improper for Denver to own a mansion with a fire pole in the master bedroom?

I'm a practicing Catholic, and might not have made the same lifestyle choices as Mr. Daniels. But unloading a colorful property like that - apparently out of moral revulsion at, among other things, a fire pole? In the 21st century? In Denver?

Get a grip folks: If Denver needs the money, sell the place. If Denver's looking at selling the Daniels mansion because the mayor's wife doesn't like the fire pole: Denver residents might want to consider getting a new mayor.

But that's their call, not mine.

Me? I think the house looks cool, has a colorful history, and is an more of an asset to Denver being what it is, than a few million dollars would be.

The Breakers Mansion: A Nice Little 70-Room Cottage

"Newport Mansion: The Breakers"
New England Antiques Journal (July, 2006)

"Opulence is a word easily applied to the grandest of Newport Rhode Island's summer 'cottages' - The Breakers. The 70-room house was built on the grandest scale, designed to be splendid in every detail, yet including family quarters that could almost be described as intimate...."


(from Patrick O'Connor, courtesy of The Preservation Society of Newport County, via New England Antiques Journal, used w/o permission)

"...Italian Renaissance Palazzo
In 1892 a fire destroyed the original wooden structure on the site and Cornelius Vanderbilt II commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to replace it with an Indiana limestone Italian Renaissance palazzo inspired by the sixteenth-century palaces of Genoa and Turin. It was to be constructed of non-flammable materials and was completed with amazing speed by a team of some 2,500 craftsmen and artisans between 1893 and 1895. The family took residence immediately, and in August 1895, the Vanderbilt's daughter, Gertrude, celebrated her coming out party in the house...."


(from John Corbett, courtesy of The Preservation Society of Newport County, via New England Antiques Journal, used w/o permission)

That's The Breaker's dining room. You could just about put my family's first house on the floor. By volume, it's quite a bit bigger. That's also what the first floor was supposed to be like: big, impressive, just the thing for having a few hundred of your close personal friends over for an evening.

The second and third floor, according to the article, were where the Vanderbilts actually lived - and was designed on a more human, domestic scale.

Speaking of domestic - this house was designed about a century ago. Things were different then - including what sort of a staff it took to maintain a house. These days, in America, all but the very rich do their own maintenance and domestic chores. Even upscale mansions don't seem to have room for a very large domestic staff - although I'm no expert on that.

A century ago, folks like the Vanderbilts didn't have labor-saving appliances. They had a staff that made the house go.

"...Everywhere there are very narrow passageways for servants and footmen for the purpose of hanging coats, delivering trays, and running errands. The servants were almost inconspicuous and the intent was to make it appear that the house was run almost by magic. The mansion is installed with a very sophisticated servant communication system. Initially, it consisted of a call bell system monitored from the butler's pantry. Speaker tubes were connected to the family quarters as well. A 70-room house with three full floors requires an enormous staff. In the north wing alone there are 33 staff bedrooms. Caretakers also lived at the cottage by the gates and more lived off-site by the cutting gardens, greenhouses, and carriage house...."

One of my relatives had a house (on a smaller scale) with that sort of internal infrastructure. During the Great Depression, my kinsman had cash - and the man who owned the house needed cash rather badly. As a result, I had the chance to see the marvelously efficient layout of service stairs and call bells - but that's getting off-topic.

The New England Antiques Journal article gives a pretty good description of this old house, and how it ties in with America's history.

There's more about The Breakers, on another website:

• "The Breakers"
  Newport Mansions

Related post:

• "Newport Mansions - The Preservation Society"
  (May 17, 2010)

---

I'd better explain about me, my extended family, and that mini-mansion my relative bought. My ancestors, and their cousins, uncles, and aunts, weren't all that rich - with a few exceptions - but they weren't all that poor, either. Except for the ones who might have considered a job in The Breakers as a huge upward career move: getting to work indoors would have been a big plus.

My current extended family is about the same way. Some of us are more-or-less in the position of my household: with a roof over the head, walls to keep the wind out, a solid floor and amenities that were beyond the dreams of emperors not all that long ago.

Others are fairly well-to-do, even by American standards.

I think it doesn't matter so much, how much wealth a person has. What matters is learning to be content with what one has. I'm still working on that.

• "Lemming Tracks: Lower Middle Class and Loving It"
  (December 14, 2009)

The Mansion: For Sale - Nice Place, Not For Me

"Take a tour: Candy Spelling's $150 million dollar 'haven' "
On The Block, San Francisco Chronicle (May 4, 2010)

"Could your home finally be a haven if you had endless funds to make it so? Maybe you're a buyer for this mansion, which offers a flower cutting room and a gift wrapping room along with the more predictable theater and bowling alley. In fact, the Spelling mansion is the largest house in Los Angeles-- which surely is an accomplishment-- and is on the market now for $150 million. That price tag makes it also the most expensive home in America....

"...Candy Spelling turns blogger, doling out advice we'd love to follow-- if only we had an obscenely rich dead husband-- on how to make your home a haven. (Hint: cash and way too much of it!)

"Oh, but sour grapes aside...."

Kudos, sort of, to the reporter for recognizing the "sour grapes;" and moving on. The article/post ends with "...Important questions have to be asked: Who gets the doll collection? Who will work in the beauty parlor? And are the candy and roses that match the bedrooms included with the sale?"

There's less - resentment? - in this Forbes video, which was embedded in the San Francisco Chronicle piece:

"America's Most Expensive Home"

forbes, YouTube (November 17, 2009)
video, 3:04
[I've reduced the size of this video, to fit this blog's format. I recommend viewing it on YouTube: "America's Most Expensive Home." The image quality there is quite good.]

"Legendary TV producers Los Angeles property prices at $150 million."

Let's face it: not all that many people have $150,000,000 dollars available for buying a place like this. Property worth that much, period. But some folks do.

This mansion is - remarkable, to put it mildly. The Forbes video has quite a bit of information about the place. And, mercifully, devotes most of the three minutes and four seconds on showing us features of the place: not someone talking into a microphone in front of something we'd like to see.

The estate, according to the video, was owned by Bing Cosby at one time. The Spellings lived there since 1991. And, apparently, did quite a lot to the place.

The estate is called "The Manor" now. The house has a more-or-less "W" shaped floor plan: There's an areal shot that gives you a quick look at the layout of the house and grounds. Part of the grounds, anyway.

Because of its shape, the house is called l'oiseau - which the video's narrator says means "wing of the bird." My French is shaky at best, but I think it's "the bird" - but what the hey, it's French, and it sounds cool.

The Manor is designed for entertaining. Lots and lots of entertaining. It's got:

• A movie screen rises from floor in one room
• 5 kitchens
• 5 bars
• 27 bathrooms
• And parking for over 100 cars

In case the house gets too crowded, there's lots of mingling space in gardens. Plural. Looks like there's a lot of variety in those gardens: one has a koi pond, another is a rooftop rose garden.

Right: and 30 foot ceilings in the entry.

I've seen a few seriously upscale homes - and viewed photos and videos of quite a few more. Some of them - were not designed with my aesthetic sense in mind.

The Manor is, I think, a very attractive house. It's got a sort of 'corporate' look to it that I wouldn't be particularly comfortable with: but then, the house I live in doesn't cost upwards of an eighth of 1x10^9 USD: and I don't invited more than a hundred people at a time over to watch movies.

Some of the family get-togethers have involved a fair fraction of that number - but that's another topic.

The Forbes video says that there are folks interested in the place, from Europe, Russia, Middle East, Asia, as well as locals. I'm not clear on why someone from Asia would want a pile like The Mansion: But I suppose there could be advantages to being able to entertain guests and clients in a place you own, rather than renting a facility. Los Angeles, California is, after all, a major American city: There's quite a bit of business done there, besides making movies and television shows.

Bottom line? That's one fantastic house. The video is a decent 'sampler' for what the next owner of The Manor will be getting.

And I'm content to enjoy looking a photos and videos of places like that: let someone else be concerned about maintaining them, and paying the utility bills.

Need Something to Worry About? How About Lint Fires?

"Lint From Dryers Can Become Fire Hazard"
CBS2 Chicago (April 1, 2010)

"There is a potential fire hazard in homes across our area. Most at-risk are houses built in the last 20 years. The danger involves clothes-dryer ventilation systems.

"2 Investigator Dave Savini spoke with a Munster, Ind., woman who came dangerously close to losing her home because of a dryer fire.

" 'You could just see the fire just kept coming and coming,' said Elizabeth Moreno.

"She says she had no idea how common clothes dryer fires are. Nationwide, more than 15,000 are reported each year. Seventy-percent of dryer fires are caused by a clogged system.

"Moreno, like many other owners of homes built since the late 1980s, did not realize the ventilation system attached to her dryer was too long. Her vent was nearly 40 feet long, which meant the system could not effectively blow the lint outside. Therefore, dangerous amounts of lint clogged the system...."

"...Wesselhoff took apart a dryer in a Tinley Park home to show us how it was loaded with lint. The dryer ventilation system in the home was 50 feet long, which is twice as long as what the Federal Emergency Management Agency says is safe. According to FEMA, dryer vent runs should never be longer than 25 feet...."

That April 1 (April Fools' Day) date stamp encouraged me to do a little checking. I'd rather not believe that someone with a funny bone but little common sense would think a fake warning would be funny: but it doesn't hurt to check.

Well I didn't find much on the FEMA website (fema.gov/) to support the CBS2 claim - apart from this reference in a bibliography: "Electric arc ignites lint in dryer vent," Tremblay, Kenneth J., NFPA JOURNAL, p. 24, September-October 2001. That's in a pdf-format file, "Focus on Fire – Prevent Home Fires," "A selected bibliography of recent publications, Compiled by the NETC Learning Resource Center."

There's some pretty good advice about using a lint-free cloth to clean surfaces, and conducting evacuation drills, and that sort of thing, though.

I did find this:

"Overheated Clothes Dryers Can Cause Fires"
Consumer Product Safety Commission (Updated June 2003)

"The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that in 1998, clothes dryers were associated with 15,600 fires, which resulted in 20 deaths and 370 injuries. Fires can occur when lint builds up in the dryer or in the exhaust duct. Lint can block the flow of air, cause excessive heat build-up, and result in a fire in some dryers...."

It's not FEMA: But the USCPSC staff presumably knows what they're talking about.

Bottom line?

• Long dryer vents aren't a good idea
• Cleaning your dryer filter regularly is a good idea
• Having your home burn down is unpleasant
• Being inside when it burns is worse

My household's dryer vent system is under three feet long, by the way - including an external filter.

Prefab Mansions? No Kidding

"New homes, even mansions, are assembled in days"
USA Today (March 4, 2010)

"Goodbye to long months of hammering and sawing! As factory-built U.S. housing options expand, new homes are being assembled onsite within days.

"These aren't just modest abodes. Prefabricated building, once associated with Mobile double-wides, has evolved so much that even modular mansions are now arriving in upscale neighborhoods.

"Within 32 hours last month, a 7,200-square-foot home (six bedrooms, six-and-half baths) was put together like a layer cake in Bethesda, Md., The Washington Post reports. To see how this worked, click here...."

Ah, for the good old days, when a homeowner could look forward to weeks - months - of construction time. With any luck, there'd be at least one drenching rain before the roof was sealed - but after water-sensitive interior elements were in place.

The richness of experience, the pathos, the depths of human experience, that people who have a house built will miss.

Somehow, I think they'll manage.

The article give a pretty good look at part of the construction industry that's changed - a lot - in my lifetime.

My own take is that modular housing makes good sense, if it's done right. The units are small enough to be fabricated inside, in climate-controlled conditions. Here in Minnesota, particularly, that's important.

I think I know what the reporter had in mind with that one paragraph: "These aren't just modest abodes. Prefabricated building, once associated with Mobile double-wides...."

That's the sort of modular house I see traveling through the small central Minnesota town I live in: two whacking great flatbed trucks, each carrying half a house and a 'wide load' sign, with about a quarter-mile separation between them.

I've been inside demo models of the things: and although it's hard to imagine a high-power industry executive living in one, once the two halves are joined and the utilities in place, you'd have to look for where the two halves come together.

I think it helps that many houses have a supporting wall extending their length - but I'm getting off-topic.

The article has a few photos: interesting and attractive, but I'd have liked to have seen more of how the things are put together - and how they look from the outside.

Picky, picky.

"Swanky Treehouse" in Oregon: The Wilkinson Residence

"Wilkinson Residence in Portland is one swanky treehouse"
Green Diary (January 18, 2010)

"Evoking the feeling of being in a tree house is exactly what the beautiful Wilkinson residence in Portland does. Located on a flag lot, the extraordinary house is brilliantly designed to perfectly blend with the natural landscape. A steep sloping grade provided the opportunity to bring the main level of the house into the tree canopy...."



The article is mostly photos: 10, including the one shown here.

And kudos to Green Diary, for including a link to the architect's portfolio page: "Wilkinson Residence." (Robert Harvey Oshatz, Architect)

This "swanky treehouse" is in Portland, Oregon. In that area, anyway: I don't know how many wooded lots there are in the city itself.

The article is brief, almost terse, but that photos make up for that. The Wilkinson Residence is a remarkable - and non-standard - house.

I think that calling it a "swanky treehouse" may have unintentionally revealed something about the houses of people who can afford to built a house that they want, rather than something that's closer to the 50th percentile.

These folks are doing what many of us did as kids: building a place of their own, for their own use, without too much consideration of what everybody else thinks.

I think that's great. And, as long as there isn't a sort of "more sustainable than thou" attitude of superiority over folks who don't have huge bankrolls (there isn't a breath of that in the Green Diary article), I have no problem with someone living in the sort of greenhouse Flash Gordon might have.

Related post:

• "Recycled House: Well, That's Cool"
  (February 6, 2010)

Recycled House: Well, That's Cool

"Beautiful Home Built From Recycled Materials"
Science Hax (January 27, 2010)

"Those people have decided to create something unique and something that you don’t see everyday and yet it is cheap and it is built from a recycled materials.

"This house is one of the examples how home can be built without spending much money. This house has been built from a cheap recycled materials.

"But those people are not just savvy they are also pretty creative, you can see how some of the walls, doors and roof are mosaic-like decorated. And when you look it inside it looks really nice and makes you wonder who wouldn’t like to live there."


(from Science Hax, used w/o permission)

The article is mostly photos: over a dozen of them; good quality photography of interiors and exteriors.

Well, good for those folks.

They've done a very nice job of making a unique, personalized, and quite attractive home. And, it's something just about anybody could do: provided that they own a fair-sized tract of woodland, and can spend enormous amounts of time in hand-crafting a structure to live in.

Like I said, the result is a very nice house.

Even if someone had the clout it would take to get zoning variances in town for a building like that, not all that many people I know have that much free time. Myself included. Still, there was that college professor who built his own house, a few weekend's worth of work at a time. Over a period of a decade or so.

Kudos to the author, for not mentioning "sustainable." Not once. Of course, there wasn't that much text. It's a term I've been running into quite a bit, in descriptions of Earth-friendly, ecologically-conscious, and terribly green houses.

Acting as if Wood Grows on Trees

It makes sense, in a way. There's so much waste and lack of concern for sustainability. American contractors seem to think that wood grows on trees. Wait a minute - - - .

Part of my attitude comes, I think, from living in Minnesota: where tree farming is part of the regional economy. And yes: wood is used so much in construction because it grows on trees. Literally. And has a very good strength/weight ratio: which is another topic.

Which reminds me of an article about an attractive beach house on the Oregon coast that generated more energy than it consumed. That's a part of the world where high temperatures are around 69 degrees Fahrenheit in August the average low in January is 38. (August 4, 2009) Where I live, in central Minnesota, we can go through temperature extremes like that in a day.

Green and Smart Aren't Opposites

Don't get me wrong: my household recycles, we're careful about what we use and how we use it, and I don't think it's a good idea to put an outhouse too close to the well. Not that we've used either in a generation or so.

But I tend to cringe a little, every time I read that something's "green" or "sustainable." I've seen too many well-intentioned (I hope) efforts that either can't be scaled up (like the outhouse); or are too costly for any but the more affluent to afford.

On the other hand, every now and then, someone comes up with an idea that won't solve all problems - but works in some cases.

related posts:

• "Beach House is Energy-Efficient. Also Looks Cool"
  (August 4, 2009)
• "Solar Trees Top (Some) California Parking Lots"
  (August 29, 2009)
• "It's Green, it's Keen, it's a Teaching Dream! - Paperless Teaching"
  (March 19, 2009)
• "NASA Builds Cool Green Building: Uber-Efficient and All That"
  (August 5, 2009)
• "Techie Trellises: Really Green Buildings"
  (August 29, 2009)
• "Better Ideas From Japan: A Fuzzy Green Building"
  (December 25, 2007)
• "Green Roofs: a Good Idea"
  (June 19, 2008)
• "Cool, Yes; Green, Yes; Practical, Not Really"
  (July 27, 2008)
• "Sustainable High Fashion?"
  (March 17, 2009)
• ""Sustainable Furniture" - No Kidding"
  (April 28, 2008)
• "Big, Beautiful, Expensive Villa in Bali"
  (November 23, 2008)
  • But it's "sustainable!"

Luxury Homes: Floor Plans, Photos

Luxury Home Plans

From their "About" page:

"For over twenty-five years, The Sater Group has been providing award-winning, custom residential design and has become one of the country's most recognized residential design firms. Led by Dan F. Sater II, The Sater Group has won over 450 regional and national design awards...."

This website is there mainly to sell house plans: of seriously luxurious houses. Like many other online services of this general sort, you can specify what sort of square footage you're interested in, how many bedrooms and bathrooms you want, and how many floors.

What's a bit special, besides the cost of the houses, are their interactive floor plans. They're not available for all - or even most - of the houses. The interactive plans (I'm sure that's nowhere near as elegant as whatever Luxury Home Plans calls them) are thumbnails: barely large enough to let you see what the rooms are supposed to be. But some of the rooms change color when you roll the mouse over them. Click on those, and you'll see an interior photo of that part of the house.

Impressive, very.

The non-interactive floor plans I looked at were reasonably high-resolution. You'd be hard-pressed to try building the place form them, but they're good enough to get an idea of how the house is laid out.