McMansions are nothing new.
Consider the 65,000 square feet of Carolands in Hillsborough, California, located outside San Francisco, with its 98 rooms, originally set on 500 acres, built between 1912-1916. True, it's a lot more beautiful to our eye than some of the recent eyesores, but still -- that's one big mothership. (Bill and Melinda Gates' new home checks in at 66,000 square feet).
There's a new coffee table book about the place. In it, you'll learn that Carolands was designed for Harriett Pullman Carolan, the Pullman car heiress, by French architect Ernest Sanson, and cost $3 million (about $60 million in today's dollars). Fun fact: at 75-foot-high, the atrium is the largest enclosed space in a private U.S. home.
A well-reviewed documentary about the estate called Three Women and a Chateau was released last year -- it's playing film festivals and may be released on DVD after that.
Carolands is not open to the public because it's still a private family residence.
written on Thursday Mar 22, 2007
hi ceils,
fab vus,
98 rms.
