How the other half lives . . .

[zoom-zoom]

This scenario really gets me. This house wasn't enough:
Main house: 12,000 square feet
Number of bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 8 1/2
Garage: 3-car
Guest house: 1,100 square feet
Value: $4.5 million

So it was demolished for this:
Main house: 22,000 square feet
Number of bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 5 full and 5 half-baths
Garage: 3 buildings
Guest house: 6,000 square feet
Value: Still being assessed; building permits over $3 million (total finished value was guesstimated to be ~$10 mil.)

Seriously? A 22 thousand square foot home with only 3 bedrooms and a guest home almost 3x larger than the average American home.

No one can ever tell me that this isn't purely for show. And the sad part is that the house they razed was really kind of cool looking. It was low and subtle and blended into the property. The new place is a monstrosity whether viewed from the street or from the lake. Gargantuan and gaudy.

[limewave]

This scenario really gets me. This house wasn't enough:
Main house: 12,000 square feet
Number of bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 8 1/2
Garage: 3-car
Guest house: 1,100 square feet
Value: $4.5 million

So it was demolished for this:
Main house: 22,000 square feet
Number of bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 5 full and 5 half-baths
Garage: 3 buildings
Guest house: 6,000 square feet
Value: Still being assessed; building permits over $3 million (total finished value was guesstimated to be ~$10 mil.)

Where was this at?

I got a full tour yesterday. There are many secret passageways and hidden rooms. There's even a panic room. It's pretty cool. The reason they have so many bedrooms (and 4 kitchens!) is that they have guests that will stay with them for several months at a time. The mother-in-law is currently visiting them for 3 months and will eventually live with them full-time I imagine.

These people have more money than I can even dream of. As DH said, the interest on their savings alone could probably build that house every year. And in a time when no one has been building, they employed quite a few people over the last year. I'm thankful they reinvested the money locally.

[zoom-zoom]

Where was this at?

South Shore Dr., in Holland...about halfway down towards Lake MI.

Ha, now I notice that the URL was messed-up because it contains the word d*ck. It's the DeVos house. Let me fix that with Tinyurl...
Here's a functioning link.

[salsabike]

I'm not alone in my concern over rising home sizes. Nor am I alone in thinking that our seemingly personal decisions about how and where to live do impact our communities as a whole.

Indy, of course you're not alone. I share those concerns too. I think a lot of people do. What I say below is NOT in response to your particular comments at all.

Most people on this forum live much more comfortably than most of the world does. Even if your houses are small and you only have one bathroom. I'm not a big fan of putting small groups of "other" people down for being wealthy, in that context.

[Bike Writer]

One poster suggested home baked goods. This gets my vote for a housewarming gift, provided you enjoy baking and want to do that. If baking is not your thing then perhaps specialty coffee or teas. Everyone likes treats and even if the homeowners don't particularly care for coffee or tea they could serve them for guests.

Your original post suggested a very natural human response and that is comparison. We all do that about things whether it is cars, bikes, kids or homes and in the presence of largess it's not that hard to feel dwarfed. I loved your response to that feeling in that you went home and began scrubbing your floors. That might be something I would do too.

You saw something enormous and overwhelming and were in awe of it and in the process you peered into a lifestyle that is very different from that of most people. Your post did not indicate a hint of envy or scorn for that lifestyle, just a realization that it is very different from your own and that is very natural.

I was born into modest living, in some of my years I throughly enjoyed bigger and better and lots of "toys". I'm a bit older now and my tastes have changed and things I value have changed also.

To each his own, live and let live are comfortable words to live by.

[snapdragen]

We have our own super-monster house in my neighborhood. There are a few mini-monsters, I hate 'em, but they're not mine, so I ignore them. But this one....gawd, talk about your sore thumbs.. Almost 6,000 sq ft, 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths. Most homes here are about 2500 sq ft. ranch style homes.

The first owners lost it to forclosure, I think it's already on it's third set of owners.

[limewave]

You saw something enormous and overwhelming and were in awe of it and in the process you peered into a lifestyle that is very different from that of most people. Your post did not indicate a hint of envy or scorn for that lifestyle, just a realization that it is very different from your own and that is very natural.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel any twinges of jealousy. However, I DO get VERY jealous when I read about new bikes on this forum! Which is why you almost never see me comment on those threads