"We're the 1 percent and the 99 percent hate us or are jealous or whatever"

[trumad]

This is the story of how a couple of .001-percenters started out building a palace and ended up in Walmart. A story about a lifestyle so ostentatious, so garish that the protagonists are destined to be a punch line in art-house theaters and later on video.

Time share mogul David Siegel and wife, Jackie, are already Orlando's gaudiest couple. Now their tacky tale is going national.

The Siegels let a film crew follow them for years, and the resulting movie opened at the Sundance Film Festival last month. It was purchased by Magnolia Pictures, which plans to bring David and Jackie to a theater near you by midsummer.

<snip>
Greenfield started out making a documentary about the Siegels' construction near Windermere of what was to be the largest residential home in America, a 90,000-square-foot palace that combines the opulence of Versailles with the vulgarity of Las Vegas.

But the 2008 financial collapse changed Greenfield's story and she started, instead, to capture the Siegels' reaction as David slashed the size of his time-share empire, Westgate Resorts. In 2009, they stopped construction on the house and in 2010 put it up for sale.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-beth-kassab-seigels-film-021412-20120213,0,4970205.column

[Historic NY]

1. A fool and his money easily parted.................

90000 sq ft.

[flobee1]

2. I like this line

"The financial mess did bring changes for the Siegels, their eight children and their household staff. They cut back on a few housekeepers and nannies."


These are minor irritations-changes would be panicking about how 8 kids will eat, or sleepless nights worring about if there will be a knock on the door from the bank to take the house back.

they have lost touch with what it means to be average people.

[lastlib]

3. dang, that's rough--

probly had to learn the kids' names, too.

"One thing to remember when you're climbin' to the top--
You'd better know the way back down..."
--Michael Stanley

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. On a ski vacation in Switzerland. Really cutting back, there.

[TBF]

5. I wonder how many homeless folks could live in there?

nt