I’ll Never Complain About Walking from My Bedroom to the Kitchen Again

humor, lessons learned, Wall Street Journal 1 Minute

Today’s Wall Street Journal featured Spelling Manor in Los Angeles, one of the largest homes in the world. At 56,500 square feet, it is slightly larger than the White House, and more than 21 times the size of the average American house. The French chateau-style home has a bowling alley, a wine cellar and tasting room, a screening room, a tennis court, a pool and hot tub, and a beauty salon with massage and tanning rooms.

Spelling Manor was built around 1990 by legendary television producer Aaron Spelling and his wife Candy Spelling.

Petra Ecclestone, daughter of the British billionaire and Formula One racing boss Bernie Ecclestone, bought the home in 2011 for $85 million. She famously hired a team of roughly 500 workers to complete a massive renovation.

The roughly five-acre, 120-room property is so big it is actually tiring to traverse, according to Sam Palmer (Petra’s fiance). “It’s a lot of walking,” he said. “Everything is far away. Even to just go a couple of rooms down, it’s a few minutes’ walk.” (Don’t you feel bad about all that walking to get from one room to another?)

The master suite alone spanned roughly 7,500 square feet or about three times the size of the average house.

The house requires 35 to 50 full-time staff members.

Petra recently sold the house for $120 million in 2019 (down from the original asking price of $200 million) because she and her fiance wanted to downsize.

And downsize they have, to a 17,000 square foot house in the Brentwood area of L.A….

So there’s another peak look at how the other .0001 percent lives. I’d spend my days watching movies, swimming, and bowling.

I guess that’s why I don’t live in a $120 million dollar home.

Note: music listened to was the Spotify Playlist: Morning Classical – uplifting classical melodies to help you rise and shine.

*image from WSJ story

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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49 thoughts on “I’ll Never Complain About Walking from My Bedroom to the Kitchen Again”

  1. “It’s a lot of walking. Everything is far away.” Don’t think most of us commoners are going to feel too much sympathy.🤣

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  6. I do not get why some people needs to have a house so big. I mean, I can see the point, it would be nice to run through corridors for half a kilometer, but still, two people don’t need such a big house. It would be a different case if it was a whole family (of 10+).. Nice post!

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  7. I am not sure whether to laugh or cry at this extravagance. I hope they pay that huge number of staff well. I house like this simply says to me, “I have too much money and have no idea how I could put it to better use.” It makes me assume you are extremely wealthy and some what out of touch with the world. Great post, Jim!

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  12. Jim, I have a very slight, albeit a mere 2-3 degrees of separation, from connection with the Spelling manor, which actually predates its completion. Okay, it’s a big stretch, but here goes … As fate may have it, way back in 1986 ca. I had a part-time gig waitering at a 50s style diner in Toronto. It was frequented by actors and such, and also, an employer of many entertainers. One such fellow was Dean McDermott, the future and current husband of Tori Spelling. Dean was a big personality and a blast to hang out with. He eventually made his way to Hollywood and life changed. Nice guy from very modest beginnings. 😎

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  14. wow, not a place to call home, but rather a palace to show. my entire home would fit in one of the bathrooms. it makes me dizzy and tired just to imagine living there and keeping it all up and running.

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    1. and I miss the tennis court, the salon, the bowling alley, the wine cellar, the screening room, and my 7,500 square foot master bedroom. Sorry, the downsizing has been tough to deal with… 🙂

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