Saturday, July 28, 2007

Fleur De Lys Photographs of the Day (Part 7)

For today's installment on Fleur De Lys, the sickeningly sumptuous Saperstein estate in Bel Air that was modeled after Versailles and is currently on the market for $125,000,000, we move out to the expansive 5 acre grounds, which are a filthy rich sport lovers delight. We have the heated swimming pool, a well equipped work out room, regulation sized tennis court, and a three-quarter mile jogging loop around the perimeter of the property.

Previously we discussed the interior spaces of Fleur De Lys, including the Entrance Hall, the Silver Sitting Room, the Library and Rosegold Music Salon, the Formal Dining Room, Main Kitchen, the vaguely Medieval themed Wine Tasting Room, the funereal Screening Room, and the public room to end all public rooms, the Ballroom. Then we saw the family's Sitting Room as well as Miz Suzanne Sapersteins Boudoir and bathing facilities.

Let's move across the hyper-landscaped rose gardens and into the Esther Williams extravaganza worthy swimming pool complex. The cement pond, at 70 feet in length, is plenty big enough to invite all the Bel Air gurls over for private water aerobics classes with a Speedo clad and smooth bodied instructor named Paolo. The 12 person spa is also an excellent place to relax with Paolo and the gurls after treading water for a few minutes.

The perfectly symmetrical, mausoleum like pool pavilion offers a two marble bathrooms for rinsing off the chlorine, as well as a large Pilate's studio/gym and a treatment room where family and friends can receive massages and "massages."

Fortunately for the staff, a full kitchen with a built in pizza oven has been provided in the swimming pool complex. Otherwise the staff would be forced to carry all the pizzas down from the main kitchen, which as you might have already assumed, is quite a distance. The covered al fresco dining area provides a respite from the hot Caleefornia sun and the fireplace will take the chill off during late night skinny dipping forays.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

The pool house looks like a mausoleum. A great place to host the nearly dead of BH and Bel Air.

Anonymous said...

lord mama, you sure do get up early

Anonymous said...

Funeral homes and mausoleums go together like, oh, say, the Sapersteins and bad taste. Never ones to disappoint, the Sapersteins really deliver on the mausoleum side of their faux equation complete with serenity inducing reflecting pool. If the garages look like a graveyard caretakers cottage, I could pass on to the next world myself knowing I have really seen it all.

Anonymous said...

Snark aside, there isn't a single aspect of this estate that beckons in a welcoming way, or cradles in a comforting way. Even ancient nobility had areas not built for show, but not the Sapersteins, and that's what makes this rather tragic 'statement' masquerading as a home so ripe for ridicule.

Anonymous said...

In spite of the mausoleum factor and, of course, the columns being too big for their surroundings...again, I think this is the least evil of the estate so far. I don't like any of the light fixtures and have never been fond of formal sculpted gardens but, other than that and the random statuary, I think it might be possible to capture some shreds of serenity here.

Anonymous said...

Rattan? Someone should be fired for that.

Anonymous said...

I would love to host a nice pool party.
This might be over the top but it sure is more peaceful than the rest of the estate.

Anonymous said...

For heavens sake, this place wasn't designed to beckon in a warm and welcome manner. It wasn't designed for comfort. It wasn't designed to say "come on in, set a spell, relax and make yourself at home"

It was built to say: I'm rich, I'm better than you and You couldn't possibly measure up to me.

I think it has succeeded wonderfully for what it was designed for.

Anonymous said...

I have to say, I'm a little disappointed at how boring the pool area is. I was sorta picturing something along the lines of the Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle -

http://www.cs.umd.edu/~jfoster/Photos/California%20Coast/images/R17-21.jpg

Anonymous said...

the mausoleum aside the pool area looks the most inviting to me. Nothing wrong with being rich nothing wrong with wanting to have a nice home but I can not understand why you would want to live like this from day to day? I'd much rater be in tahoe timber home or a hamptons gramble than this.shg

Anonymous said...

God, this place is just crazy!

Mama, many thanks again for bringing these photos to us!

How many people staff this estate? It must take dozens and dozens of people to maintain it.

Anonymous said...

2 great tid-bits of info regarding the pool.

There was a miscommunication between the designer and the builder. The designer meant for the pool to be 3ft deep at the shallow end, measuring from the bottom of the row of tiles. The builder measured from ground level. Therefore, the pool is just over 2 feet in the shallow end. So, it is impossible to swim laps in that pool.

Also, within a few months of the pool being finished, the tiles started to lift off from the bottom of the pool. All of the tiles had to be removed and redone.

Anonymous said...

"It was built to say: I'm rich, I'm better than you and You couldn't possibly measure up to me.

I think it has succeeded wonderfully for what it was designed for."

Actually, it didn't even succeed on that level because it really is possible to have a bigger house with more expensive decor that is still done tastefully and in proportion. This house looks like exactly what it is - an attempt to be the best that, for the most part, fails miserably.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

it looks nice.

Anonymous said...

Read this article!!! Fleur de Lys Has Bad (Earth) Luck

http://flyingstarfengshui.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/fleur-de-lys-has-bad-earth-luck/

Anonymous said...

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Read this article below!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://flyingstarfengshui.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/fleur-de-lys-has-bad-earth-luck/