Saturday, April 29, 2000
“Does this mean he'll have seven years bad luck?”
I got a call from Lenee the other day. She's the wife of John the paper millionaire of a dotcom and she wanted to know if I would help with their garage sale to get rid of some stuff before they move into their new home.
I agreed, on the condition I didn't have to arrive at 9:00 am. She said to show up at any time, preferrably before the garage sale ended.
I managed to arrive around 1:00 pm, beating Mark. It was pretty much finished by that time; only a few items left that their neighbor bought.
While it was no one person's fault, a mirror did get broken, and Lenee was highly upset over the incident. Okay, so it would cost about $75 to replace the mirror, but no one was hurt, and the piece of furniture wasn't damaged (other than the broken mirror). It could have been a lot worse.
Afterwards we left for lunch/dinner where the topic of conversation dealt with the broken mirror. Sigh.
Lifestyles of the Paper Millionaires of Dotcoms
After dinner John the paper millionaire of a dotcom and his wife, Lenee, took us to see their new home in North Boca Raton.
To say that this house is impressive is an understatement.
Driving through the development Lenee kept pointing out “tear downs”—homes that were designated to be torn down and replaced with new homes. By “old” it was on the order of twenty or thirty years.
Why yes, this is South Florida.
Driving up to The House I was struck with the fountain out front, behind which is the covered walkway to the front door (much the same set up that hotels have). The front entry are two 10 foot doors, leading into a front entry way 50 feet high and marble.
Everywhere there is marble. Keep that in mind. Marble.
The ceilings are an average of 30 feet high. Vast expanses of rooms. And marble. Did I mention the marble?
The kitchen is fairly large, with restaurant style refridgerator and freezer (with digital readout of tempurature). Two dishwashers, a central island with sink and counter space and cabinets everywhere. Gas oven with an electric grill to one side (with attachments for deep friers, steamers, etc. etc.). A butler's pantry and a walk in pantry.
The upstairs has a central open area with three rooms, each with a full bath. Oh, that's the Kid's Wing, by the way.
A wash room with multiple sinks. Another room set aside for office records. Cooridoors everywhere. Oh, and did I mention the marble?
Now, the other side of the house. John the paper millionaire of a dotcom's office. French doors leading into the office, and on the other side of the office, another set of French doors leading outside. It's about 20 by 30 and covered with wood paneling. Cherry wood paneling. Floor to ceiling cherry wood paneling. Did I mention that the ceiling is 30 foot? Beautiful.
The master bedroom. Enter through a large archway. Oh, did I neglect to mention the archways throughout the house? The only room larger is the main living room. Off to one side is a sitting area that Lenee has appropriated. Walking back the other way leads to a hallway which the master closets and master bath sit off from.
The master closest is about the size of your average bedroom. Shelves everywhere, with rods that pull out to hang stuff on. In the center is a custom built dresser with drawers on both sides.
Oh, that's just John's closet. Lenee's used to be the one car garage on that side of the house (the other side has the three car garage).
Now, the master bath. Large room. Did I mention the 30 foot ceilings? Two smaller rooms off to one side in the bathroom—His and Her water closests (Hers contains a bidet. I did ask for a demonstration, never seeing one). Two complete sets of sinks and cabinets, a huge tub and a shower unit that they're going to convert to a steam room.
Did I mention the marble?
The house sits on the edge of lake and they do have a small dock. John is also planning on relandscaping the backyard, and installing a waterfall to cut down on the traffic noise (which you have to listen closely to even hear in the first place).
Now, this isn't your typical house. The development isn't your normal development. The cheapest house costs around $1 million, maybe. Their house was a steal (10,000 square foot house) for $2.3 million.
Did I mention the marble?
