May 18, 2012

"Those who have visited [the $1 billion house] speak of helipads, a vast library, extravagant dining areas... and even a snow room."

The most expensive house in the world — supposedly — is in Mumbai. It's strangely ugly from the outside. From the inside, it looks like a 5-star hotel.

There was a controversy over whether the vastu shastra was correct.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

It creates the most extreme contrast between rich and poor.

edutcher said...

Houses this big are generally ghastly in terms of looks.

Size dwarfs taste after a while.

pm317 said...

It's strangely ugly from the outside.

Possibly because they had to go vertical; can't find sprawling real estate in Bombay.

pm317 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
pm317 said...

@Dave, I agree. But we also have examples of other big time CEOs like Narayana Murthy (of Infosys) who famously cleans his own toilet in his modest home. I found him one time waiting with all of us at the airport en route to Europe and they gave him the option of boarding before everyone but he refused. Stories but not to say that they don't indulge. WIPRO CEO is quite modest too.

Known Unknown said...

Not a fan of over-ostentatious displays of wealth. It's fine if you make the money, but I (personally) think there are infinitely better uses for it.

I've found that wealth also transmogrifies taste in strange ways.

AlanKH said...

Ambani's house is the ultimate Bond villain lair.

(Well, next of Hugo Drax's - orbital lairs are hard to top.)

Christy said...

I love seeing pictures of homes, but never understand why anyone would want to show them to people they don't know. If they have that much money why do they need to show the media anything at all of their home? They haven't learned how to be that wealthy, have they?

My favorite voyuerism moment sprang from Wired's article about Jay Walker's library.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I'm wondering just how much longer I can desperately cling to my long-held belief that money doesn't buy happiness.

Peter said...

It looks as though it might topple if you pitched a fastball into it.

pm317 said...

Peter said...

It looks as though it might topple if you pitched a fastball into it.
---------------

LAGORI!

lemondog said...

Picture taken after an earthquake?

It looks.....junky.

For only, I dunno, say half a billion I could design and build something far more aesthetic.

He was robbed!

Larry J said...

EMD said...
Not a fan of over-ostentatious displays of wealth. It's fine if you make the money, but I (personally) think there are infinitely better uses for it.


It's his money and he can spend it as he pleases without your permission or approval. If he did spend a billion dollars on that building, how many people do you suppose were hired to construct it? Sounds like a lot of people got jobs due to that building. Jobs are better than handouts, any day, any time.

CWJ said...

@Larry J

Exactly! I was going to comment that I don't care, but your comment goes to the heart of the matter.

Craig Howard said...

criticism from some who say it is far too grand for a city like Mumbai, where millions of people live in slums, and hundreds of thousands don't have a roof over their head.

Ah, but how many of those poor Mumbaiese (?) gained employment from its design, construction, and furnishing? Why do the worry-warts never see that?

Methadras said...

The most expensive house built into the worlds largest toilet.

William said...

Granted money can't buy taste, but it can buy people with taste. To spend that much money and end up with an eyesore doesn't speak well for the owner's acumen.....Maybe it's like pornography. The whole point of the exercise is to demonstrate bad taste and crassness.

wyo sis said...

Ugly outside. Looks a little like the images of the walled city from a few days ago. Probably a good thing.