Let’s start off in the Department of Sick with Envy… “Lavish Palm Beach mansion built just six years ago, then bought for $110m last year ‘by Estée Lauder boss’ will be TORN DOWN and replaced with new property” (Daily Mail):
A never-lived-in oceanfront mansion that quietly sold for $110 million last year is to be torn down and replaced with a new property.
The mansion, built in 2016 at 1071 N. Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, is owned by a company linked to cosmetics billionaire William P. Lauder.
He owns an empty lot next door and is believed to want to combine both parcels of land before building his dream home, just six miles from former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
The home was originally purchased for $40.42 million by Philadelphia businessman Vahan Gureghian and his wife, Danielle, an attorney, but they never moved in.
There is even room for a two-lane bowling alley in the basement – although it’s soon to be destroyed by the wrecker’s ball.
He purchased that lot, at 1063 N Ocean Blvd, for $25.4 million in April 2020 at which point he demolished the existing home which had stood there since the early 1960s.
(What kind of engineering was involved to make a watertight basement? Almost nobody in Florida has one.)
To make our envy even more intense, the article includes a photo of the dilapidated eyesore:
It is at times like these that I’m glad I voted for Bernie!
What does the guy who is throwing out a 6-year-old 36,000-square-foot house have to say about our beloved planet? A 2021 talk from the committed environmentalist:
During the pandemic, concerns about the environment have intensified and Lauder noted that, at this point, sustainability is no longer a choice for companies.
“We have to think about what we make and sell from cradle to grave,” he noted. “How can we get more recycled material in our packaging? How can we reduce the use of plastic and other components that end up in landfills?”
The entire house will go into a landfill, but that’s okay because very little of it is plastic?
It’s all about the Science:
Sustainability and science go hand-in-hand. Lauder said…
See also “Estée Lauder Companies Reaches Milestone Climate Goal, Net Zero” (2020):
The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) announced on November 2nd that it has achieved Net Zero emissions and sourced 100% renewable electricity globally for its direct operations, reaching the target it set on joining RE1001.
Building upon this achievement, the company has also met its goal to set science-based emissions reduction targets for its direct operations and value chain, positioning the company to take even more decisive action against climate change in the coming decade.
The Estée Lauder Companies commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 50% by 2030 from a 2018 base year. This target is consistent with reductions required to keep warming to 1.5°C, the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement. The Estée Lauder Companies also commits to reduce scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, upstream transportation and distribution, and business travel 60% per unit revenue over the same timeframe.
It was Science who said “toss that 6-year-old house into the landfill”!
So we started off sick with envy, but ended up learning something profound about the role that each of us can play in saving Spaceship Earth.
Update, 10/26: Government moves fast in Florida! The environmentalist got a demolition permit and the house is on its way to the landfill.
LOL
This dude is a poster boy to explain both Sanders and Trump appeals. Working to screw lives of others while cynically at once destroying resources that would house 20 middle class families for a lifetime and sell to uses by others later. I would understand if he were libertarian or champion of property rights but not, he pushes others into poverty, at least by his talk. Great supportive material for 99% inheritance tax, clearly misusing his parents lifetime achievements.
Why could not be cute loved arrogant wealthy scion depicted in https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102303/ ? What’s biting these folks so the can not act straight?
“Why could not be cute loved arrogant wealthy scion depicted in https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102303/ ? ” should read “Why could not he be cute loved by all arrogant wealthy scion depicted by Mel Brooks in movie Life Stinks https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102303/ ?
I would leave the house in place because I’m more “now” guy. I want to get it and use it, rebuilding for years is just not something I want to manage.
The original house should have very interesting floor plan though. I wonder if it’s “good” interesting or “bad” interesting.
There are some inside pics and floor plans of all three levels!
https://www.compass.com/listing/1071-north-ocean-boulevard-palm-beach-fl-33480/198407813637144881/
Part of the basement is unfinished, and insanely: tiny gym is in the basement. If you have gym (and this much space) you want it easily accessible, spacious and with natural light. There is only one guest bed room, and only 3 non-master bedrooms. There are two 4 car each garages and 2 servant apartments.
While overall is great, I would indeed do many things differently.
The article included the following tagline, which doesn’t quite jive with your claim that the house is going into a landfill:
Approval has already been given for the lavishly furnished insides of the home to be demolished with the owner agreeing to ‘donate interior finishes rather than having them thrown away’
On the other hand, no approval to demolish the house yet, per the article, so there’s still hope that most of the house materials will be recycled instead of dumped in a landfill.
EK: It would be awesome to get a donation of a golden toilet bowl from this house! But I’m not sure if that is a significant percentage of the total mass of this mansion.
(Actually, what would truly be nice is to get a 42-inch-wide built-in refrigerator from this mansion because they are on 6-12-month backorder depending on the brand (9-12 months for Sub-Zero, which is presumably what the Uber Douches who built this place put in).)
How long do you think he’d last in an Oakland, CA “Tiny House”? I think someone would have to make sure he didn’t have access to anything that could be used to harm himself or others nearby.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/23/tiny-houses-solution-homelessness-seattle
A little too ‘gritty’ for Lauder? He can always try to squeeze himself into one of these palaces:
https://www.itinyhouses.com/collections/30-best-sustainable-tiny-houses-for-eco-friendly-living/
Through leading by example and putting one’s best face forward, “walking the walk” and not just “talking the talk” we all know that ‘authenticity’ is the hallmark of a true eco-leader. Science, of course, is always what guides them. I think we should start a GoFundMe campaign to buy Lauder a new Tiny House to put on his newly combined parcels of land.
Of course, these aren’t my favorite Tiny Houses. I think the ones made of repurposed, stacked sewer pipes would be infinitely more suitable for him.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/17592254764164959/
But does he still have a gas stove? Gas stoves are the new unholy behavior of the week the Calif* government has outlawed.
@lion: Don’t tell Gavin Newsom that the Government can’t tell people what products not to buy! It’s already been proven and is accepted, Settled Law that they can tell people what kinds of insurance to buy.
Of course, for a while they’ll allow restaurants that use them to cook – especially cuisine made with Woks – to keep them for a while. You need SUPER DUPER heat to cook like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbeEGWmud-4&t=1s
But use a propane water heater to clean your a** off in the morning with warm water? Absolutely not!
@philg: > (What kind of engineering was involved to make a watertight basement? Almost nobody in Florida has one.)
Hahaha. You see, there’s also a submarine base deep beneath the premises. And the article doesn’t reveal that there is a helicopter landing pad on the flipside of the fountain in the front. It’s a pity Lauder and his wife have never used it: the fountain can be completely drained in 20 seconds, everything including the palm trees drop into the ground, flip over, and the helicopter pad pops up, complete with secure boxes packed with fully automatic weapons.
Sorry, my mistake! It’s not Lauder, it’s Vahan Gureghian and his wife. I guess we’ll have to GoFundMe a pair of Tiny Houses connected by a cardboard walkway covered with Tyvek.
“What does the guy who is throwing out a 6-year-old 36,000-square-foot house have to say about our beloved planet? A 2021 talk from the committed environmentalist:
36,000 sq ft house would house a lot of migrants. Specifically an entire Greyhound bus full of migrants and then some.
I feel sorry for the folks who worked on building this mansion. If in fact this house gets demolished and rebuilt, imagine their disbelief and horror at seeing their hard work and craftmanship lasting only 6 years.
The positive thing about demolishing and rebuilding this mansion is that it creates jobs — without using government money.