A
modern mansion in Beverly Hills.
(Photo: Forbes)
Architectural beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but some mansions are
just plain ugly. Blots on the landscape, oversize and over-the-top mega-homes
are sometimes a pricey mishmash of building styles.
They look garish, gaudy and full of pretension, festooned with too many fancy
columns and adornments. Or, under the guise of "modern," these
residences have as much style as a bomb shelter or look like they’re from outer
space. Money, after all, doesn’t buy taste.
Modern Compound
Beverly Hills, Calif.
With circular walls of glass and soaring steel beams, this over-the-top modern
mansion dazzles enough to make your head spin. At 7,500 square feet, with a seven-car
garage, an elevator and gated security it looms large on a half-acre lot.
According to Zillow.com, the six-bedroom, seven-bath home boasts custom-curved
stainless steel windows and doors, marble floors and an interior garden
courtyard with “hypnotizing views of its infinity edge pool.” From there you
can see Los Angeles and the Pacific beyond. After an initial list
price of $11,895,000, the home sold in March 2011 for $9 million.
(Photo:
Forbes)
Spaceship House
Golden, Colo.
Featured in Woody Allen’s 1973 science fiction comedy “Sleeper,” this private
mansion is perfect ... for aliens. Officially called the “Sculptured House,”
the residence is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Situated
on a mountain west of Denver, the house is known locally as the “Flying Saucer
House,” according to Zillow.com it was sold in a foreclosure auction for $1.5
million in 2010.
(Photo:
Forbes)
Concrete Blocks
Huntington, N.Y.
From the front, this concrete-and-cedar-sided manse looks about as appealing as
a bomb shelter. The design is so cold it could pass for a storage unit ... for
ice. Designed by architect Charles Gwathmey (known for the 1992 renovation of New York’s Guggenheim Museum), the chunky modern residence
is nestled into a suburban hillside, with most of the glass to the rear
overlooking woods.
(Photo:
Forbes)
Turret Overload
Wadsworth, Ill.
Those with a predilection for turrets might revel in this garish
17,000-square-foot, five-bedroom mansion. The residence is scalloped with
rounded towers that poke out of the bland landscape like a series of windowed
silos. These silos overlook a backyard pool, outdoor kitchen, tennis/basketball
court and four-car heated garage. Fit for a catering hall, the grand front door
has a massive arched window and leads to an oversized foyer with double
floating staircases.
(Photo: Forbes)
Gas Station Home
Lake Success, N.Y.
With an oversized portico and a four car garage facing the forecourt, this
mansion might pass for a hotel — or a gas station. But set in a community
audaciously named Lake Success, how could this six-bedroom contemporary stucco
palace on two acres be anything but over the top? It’s on the market for
$5,880,000
By Marcelle Sussman Fischler | Forbes.com