One of my favorite podcasts recently discussed Lauren Greenfield's documentary The Queen of Versailles, which chronicles billionaires Jackie and David Siegel's project to build America's largest private home. The Siegels' planned 90,000 square feet home and estate, modeled (in excess at least) after the Palace at Versailles, had plans for 10 kitchens, 30 bathrooms, 2 tennis courts, a bowling alley, gym, skating rink and a full-sized baseball field.
Filmmaker Greenfield couldn't have guessed the turn her film, and the Siegels' lives, would take, with the nationwide financial crisis beginning in 2008 (the Siegels owned the world's largest timeshare company) imperiling the couple's fortune and the estate's future. In stark contrast to the opulence of the Siegels' lives at the film's outset, Greenfield follows the unraveling of the Siegels' fortune and, to some extent, their marriage.
One of the most interesting points about the film made by the Slate Culture Gabfest crew was Stephen Metcalf's observation about how today's wealthiest families can limit their interactions with the masses by building traditionally public experiences into their own private homes. He gives the example of how generations ago even children from very wealthy families could be found at the local bowling alley with their peers, whereas today their family might have their own bowling alley at home.
If you've visited Hearst Castle or the Vanderbilt Mansion or other elaborate estates, you know that some element of this inverted public/private sphere has always been true, but I think Metcalf's observation can be applied more generally to all homes at nearly all income levels. While I can't image the day when I would have the funds (or the desire) to have a skating rink at home, I certainly see fewer movies at the theater thanks to our large flat-screen tv and souped up audio system. Home gyms (even just a treadmill), extensive outdoor play structures for kids, hot tubs, at-home saunas, pay-per-view movies and Netflix are all symptomatic of this on a much smaller scale than, say, a full-size baseball field, but all redefine the public-private sphere dynamic in some way.
This idea interests me quite a bit, as do many other elements that this highly praised film explores. The Queen of Versailles is in limited release. You can find a list of where it's playing here. Have any of you seen it yet? If so, what did you think? Worth leaving my cushy couch and home theater setup for?
• Learn more: The Queen of Versailles/Magnolia Pictures, official trailer, Slate Culture Gabfest's discussion of the film, New York Times film review.
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Wow, is that tacky. I might just watch that movie at some point for some sweet, sweet schadenfreude.
Even if this documentary touches on the family's slight downfall starting in 2008 I don't know that I could watch something that shows the excessive and glutinous life style of the extremely wealthy. I have no way to relate or have the ability to feel sorry for the family. If they hadn't required a disgustingly large house and lifestyle maybe their lives wouldn't have been so impacted. There is living the lifestyle and then there's disgusting extravagance and to me 10 kitchens and 30 bathrooms is disgusting no matter how rich you are. I understand having lots of friends and family to accommodate but this is ridiculous and I for one am going to skip this vulgar display of wealth.
And from my point of view, based on the photos their house isn't attractive at all. All the gaudy "look at me I have money and it is opulent" furniture and accessories are tacky.
Why? Why why why why why?
10 kitchens, 30 bathrooms? Really?? There are women and children that are homeless and starving. Lets see someone with that kind of money putting it to much better use than these fools.
I saw this documentary a few months ago at an indie theatre, and boy was it the most interesting 90 minutes of my life. When they started filming it, they had no idea they would lose all of their money and have to stop making that incredibly creepy huge house. For years it sat vacant like a ghost. The movie doesn't make you feel bad for the family, rather it sheds a light on them how different they are, how out of touch with reality they are, and how much they took their money for granted. it's a super "riches to rags" story. I heard after the doc release that david siegel said he was no longer in debt and was starting back on construction for the versailles house. It seemed to me he just said it because he was so embarassed about the way he looked in the doc. anyone have an update on their situation? are they really going to go through with building it?
On the (over analyzed) observation that the wealthy "limit their interactions with the masses by building traditionally public experiences into their own private homes": that's not new, and it's only partially true. I grew up with the children of Hollywood players, as well as the kids of upper-middle class professionals. This was in the 1960's. I knew kids with home theaters, tennis courts, stables, the ubiquitous swimming pool (of course), and even one family with a bowling alley. All of those kids, also went to movie theaters, Disneyland, ice cream parlors, the beach (okay, so maybe the beach club), local parks...and everywhere else that other kids *in their social class* went. So the kids with their own private playlands weren't at the public pool? None of us were. This class division has always been true in the US. If it is at all true that more wealthy people (specifically parents of young kids) are avoiding "interactions with the masses" it is because we all are jealously guarding our homes, families and spare time these days.
I don't think I'd go so far as to call it "the most interesting 90 minutes of my life," but it really was amazing how out of touch they were with their lifestyle, and then as the money was disappearing how the adults in the family could not truly understand and pare down the way most would. It was like the sinking a ship, you put people in the lifeboats, and let the pianos and possessions sink to the bottom. Priorities people!
Good call be on "super 'riches to rags' story", I can't say it better than that.
...I won't even start on the irony and implicit ignorance of two hedonists planning a monster estate based on Versailles. I'm tempted, but it's just so obvious. It's too easy.
@KN14606 Okay, you got me! Definitely not the most interesting 90 minutes of my life, but simple, mind-numbing entertainment to say the least.
10 kitchens? Really? Yes, 30 bathrooms is extravagant but if you have enough bedrooms to accommodate a large number of guests then I could see 30 bathrooms potentially being used (in a life very unlike my own)... I can't under any circumstances see why one would need 10 kitchens. 3 kitchens (one for every day, one for prepping for large events, one outdoor), maybe... but not 10.
Gross. Unless it's narrated by Robin Leach. (Under 30's won't catch that reference..it's okay.) :)
Here's a Reuter's story about the Seigels' current life. According to the story he is going to start up construction again just to finish the facade of the house in order to make it easier to sell.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/30/uk-usa-orlando-siegel-idUSLNE86T02B20120730
vulgar display of wealth, bad taste and implants. geeeeez. and I can't wait to see the film! ;)
You'd think with all that money they could afford enough fabric to cover her breasts. Talk about tacky.
To break out that old cliche, I guess wealth can't really buy good taste (unless you employ the services of a good designer you are willing to defer to?), but why can't it at least buy better boob jobs? </snark>
A little nitpick, but I've never had the impression hot tubs were a really public thing? I don't think most community pools have them, they seemed more like a hotel thing (and of course you're not going to a hotel just for the hot tub!)
I used to like watching MTV Cribs back in the day (though depending on the celeb, their dwellings could be fairly humble!), but it seems like the main action in this documentary isn't really their "amaaaazing" digs, seeing as that never was completed. If I had the attention span, this is something I might watch, but it isn't showing anywhere near me anyway.
Public hot tubs = yucky. We take our 8th graders to a swim park in the spring, and like 17 14-year-olds will sit in the hot tub together. I shudder to think about what's swimming around that water after they get out. (Didn't the first season of "Glee" cover what can happen to a girl in a hot tub!?)
It was a really interesting film.....I thought I would leave having nothing but spite for the family, but I actually left feeling a bit sorry for them. They did come across as very out of touch...although the wife to a lesser extent. It was just a whole family of people floating around in the same space....no real relationships with each other.
I think the really sad part, however, was the take no prisoners sales pitch for timeshares.
I saw the premiere at Sundance in January sand this film has stayed with me for the last 10 months, it was a riveting 90 minutes, and the subjects were fascinating. I would love to see this film again. The NYT did a write up on the Seigel's suing Lauren Greenfield back in June. It's a compelling story that is still in progress.
I think she needed at least 10,000 sq feet for her boobs.
I cannot understand why anyone would need to see a documentary to observe how out of touch some people can be with everyday life. It is all around us.
I could see building this if you had 10-15 families living in it together, otherwise, you're an idiot.
Reminds me of when, after living in San Jose for 20 years, friends finally convinced me to take the Winchester Mystery House tour. As we went through the home, I got madder and madder at the late Sarah Winchester, squandering all that money on nonsensical stairways to nowhere, etc., while her money could have done so much good for so many people. Very saddening.
I saw this over the summer as part of an indie film festival. I second beearthur's observation that the film doesn't really make you feel sorry for this family. Overall, I can't say that I felt remorse or was appalled by their behavior, but perhaps was just in shock and awe. Their lives are so different from mine that most of the film was beyond my comprehension. I have to say, the most interesting part was when they attempted to sell their home. I forgot the actual listed price for the unfinished palace, but the whole situation was just so outstanding that I couldn't even fathom that this is real life for some people.
The director did a nice job of keeping the audience entertained throughout the film... jokes were worked into the "script," and the subject matter was interesting in itself, of course. Highly recommend it!
Dear "Louis and Marie A." Seigels, your American Versailles is gross. Really disgusting. Have a quick read of the lives of a couple of residents of the real Versailles. It's possible there's a lesson or two for you in their stories.
(Also, the 10 kitchens might make it easier for the bank to turn it into an apartment building when they have to repossess it in the near future.)
I'm definitely interested in the documentary, and as vehemently against the lifestyle the people it chronicles have chosen. I guess 2008 apparently did have a bright side, if people like this got the reality check they so badly needed (though I can't help but assume that lesson probably didn't sink in as well as it could have).
I've seen revolting examples of conspicuous consumption in my 67 years, but this takes the cake. Disgusting.
(And just to prove that I can be just as tacky as the people who built that monstrosity, how much did those brand new store-bought tits cost?)
Hadn't you heard? Irony drank herself to death years ago after watching people like this.
Nice floating devices.
Don't need to do the tour. 2 photos and comments are quite enough, thanks, AT.
Can we criticize the waste and extravagance here without slut-shaming and commenting on the wife's appearance? There's plenty of legitimate suckage here without going that route.
I could see perhaps trying to create a contemporary version of the great houses of Newport like the Breakers, but Versailles? It seems like there is a lot of excess for the sake of excess (10 kitchens, really?). For the most part even the extremely wealthy don't live the way they did back then (the things you can learn watching Downton Abbey). I've added this to my Netflix save list
ScuttledCuttle- I agree 100%, commenting on her appearance won't get them anywhere
@Mockers - Well, in Sarah Winchester's case, she was clearly mentally ill. She took her belief in psychics and mediums too far, to the point where she felt they were guiding her to build her home they way she did. She was out of touch with reality in a very different way than these people are.
Trump Tacky or Middle Eastern dictator style, but the rack looks fine.
I saw this film at our local indie in comparison with the An Wei Wei documentary, "Never Sorry", about the internationally known Chinese artist. Both films began with a premise that experienced a catastrophic denouement during the editing process, and required a reworking of the plot. In the Siegels' case, the time share business tanked and in An Wei Wei's case he was imprisoned and had his studio demolished. Despite the appalling lack of cultural taste, the Siegels attemped to describe their lifestyle as family-oriented and believable, but the shopping episodes were indicative of a real addiction to conspicuous consumption in the most unappealing way. The opposite of Apartment Therapy, if you like.
I saw this film recently and I found it fascinating. The house may have driven the original intent of the film, but it is about so much more. Judging their excess misses the point entirely.
The film offers many interesting insights and learnings. Yes, money can buy lots of things ... but not class and taste. Yes, the Siegels are not building a home ... they're building a tacky hotel.
Despite tempting us with an to feel morally and esthetically superior to its subjects, the film does provide insights and learnings. It is as much about the human mind's ability to essentially rationalize anything as it is about how what we think and do impacts who we become.
Granted some of the stuff the Siegels say comes off as vapidly stupid, but there are times when they are disarmingly lucid and ... well, right! To dismiss this film as yet another reality television-like expose` of wretched excess is to miss both the point and what we might learn about ourselves.
On a more general note, American residential architecture has moving in emphasis from "public" and "community" to private for a very long time. For example, homes used to have large porches where people would watch the street and interact with neighbors. Now, new homes have back decks and patios. Front facades are dominated by garages. It's an interesting thing to think about: how our homes related to our concept of public vs. private.
Only in America.....
Is there a house in this picture? I can't see past the boobs!
But really, this place would be perfect for the polygymist clans. Or a cult.
The Gardens of Versailles are at least as important as the Palace itself.
People used to spend a lot more time outdoors.
Well, the money was "squandered", but at least some construction workers and architects must have been getting paid. So there's that.
For the posters who seem to think this overindulgence is an American phenom -- have you never been to Europe? Extreme wealth presents its own level of "white trash" tackiness.
I watched this over the weekend ... and yes, the family flaunted their wealth in a truly tasteless way- but they also did some good. The wife runs a thrift store, she sent $5,000 to a high school friend to help save her home (which was in foreclosure), she took in a niece to raise after her parents died. The husband was a ruthless business man- as evident in the "business" and not personal relationship he has with his oldest son (who works for the timeshare company). The kids seemed to be spoiled- and the teenagers acted like most of the spoiled, self-entitled teenagers that come from all backgrounds. I don't think I could like these people on a personal level, but the film was an interesting peek into their lives.
Oh, and flaunting wealth is NOT unique to Americans - since so many of you non-Americans have taken to bashing us. Take a look at wealthy people in Europe, Asia, and the hideous obscenity that the Middle East has become if you truly want to see tasteless people flaunting their wealth.
When did Honey Boo Boo's family inherit millions?