Excess Hollywood
On our visit to a home in Napa yesterday, we drove initially through a working class neighborhood, small houses, strip malls, and junk cars. Then for miles we were in the heart of wine country, amongst the vineyards. Each large property was accompanied by what was basically a mansion, some so large they looked like wineries, but were private homes.
Our destination was a farm and posh home, with a pool, outbuildings, and some of the lushest landscaping I’ve ever seen. Though not a mansion, it was large, tasteful, and exquisite. The population density of this vast area couldn't have been more than 30 or 40 people per square mile. As we headed back to Santa Rosa, which is building huge apartment buildings everywhere, with a large homeless population as well, I contemplated the disparity.
Today’s paper had some real estate ads:
Glen Ellen, 6 Bedrooms, 15 Baths, $7,995,000
Kenwood, 3 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths $3,698,000
Santa Rosa, 5 Bedrooms, 4.5 Baths $6,495,000
You get the idea.
Coincidentally, today’s N Y Times featured a real estate story: “How Real Estate Became Showbiz and Agents Became Stars” Here is the shared link to the story…..www.nytimes.com/...
Some excerpts:
“The winner of that award was Kurt Rappaport, who represented Beyoncé and Jay-Z as they closed on a $190 million Malibu pad last May.”
“the attendees loaded into Ubers and headed to the Hollywood Hills for an after-party at the Californication House, a $38 million custom-built James Bond-inspired mansion with a fire pit sunken inside its infinity pool.”
”He is focused on his listings, which include an eight-bed, 20-bath estate in Beverly Hills listed for $126 million.”
And Vail represents: robbreport.com/…
So, how does your neighborhood stack up? Mine is dense with condos, and no mansions. But, hey, we can walk to Safeway and CVS. Bet those wine country mansion owners can’t do that!