Is TOMORROWLAND right behind that hulk?

What were they thinking? It looks like a monument to Very Bad Taste!!!

Just think about the cost of wood polish, and Swifters.. I mean, come on.. :p

Looks like a haven for bugs, too.

I swear I saw that place at EuroDisney.

That even though you can have millions, good taste can still elude you.

That place looks like a freaking joke....

but I think it's kind of cool.

"to hell with re-sale value" and using their money to have fun rather than trying to impress the neighbors with their exquisite taste!

And that was five years ago. He's added a lot to it since then. Clearly he'll be taking a big loss. But no worries...it was all daddy's money, left to him by a Michigan steel magnate.

but it sure can buy tackiness.

to live there F O R E V E R!!

need a "moonwalk" smiley..

I'd open an animal shelter, as well.

P.S. I love the pink and sprinkles idea. I like shiny things.

the 99% come with the pitchforks. But I am buying a congressman this fall and not sure I could afford both.
Any servants come with the house or are those extra?

I wonder if there's a dungeon for the peasants who displease his lordship?

The Congressman should pay for himself in no time, so if you put a down payment on the house now and wait for the congressional eh "payback" there's no reason why you can't have both.

Ah Congress, the gift that keeps on giving.

was permitted in the neighborhood.

Not a lot of zoning regulations. He has been to court several times over usage of the property. He initially posted a web site claiming it was a showcase for "International Commerce" and luxury goods, until the town cited him for running a retail business in a residential neighborhood. Next he advertised it as a "photo studio" where well-financed perverts could come in and use the castle as a backdrop to take pictures of naked women, which he supplied (for a fee, of course). Not surprisingly, the town nixed that one, too. He was basically "forced" to use it as a home instead of a business. Now he's looking at what must easily be a $10-20 million loss. Easy come, easy go.

LOL

If I had 45 mill, I wouldn't spend it on a castle. I might spend some more time at Disney checking out that castle.

It's a world of hopes and a world of fears
There's so much that we share that it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all

It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world

that if I got too close, farm animals may come flying over the ramparts at me.

They said 'e was daft!

Still, I am NOT making this up. He bought up hundreds of acres of land in town. He built a big farm on which he intended to house retired circus elephants, giraffes, etc. But he forgot to check with the zoning ordinances, which forbid the keeping of wild animals within town limits. So he also owns this big complex that only has a couple of alpacas and an ostrich or something. Boy sure knows how to piss away an inheritance!

That sounds like a good thing to do. Most of those animals were probably treated like shit. Let him build it, house the animals, make sure they are care for properly and let the kids see them. Sounds like a shitty town cutting off its nose to spite its face.

It's about as small-town New England as it gets. The owner of the castle wound up buying his own fire department, because the town didn't have the equipment to deal with such a large structure. Also, while you may thing it sounds cool, I'd imagine you might not think so if you had elephants and tigers and stuff right next door to you in a residential neighborhood. If it was a "shitty city," they would have forced him to shut it all down. Instead, look...he has a castle and a farm in the middle of a bunch of raised ranches. Poor him.

I have never heard complaints.

By now the owner may be pretty upset with that zoning board.

If I had that kind of money and the 'home' didn't sell in a reasonable amount of time....I'd gift the property to some charity that will use it as a halfway house or a church.

Then there would be no more property taxes for the town to collect, a huge tax deduction on the donators taxes and no zoning board can restrict a church in their district! No sales tax either for the town.

So all of the money in labor and material that went into building that house and circus animal retirement home ended up in actual pockets and bought baby a new pair of shoes or a few semesters of college.

If Connecticut is anything like Boulder county, that house was several electricians at $75 an hour for probably more than a year. Same with masons, drywallers, framers, roofers, plumbers...

Yeah, the general contractor took a share, but actual people got paid and spent that actual money in actual businesses.

I am totally okay with oblivious rich dude sinking inherited money into some brand new white elephants. If he'd been typically prudent, it would have sat in an investment account, only making money for the scum sucking investment advisors. It got that money out and into the economy instead of being parked in a bank.

Yeah, it would have been better if his dream was electric cars or solar roads or a lunar colony, but redistribution is redistribution. (At least he doesn't collect corrupt elected officials, like a certain pair of brothers with an infinitely punny last name.)

building junk like that is an honorable living...

There's no excuse for this, or anything positive. The architect and builders should be ashamed. So many things that could be built that would contribute to the area. That's a multi-million dollar eyesore and it'll be falling down before too long. Of course it's his "right" to build it, but there's no integrity in building it.

Mom's a project manager, other parent builds roads, bridges and runways. Both of them have had private and government customers who have commissioned tasteless, expensive, wasteful, useless projects.

It is not the contractor's, the architect's or the craftsperson's job to tell the customer that they really do need to go have a good think about it. (Though many architects do, and in the case of state and federal projects, the head engineer often questions the first couple iterations of requirements.) Ultimately, the only entity responsible for the taste and utility of the project is the entity paying for it. In e care of a private citizen following zir bliss, it's a freedom of expression issue. (I'd be annoyed if my mostly Craftsman type/New Urbanist neighborhood got a Brutalist or Victorian Gothic building, but since my neighborhood doesn't have a covenant, my only recourse would be to get the city to ban it, and that's too much power in the hands of people who have a history of behaving poorly when it comes to individual rights of expression.)

If the customer is convinced, and there is no talking zir out of it... Well, as a contract hire, you do the job well, make sure it exceeds code, meets the customer's expectations, and cash the check. That's the joy of working for other people.

--I have many relatives and friends in building trades as contractors and architects, and I have a close family member who runs a concreting crew, etc. So I'm very well aware of what they all do. And I have seen some who sell their souls to the highest bidder, and some who don't.

So it does depend on your own sense of integrity. But you're right, that sense of integrity is rare in ANY line of work and the problem is certainly not the fault of the actual trades who do the job.

We do need to see, observe, take note of, these monstrosities being built these days--to get a grasp of how wasteful and selfish many of the rich are. Actually it's probably less damaging as a whole to build a one-off extravagant fantasy like this castle than to vomit these hideous Mc-whatevers for mile after mile after mile....extruded from the earth like the monolithic steroidal bunkers that they are.

You know there is such a thing as honor, especially when it comes to design, architecture and planning. I agree a bricklayer should not be held responsible. The building contractor is caught in the middle--and probably is going to prostitute himself all the way to the bank. The designer should be ashamed. The city SHOULD have the power to ban something (and does in many places) if there is enough public opposition. This holds true in any form of local govt with regard to the permitting process of anything. It's called "community" --something these monster house builders have no concept of. Maybe the masterminds behind the voracious ground-eating Mc-huge phenomenon we see in the last decade or so --are even more dangerous in blighting the landscape than the one-off crazies...

It's interesting to see what the filthy rich do with their money--usually it's all about show. Wasteful, extravagant & tacky. And I sure DO know what I'm talking about.

Where is that?

So, you very obviously do care about it.

Not because I "care" what the guy did with his money. He's helping keep my property taxes down. As I said, I pass by this place several times a week. It's been under construction for more than ten years. The only reason I posted it now is because it is up for sale and there are finally pictures available of the inside. Why can't you just admit that it is a curiosity and not try to make it some libertarian bullshit thing?

I'm just a little sensitive to the 1% label because I make a very, very good living and do tend to spend our money making sure to "keep up with the Jone's" and have been accused by my neighbors of trying to outdo the neighborhood in how our home and land looks.

I'm sure it's a rough life. I'll have my servants light a candle for you tonight.

I'll make sure to tip them appropriately.

We purchased our home where we did for a reason.

On another note - I believe the gates/iron work on that home were custom done by my husband. I'm pretty sure that's in his portfolio.

Or was it a DemoChris ... I think, maybe, was asking for money for his family ....

DemoChris talked about his problem and some DU members offered to send help if he would PM them with the info.

This is a link to DemoChris's post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018599774#post1

This is a link to IronGate's solicitation with account info - it was hidden in a 6-1 vote:

link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025340305

Why is this fraudster still on DU?

link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025340305

To spend money on keeping up with the Joneses and trying to outdo everyone else in the neighborhood vs. helping a destitute child and grandchild - how to choose, how to choose.

Or a liar.

Or unwilling to spend any out of his own pocket to help his daughter and grandson.

Or all three...

Tries to take advantage of those who may not be as well off as this fraud bragged above, and uses a woman and baby to do it. Fucking scum of the earth. I've been steaming about this since catching it earlier and am seriously thinking of alerting on it. It's not something I usually do, but in this case I feel it's something MIRT should see.

I'm betting no...but you have lots and lots of money, we can make a big bet!

Send me your LinkedIn info and I'll reply! Or just a TN I can lookup in the ALI database-



You can do it IronMan!

"He is entitled to spend it as he sees fit doesn't he?"

No more and no less than people are entitled to criticize as they may see fit. Six of one, half a dozen of the other... and seriously, each as nonsensical, irrelevant and petulant as the other.

part deaux.

money as they see fit, you make a mockery of my tag line?

Well, back atcha.

And for what it's worth, I am the President of our local Union, so, yeah, I'm a strong Union supporter.

one good laugh a day I say

for your own child, yet claim now to be loaded and claim to be put out that anyone criticizes loaded people.

Let's just say if I had money to "keep up with the Joneses" I would never think to try to come to this website and freeload off the good will of the people here.

That just would make me suck as a human being.

People like this spend it on political-action groups, issue ads, political strategists, lobbyists, politicians, marketing campaigns, and issue ads to secure their place of power and to enrich themselves. Voter suppression, the Tea Party, gerrymandering, binding arbitration, tax-law changes, oligopolies, the gutting of various areas of government regulation... all that bought and paid for by people like this using the amplifying power of money to get the government to bend to their will.


If all the wealthy did with their money was pour it down a bottomless pit of exotic cars, private jets, and rare artwork to decorate their manor homes, then nobody would give a damn about the Gini index.

And can we all purchase tickets to watch when it commences?

We're all going to show up at the castle walls with Swedish meatballs and three-bean salad, and demand he hold a tag sale.

However disgusting & gawdy, leave it to the talented & humorous posters at Du to poke away at it till its reduced to LOL's.

Come on guys, lets all chip in get it. It could be a DU timeshare.

We're in the market for a new home. I'm just trying to keep it under a grand a month. As far under as possible.

It'd be cool, though.

Nothing more than a parody of a castle.

Of all of the things I can think of to do with money, even selfish, indulgent things, that is not one of them.

To spend that much money on such a gaudy piece of crap.

I would, however, probably have a really nice condo in downtown Seattle AS WELL as a really nice house on the water here if I had that kind of money.

and I was 10 years old.

I think it's a beautiful property. I like to see people meet their dreams, if they have the means. Especially with a good cause.

For that amount of money, I know some move-in ready ranches in Nebraska and California with couple thousand very nice acres. No zoning boards or neighborhood association restrictions. Would have had a lot of very happy retired circus animals by now.

Instead he probably pays that zoning board a lot in fines. Could end with them taking all the property away.

I'm surprised he hasn't covered the exterior walls with sea shells, or beer cans or something.

Does the drawbridge work?

Lovely property, but I'm sure heating it's a bear during wintertime. And it's a bit too much space for one guy.

1972. There was a school built next to it, right on Lake Geneva. The school has been enlarged several times and is monstrous now. The chateau was used as a dorm. There were beds in the turrets also. More room there than you would think.

there are hundreds of beautiful and historic castles available in Europe at a fraction of that cost

for such a large house. But the cupola is rad.

Not gonna throw stones. If I was that rich, I would inflict some sort of architectural monster on the world too.

Those turrets are large. Rapunzel would be quite happy there.

LOL!

If it's built to last it might make an excellent school for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

In my personal politics, follies such as this don't bother me much. The guy put quite a few people to work and they were not building something utterly useless like an aircraft carrier named after a criminal president, or a fat turkey fighter jet.

It's not going anywhere.

Good luck finding someone with that much money who would want a home amongst the "riff-raff" (<--- I am part of said riff-raff in another part of CT)

Bet he doesn't even get half the asking price when it finally sells.

I do like that ceiling in the kitchen, though.

I would have thought it was some sort of theme restraunt/inn.

It's possible that the owner made his millions turning widows out of their homes; it's also possible that he invented a product that nobody can live without. Absent knowledge on that point, the only issue at hand is whether the owner is spending his money irresponsibly which seems very subjective.

He was basically the b-movie stereotype of a privileged snot-boy. His daddy was a steel magnate in Michigan, I believe, who left the lad with hundreds of millions of dollars. The kid was/is a terrible person, having once purchased an entire strip mall (not far from where the castle is) including live-in apartments, only to evict all the tenants, revoke the business leases, then just board up the property hoping that one day property values would go up. It never did. He abandoned it.

I honestly don't care how the owner spends his inheritance. The sooner he spends it all, the better off we'll all be. Again, I only posted this because it was interesting, not because I endorse greed or am denouncing spending money or whatever you're saying. It was just an interesting find, and it was relevant to me because I have a place on this same street.

Just in case any of you are in the market
http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Dartmouth-MA/house,condo,apartment,duplex,townhouse_type/55964384_zpid/51652_rid/3-_beds/50215-_price/193-_mp/pricea_sort/41.862913,-70.463562,41.31856,-71.486664_rect/9_zm/0_mmm/



Yep, I can picture myself on this porch

Sad about the circus animals.

You'd think they could make an exception for a good cause.

Currently, not for sale. Still doing tours though.

http://www.goldpyramid.com/index.html

And that sort of "elegant ostentatiousness" (talk about an oxymoron) is truly a masturbatory show.
Okay, that was my 12-year-old self commenting.

Haele

He frequently has a "tea party patriots" banner on the outside of his gate announcing the time and location of their next meeting.

well at least it's open to the public for tours... You could go from there to The House on the Rock in Wisconsin.................. which I am still trying to recover from having accidentally been there years ago...

It's not so bad if these fantasies can be turned into public attractions I suppose. Maybe the Society for Creative Anachronists can do something with the Castle....otherwise it could be a real loser. (Needs mini-golf...maybe a mini golf tycoon could buy it...)

Never had the pleasure of witnessing it live though.

be prepared for your mind to be blown...you may need therapy, or a few drinks afterward. There are some fascinating "exhibits," the collection of carousels for example--but if you are initiated into the weirdness of the whole thing, you will not come out without regretful memories.

Incredible history, too. Absolutely beautiful.

...good grief that is awful...