Catch current conspicuous country house consumption craze: countless crappers
Today’s story deserves a good long sit and read, followed by a good long sit and think. Thanks very much to Burbed reader nomadic for wafting this one in.
Wealthy home buyers demand bathrooms; lots of bathrooms
Some mansions have nearly as many toilets as entire blocks in less regal neighborhoods
By Lauren Beale, Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2012, 6:34 p.m.
Here’s another way the rich are different: They have more bathrooms.
Real estate brokers who cater to the moneyed say their clients typically want homes that have at least two bathrooms for every bedroom. And with spacious tubs, floor lamps, dressing areas and seating, some bathrooms rival bedrooms in size.
“The bathroom has become the dressing room,” said Bob Ray Offenhauser, a Studio City-based residential architect who routinely encloses the shower and toilet in their own rooms within a room. “They really don’t look much like bathrooms anymore.”
Some mansions have nearly as many commodes as entire blocks in less regal neighborhoods.
Pickfair, the Beverly Hills estate of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, was outfitted with 30 bathrooms in a later overhaul. But the record locally may be the 41 bathrooms boasted by an 18,400-square-foot Mediterranean-style home in Bel-Air that was recently on the market for $40 million, real estate agents say.
This is an alarming trend coming out of SoCal. Why would ginormous Southland estates need more bathrooms than the San Jose Convention Center? Do they all need to do coke privately, but simultaneously? Is this high-pressure trend going to affect estates in the Real Bay Area?
Discuss. You may refer to Facebook stock prices to support your conclusion.
This is also your Weekend Open Thread, so feel free to mention any Open Houses you visited, or whatever else you feel like arguing about today.
Just keep the door shut until you’re done.
September 16th, 2012 at 10:00 am
yea, why do thay need so many? they think their shite don’t stink, so what’s the idea??? or maybe they’re so precious that they all want first use rights. then once a throne has been touched it’s no longer usable.
i want to see the pix for one of those places. i expect nothing less than 40 individual pix of toilets – the highlight of a bathroom according to most realtors. and seats up!
September 16th, 2012 at 10:49 am
Rich people are full of crap. Of course they need more toilets!
September 16th, 2012 at 11:51 am
After the argument about electrical transformers and 240 vs 480V in residential neighborhoods, I’m looking forward to a plethora of plumbing put-downs pronto. Please use the low-flow flush. Thanks.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
About four months ago I purchased three new ToTo toilets. 1.2 Gallons per flush and no problems.
Best toilets ever!
September 16th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
SEA,
I hope you didn’t pay for it yourself. Santa Clara water district will pay for it through its rebate program, because they want you to save water.
September 16th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
SEA, while that looks like a nice toilet, I will never again go to a toilet video on YouTube. You know how they show you associated videos they think you’d like on the right margin? NOT OK. ‘Nuff said.
September 16th, 2012 at 4:29 pm
This classic estate has features similar to those mentioned in the article, but appears closer to the RBA.
September 16th, 2012 at 5:20 pm
#5- You’re wrong again! The replaced toilet(s) must be pre-1994.
September 16th, 2012 at 6:25 pm
In bay area, the problems are a little different. First you have to overcome the 3 br 1 bath homes, then you have to deal with very small bathrooms that won’t fit elongated toilets. Finally, you have to live with rusted out pipes and low water pressure.
This got stuck in moderation so I released it. Why your other email worked (below) but this one didn’t is going to remain among other mysteries such as Where Does The Equity Go When A Property Leaves the RBA or How Many Toilets is Too Many, Really? –ed.
September 16th, 2012 at 7:15 pm
In the Bay Area we have more advanced problems. First we have to overcome 3 bedroom 1 bath homes. Then we have to deal with small bathrooms that will not fit elongated toilets. Finally we need to live with rusted out pipes and low water pressure.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
In non but near RBA where we are currently looking more baths seem to sell faster – two or three ‘master suites’….I’ll be thrilled when my family of four upgrades from our one busy bathroom….and we have a toto drake – 1.3 gpf – and a 94 yr old lead pipe coming from it that stil works (not to worry – copper elsewhere)….
September 16th, 2012 at 10:42 pm
Why your other email worked (below) but this one didn’t is going to remain among other mysteries…
—-
Most important thing is that once he realized first one went to moderation, he tried second time after changing screen name and immediately creating a new email id (he knew certain email id causes trouble). Give him a high five.
And regarding why second one went through, my speculation is that the overuse of “we” did the trick.
September 17th, 2012 at 12:28 am
To the above person: I can’t help but think you are in the wrong blog. Are you remotely interested in real estate?
September 17th, 2012 at 9:16 am
Hi “Banke East”. Good to see you at morning 3:28AM in east coast time. Let’s talk about your favorite topic – Palo Alto.
September 17th, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Sir, is there something strange about that in a city that never sleeps?
September 17th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
Strange indeed! The the life in the city that never sleeps must be so boring that one has to visit a west coast real estate blog to make it worthwhile.
September 19th, 2012 at 10:34 pm
For those of you who complained about the apartment rules regarding supervision of children-
Mom sues police and neighbor after she is arrested for letting her kids play outside
September 21st, 2012 at 4:08 pm
Hey, that’s Texas. Of course law enforcement is inconsistent and stupid.
October 5th, 2012 at 5:08 am
[...] right, J. We’ve noted the business of beaucoup bathrooms in ginormous houses for people with too much money and not enough taste. No wonder this place had a [...]