Check out the cool basement in this house. I would LOVE it

[demtenjeep]

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/the-basement-is-the-main-attraction.html


In Los Angeles, builder Mauricio Oberfeld has buried about a third of his home underground: He built a contemporary 9,000-square-foot house for his family with a 3,000-square-foot basement. Glass stairwells lead to a lower level with an ornately tiled spa, large office, wine room and movie theater.

[TransitJohn]

1. So would these people

Edit:broken picture link

[demtenjeep]

2. yes I am sure they would

.

[JDPriestly]

8. Thank you, Transit John.

We need to keep a balanced perspective.

The poverty around us is overwhelming. More and more frequently, I see homeless people who appear to be elderly. That is shameful.

Meanwhile, the very rich spend fortunes on worthless things like huge basements. It is not to be believed.

[RedRocco]

3. at 3000 sq ft

that basement is 3 times the size of my house. why do people feel they need something like that anyway?

[madokie]

4. In guy's case,

little peckers more than likely

[randome]

12. How about because he has the money?

Not everything above the necessary is evil or indicative of some psychological shortcoming.

[rfranklin]

17. These are shrines to money...

Interesting that the bunker mentality is exhibited among the overindulged class.

[byronius]

5. Too big for me. And they all look eerily like the final scene of '2001'.

I would feel a little haunted by that much space. It's weird.

There's a syndrome associated with bedrooms that are too large -- some humans get insomnia from it, and have to built a bedroom-within-a-bedroom. Some kind of nesting/burrowing routine.

I think there's also a syndrome for design that is too clean and elegant. Really, I would feel out-of-place in that element. Like living in a corporate conference room.

I don't think I'm cut out for that kind of ostentatious display, either. I would feel immediately guilty. Seems wrong somehow.

Apparently I'd make a bad rich person.

[JDPriestly]

9. Like living in a corporate conference room. How true.

[XemaSab]

10. I don't understand the people on HGTV

who "need" a MASSIVE bedroom.

Especially if you've got a decent closet space, what do you really need that huge space for?

If it fits a bed and you have enough room for books and clothes, what more do you need?

My bedroom now is maybe 15 by 20, and it's a lot of space. What's more, it was probably originally built to sleep two or three kids.

[Odin2005]

22. Conspicuous consumption.

[Zax2me]

6. some beautiful architechture art design.

[harmonicon]

7. Rich people are adorable. nt.

[CJCRANE]

11. I call it 'stealth wealth'...

just like Aladdin's Cave or the BatCave - all the good stuff is hidden from view.

[onethatcares]

13. these people can't even breath the air

we mere mortals do. Do you think those bottles of wine will ever be enjoyed?

Do you really need more marble in our lives?

Jeez, I can't imagine being that scared to go out in pubic.

[Skittles]

14. it's kind of pathetic

[HiPointDem]

15. what's really amazing is how cheesy some of those places look.

yeah, my fave is the skateboarding room with the faux "street" graffiti. yeah, we're so hip and down with the people!

but far be it from me to complain; everyone knows enormous cheesy pretentious basements that will be used once in a blue moon are the highest and most efficient use of the funds stolen from the working class.

wealth porn. evidentally our overlords want us to admire them and their possessions.

[surrealAmerican]

16. I'm not sure if this trend is a good sign or a bad sign.

It may be hopeful that the very rich are trying to be a bit less conspicuous: it could mean they're embarrassed by the wealth disparity. Perhaps that means that, given time, they will stop demanding more.

[provis99]

18. well, actually, it makes me feel like puking.

or getting together an army of peasants with pitchforks and marching on the Hamptons.

[Cleita]

19. To be a bitch, because I do have a hair up my ass about estate size houses in a

large, crowded city, no one needs a 9,000 foot square house except maybe the Duggars. I really would like to see some restrictions in the size of homes particularly in crowded urban areas. Rich people should just spend their money on decoration, maybe like fancy floors, ceilings and frescoes on the walls by famous artists, then they might leave behind something beautiful. I have no objection to going underground because it might be more ecological cutting down the need for heat or air condition. However, a huge home like that uses far more water and energy than necessary for a normal family unit. I am also against high rises for the same reason. When LA only permitted 13 stories, it had fewer, traffic, parking, water shortage, unmanageable sewage and energy problems then than today.

[hunter]

20. If I was wealthy I wouldn't do that.

I think I'd buy a big lot in a densely inhabited lower income area of a big city, build a tiny house on it and establish a community garden.

I'm tired of cars and consumerism.

The rest of my money would go in support of establishing a single payer national health plan.

Or maybe I'd just leave the U.S.A. for good. Some days I don't see any hope for this nation. My ancestors all left places that had gone rotten, places where the rich were getting richer and the poor were dying, or places turned to hell by senseless wars.

[Odin2005]

21. Greedy rich SOBs.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

23. Some day I'll probably have a vast underground home

It'll probably be a cave in the high sierra redwoods where I have to hunt squirrels to stay alive ... that is if the cost of everything in southern California continues to sky rocket. Just my utilities bills alone have been eye-popping lately.