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Florida 'Versailles,' nation's largest home, is back from the brink
https://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces/florida--versailles---nation-s-largest-home--is-back-from-the-brink-185715511.htmlBut Florida's 90,000-square-foot behemoth of a mansion known as "Versailles" is apparently no longer the lost cause it may have appeared a couple of years ago, "The Insider" learns in a new video interview, above. (Also, click here or on a picture for our 55-image slideshow with many more details.)
David Siegel ("They call me the time-share king"
and his wife, Jackie Siegel — titular star of the 2012 documentary "The Queen of Versailles" — began building their dream home near Disney World about a decade ago. Soon it became evident that the sheer size of the mansion was almost unprecedented in America; it's thought that only Biltmore House and Oheka Castle are bigger and still standing, and both of those are now run as tourist attractions, not true single-family homes.
But when the bottom fell out of the financial markets in 2008, their fortunes were upended too. By the time the documentary ended, their dream home had gone into default and they'd put it on the market. The listing asked for $100 million finished — "based on the royal palace of Louix XIV of the 17th century or to the buyer's specifications — or $75 million "as is with all exterior finishings in crates in the 20-car garage on site."...
That's just as well: David Siegel's time-share empire, Westgate, regained its footing and in fact has been doing better than ever, he told the Orlando Business Journal in February: "Once the recession was over, business was booming again — in 2012, we had our all-time best year in history, and in 2013 we beat that by 30 percent and 2014 beat that previous year by 25 percent. And so far, we're already ahead again this year compared to last year."
David Siegel ("They call me the time-share king"
and his wife, Jackie Siegel — titular star of the 2012 documentary "The Queen of Versailles" — began building their dream home near Disney World about a decade ago. Soon it became evident that the sheer size of the mansion was almost unprecedented in America; it's thought that only Biltmore House and Oheka Castle are bigger and still standing, and both of those are now run as tourist attractions, not true single-family homes.
But when the bottom fell out of the financial markets in 2008, their fortunes were upended too. By the time the documentary ended, their dream home had gone into default and they'd put it on the market. The listing asked for $100 million finished — "based on the royal palace of Louix XIV of the 17th century or to the buyer's specifications — or $75 million "as is with all exterior finishings in crates in the 20-car garage on site."...
That's just as well: David Siegel's time-share empire, Westgate, regained its footing and in fact has been doing better than ever, he told the Orlando Business Journal in February: "Once the recession was over, business was booming again — in 2012, we had our all-time best year in history, and in 2013 we beat that by 30 percent and 2014 beat that previous year by 25 percent. And so far, we're already ahead again this year compared to last year."
Versailles, eh? Makes me think of the French Revolution!
14 replies
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Such hardship! 
