Your Chance to Buy The Taj Mahal (of Illinois)
The luxury-housing crash has provided us with an endless stream of over-the-top foreclosed manors and distressed estates. Most lead to the inevitable question: what on earth were they thinking?
In the case of this Illinois house, however, the owner’s intentions were quite clear. He wanted his own Taj Mahal. With a Spanish, Indian, Egyptian and Moroccan flair.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that “Villa Taj” in Burr Ridge is about to be auctioned off with a starting bid of $6.265 million. The 30,000 square foot home took five years and an estimated $18 million to build and was previously on the market for $25 million.
Here’s what you get: a 20-car garage, 160 tons of imported Jerusalem limestone, 30,000 square feet of interior space and 15,000 square feet of exterior terraces, 30-foot high ceilings, nine fireplaces, six master bedroom suites (one clocking in at 2,400 square feet) and marble stairs leading to a mammoth Jacuzzi tub. Oh, and an exterior that looks like a Middle Eastern, multi-millionaire mash up of the Taj Mahal.
“It’s not going to appeal to everybody, but for a person who likes this kind of thing, they’re just going to be wowed by it,” said the property’s ever-optimistic realtor.
Apparently, it didn’t even appeal to the owners. They were were Husam Aldairi and Rawaa Atta-Aldairi. According to the Times, the house was about half built when Ms. Aldairi decided that Chicago winters were too cold. So they moved to Florida.
Somehow I think there’s more to the story. Or not. Either way, how much would you pay for your own Taj of Illinois?
By Robert Frank
Click here to read Robert Frank's blog
- The Wealth Report - Web link
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
reddit
StumbleUpon