Big Expensive Huses

I grew up in a little house on the prairie. Well, not really on the prairie, not even in prairie country, not even out west, but definitely little. Mom, dad, my brother, three sisters, and I lived in a three-bedroom (if you count the fixed-up attic) house with one (count it, one) bathroom. Altogether about 1,500 square feet (counting the fixed-up attic) and no garage, no tennis court, and not even one swimming pool. Amazingly we all survived, even though, on occasion, I had to pee in the cornfield.

I doubt that Donald Trump, on the other hand, ever needs to resort to the cornfield to relieve himself. In fact his 80,000-square-foot home in Palm Beach has (count them)18 to 22 bathrooms (depending on who’s counting). It also has 18 bedrooms, a fitness room, a home theatre, a library, a wine cellar/grotto, and staff quarters. It contains three additional structures that include a two-bedroom poolside retreat, a two-bedroom guest house, and a four-bedroom coach house, whatever that is. This Palm Beach home features incredible ocean views, a 100-foot-long pool (just the one), a hot tub, and two fireplaces. It sits on several acres, with 500 feet of ocean frontage and, as far as I know, has no cornfield. On the market for $125,000,000, it recently sold at the bargain price of $95,000,000.

It is, to be sure, a nice place. Compared to the home of Mukesh Ambani, however, it’s just a bungalow. The Ambani residence, named Antilia, is a 27-story (but as tall as a 60-story) building on just over an acre in downtown Mumbai. It boasts 60,000 square feet of living space (a bit smaller than the Trump bungalow) , with a multitude of bedrooms and bathrooms, a health spa, a theatre with a seating capacity for 50, multiple (meaning more than one) swimming pools, three floors of hanging gardens, a snow room, whatever that is, and a ballroom. The garage has parking for 160 cars, so, of course, one whole floor is dedicated to vehicle maintenance. There are eight elevators and three helipads and, of course, a small air traffic control center. It is valued at over $1,000,000,000 (one billion dollars). Assuming Mukesh got rich by not being frivolous, I’m guessing it was built for far less.

It is, to be sure, a nice place. Compared to the home of the Sultan of Brunei, Istana Nurul Iman, however, it’s just a starter home. The Sultan’s home contains 1,788 rooms, 257 bathrooms, and a floor area of 2,152,782 square feet. Amenities include five (that’s one plus four more) swimming pools, an air-conditioned stable for the Sultan's 200 polo ponies, a 110-car garage, a banquet hall that can be expanded to accommodate up to 4,000 guests, and a mosque accommodating 1,500 people. Built in 1984 at a cost of around $1.4 billion, it has 564 chandeliers, 51,000 light bulbs, 44 stairwells, and 18 elevators. It is also a home to a car collection that includes custom-made Ferraris and Bentleys as well as 165 Rolls-Royces. Oh- oh, what’s a Sultan to do? The garage is only big enough for 110 cars.