What would you do with 85,000 s.f. of house?

[Hink]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_mega_mansion_protest

While I respect the "fight" of these 90210 mansion owners... the real question is what do you do with that much square footage?

I mean it isn't that much when you think about it... 27,000 feet are for a guest house... so that isn't really usable space at all... which really only leaves you with the roughly 42,000 square foot main house. So let's see a full sized basketball court is around 95 x 50 or 4750 square feet. So I could take maybe 5 of those and still have roughly 20k left....

I would need a source of income (and keep my demographics up) so I would put maybe ten 500 square foot apartments in my house... for some extra income.

I still have 15k left which leaves me with JUST enough to put my Olympic sized pool, Skyline Chili Restuarant, Stone Cold Creamery, and Red Robin inside and still have 7k to live in.

Ahh.....

What would you do with 85k?

[mgk920]

How many units does the zoning code allow per property?



Mike

[Mud Princess]

Ridiculous.

It reminds me of the house? mansion? resort? an American couple purchased as a vacation property in Fiji for themselves and their 4 young kids on House Hunters International the other night. Oh, I guess if you like to "entertain," you have room to invite 400 or so of your closest friends.

I remember reading about some of the original great camps in the Adirondacks that had things like a bowling alley, or a movie theater. But 85,000 sf?! You could put an entire strip mall inside. Or a collection of planes, maybe.

[Maister]

10k (personal) brewing facility, 3k state of the art kitchen, 30k auxilliary women's dorm wing for nearby college coeds, 18k 'indoor beach', 15k personal living space, 700 sf living space for inlaws.

[ursus]

with 85,000 s.f.? I would assign 10,000 s.f. each to each of my six children, tell them to go ahead and refer to their part of the house as the "gulag" and in the remaining 15,000 s.f. I would probably just make carpet angels and enjoy not being able to hear anyone!

The reality is that even with that kind of space we'd all end up sitting together in the same room playing ukeles, cards, "I spy" and getting on each other's nerves anyway. It's how we seem to like it.....

[otterpop]

Wow - a house 47 times the size of mine. Well, I guess I could find a bathroom that I could use without someone pounding on the door asking if I was going to be long.

Guess I could have a place to store my books and DVDs.

Guess I could find a quiet place to read a book for more than fifteen minutes. The search for me in 85,000 sq feet could take some time.

Pretty sure my wife would want to bring in some of her family, but I guess I wouldn't see much of them.

Like Maister, I would probably rent out some space to the local coeds. When you are blessed with so much, you really need to give a little back.

[imaplanner]

I would spend most of my time trying to find where I left my dam keys!

[Rygor]

Well, 85,000sf isn't really that much when you think about it. I mean, that's only around two acres of living space. I suppose I could make it seem bigger with vaulted ceilings throughout, some skylights, and some floor to ceiling mirrors, though.

As for how to divide the space, I'm thinking:

40,000sf - indoor water park
10,000sf - guest manor
10,000sf - food court w/ 5 different restaurants
6,000sf - gymnasium including weight room, climbing wall, and b-ball court
4,000sf - workshop (tools, floor lifts, etc. etc.)
4,000sf - home theater with actual digital projector screen and seating for 50 of my closest friends
3,000sf - brewery
8,000sf - "living" area, I suppose a paltry 8k square feet would be enough to take care of my daily needs and sleeping accommodations

[TerraSapient]

Applications for admission to the TerraSapient Compound would be accepted.

[jsk1983]

Start collecting something that takes up a lot of space like vintage neon signs.

[Richmond Jake]

Ahh.....

What would you do with 85k?

Chateau Jake Winery, Cellars, and Tasting Rooms

[mike gurnee]

The owner of a bluegrass farm then named Elmendorf built a Newport 'cottage' style house. A subsequent owner, upon seeing the tax bill, torched the place. The columns remain.

[The One]

I didn't think I would get this one in on this post so late......

Hide and Go Seek

[WSU MUP Student]

I didn't think I would get this one in on this post so late......

Hide and Go Seek

There is an 88,000 square foot house near me - it's now on the historic register and is part of a college campus and used mainly as a meeting facility and showcase these days. I was there for a work conference a few years ago that our office was hosting and got a "behind the scenes" tour of the areas not generally open to the public... there were secret passages galore! It would be the absolute perfect place to play hide and seek!

If I had a house that large, I'd invite my favorite musical acts to come stay with me for free and be the artist in residence.

[Mud Princess]

I didn't think I would get this one in on this post so late......

Hide and Go Seek

Ooh! That gives me an idea: Create a giant maze with lots of confusing turns, trap doors, and dead ends, and invite in those idiots from the Westboro Baptist Church who "protest" at military funerals...

[Maister]

Ooh! That gives me an idea: Create a giant maze with lots of confusing turns, trap doors, and dead ends, and invite in those idiots from the Westboro Baptist Church who "protest" at military funerals...

What a great idea. We could also put monsters in some of the rooms and parties of people could go into the cavernous 88k sf mansion and slay them taking their gold and treasure.

[Planit]

I have a mansion, forget the price. Ain't never been there, they tell me it's nice.


Not really sure how I'd divide it up, but you can be sure it would be one hell of a weekend party house.


I might invite hink over and watch replays of the last 7 college football championship games
(ducks and runs for cover)

[Tranplanner]

I would build one kick-ass model railway.

[Hink]

I have a mansion, forget the price. Ain't never been there, they tell me it's nice.


Not really sure how I'd divide it up, but you can be sure it would be one hell of a weekend party house.


I might invite hink over and watch replays of the last 7 college football championship games
(ducks and runs for cover)

At least I would have a team in half the games...

[WSU MUP Student]

I would build one kick-ass model railway.

Silver Spoons style?

[mgk920]

Ooh! That gives me an idea: Create a giant maze with lots of confusing turns, trap doors, and dead ends, and invite in those idiots from the Westboro Baptist Church who "protest" at military funerals...

Wasn't there once such a mansion continually under construction right up until the owner's death sometime in the 1980s(?). ISTR that it was somewhere in California.



Mike

[kjel]

I would spend most of my time trying to find where I left my dam keys!

That would be me too.

[Maister]

Wasn't there once such a mansion continually under construction right up until the owner's death sometime in the 1980s(?). ISTR that it was somewhere in California.



Mike

I believe you refer to the Winchester mansion

[Tom R]

LeBron James' house is I think around 35k sf.

[Planit]

At least I would have a team in half the games...

And that's part of why I'd have you there ...