Comments by "" (@hewitc) on "What Happened to Anna Dodge's Mansion?" video.

MaGuffintop I don't know where this modern aversion to dining rooms came from. I see all these modern flip/flop restorations on HGTV. The kitchen is in the living room. Having been poor and lived in studio apartments where everyting is in one room to save space, I don't see how that can be anyone's "dream home". I think the "open concept" is just real estate broker euphemisn for " too small to have separate rooms. Which is Ok if you're poor but I see multi-million dollar homes now where the kitchen is part of the "great room". Of course, no one cooks there so it's just a show off area with ultra expensive appliances that no one will use. If you can afford it, put the kitchen away where it belongs. And eat in the dining room, at leat occasionally. And put a napkin on your lap.
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But no one wants to pay to keep them. Fuels, electricity, groundskeepers, taxes, new roof, etc. Cities and towns don't have the money.
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Who would pay the heating bills or put on a new roof when it wore out? The costs are endless. Municipalities can't spend money on these things using local property taxes that are needed for police, fire, sanitation services, etc.
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@karenryder6317 It's always easy to blame "the Government". People want everything for free from the Government but don't want to pay a dime of taxes. Huuman nature. What town or city would take on a white elephant like this at taxpayers' expense? What Mayor wants to announce "We cut back on the police and fire departments so we could pay the heating bill on this sumptuous mansion."
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sounds like dementia
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@DJ-vh4fq Would there be enough visitors to that part of Michigan to make a hotel profitable? Winter season must not be very compelling for tourists.
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@rhuephus Gates is far outdone in home building/buying excess by Ken Griffin, who is worth only a fraction of Gate's wealth.
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MaGuffintop I like big rooms, most people do. But most people can't afford big rooms unless the one room has in it everything in the house.
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Trump bought it for cheap but then wanted to subdivide it and sell condos on the property because he couldn't afford to maintain it. The Town of Palm Beach wouldn't let him riun the historic property so he turned it into a resort in "club form". Most of the mansion is used by the many members, including the living and dining rooms, the pool and beach. The Trumps live in an apartment upstairs. It can't be a "Southern White House" (which is what Mrs. Post wanted for it) or even any kind of "house" because it is a public space with strangers roaming and using all of the facilities.
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