Mo' Money

Vaughn McMillan

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
36,054
Location
ABQ NM
With my new job, I'm getting accustomed to working in wealthy people's houses. We see some very nice artwork and collectibles. (Just yesterday I hung a 25" wide B&W photo of Muhammad Ali clowning around with the Beatles, taken in the mid-sixties, based on their haircuts. It was signed by Ali.) I've hung pieces with frames that cost more than my lathe, a guitar signed by all the members of Guns N Roses, and even saw my first Picasso pieces a few days ago, although we didn't hang them...they were already in place. It's all become pretty standard fare.

But today, we hung about 25 family photos in the hallway and gym of a house in Beverly Hills that was over the top. I didn't really get to see much of the house, but I'm still trying to process the parts I did see and the guy who owns it all. Pardon me if this description is kind of rambling.

The owner of the house is a Lebanese Armenian guy who I'll call Ralph. (Name changed to protect his privacy.) He's a nice guy, although you can tell he's used to getting his way. Ralph apparently made his fortune in real estate development, among other things. I was told he owns casinos and racetracks, but haven't been able to confirm it. He used to own a famous theatre in London (again, nameless to protect privacy) but he sold it a few years ago for something like $110 million. Based on what Google tells me, Ralph's worth about $550 million, give or take a few. The house we were in is a modern ranch style home, probably less than 10,000 square feet (moderate size by Beverly Hills standards), all on a single level. The exterior of the house is polished Italian granite. The driveway was also some type of granite. The fence and automatic gate at the front of the property is mirror-polished stainless steel and brass, and the gate itself is curved, moving on a curved track. (The fence and gate alone probably cost more than most houses do.) The exterior entry doors matched the gate and fence in materials and design. The interior of the house could be described as ostentatious opulence. Marble floors in the bathrooms that match the marble vanities and sinks. (And of course, different marble in different bathrooms.) The carpets were sculptured unlike any I've ever seen. (Can't really describe it other than to say wow.) We entered through the garage, being careful not to brush our tool bags against either of the two Roll Royces or the Bentley. Any one of those three cars costs about $250,000. This is one of Ralph's spare houses. His main residence is in London, where he reportedly has a collection of over 60 cars, including more Rolls Royces and a Bugatti Veyron, the fastest (and most expensive) production car in the world. He got the Bugatti at a charity auction for $1.1 million, which is a great deal considering it normally sells for $2.6 million. He also owns a 208-foot yacht that's based in Monaco. According to Google, the yacht cost about $60 million. He commutes back and forth between London and LA in his private Boeing 737 business jet.

The male house staff (two or three butlers, as well as the chef) were dressed in white servant's jackets with gold braids and epaulets on the shoulders. The chauffeur was dressed in a black jacket, as one would expect from a chauffeur. The female maids were wearing typical maid uniforms like you'd see in a high-end hotel. The staff manager was in a suit and tie. And stereotypically, all of the staff was Filipino. One of the staff members was assigned to stay with us for the day, partly to get us whatever we needed, partly to pick up after us, and also I suspect to just keep an eye on us. The guy who was hanging out with us had the chef make lunch for us...a couple of ham and cheese wraps each (I brought one home as leftovers), served in the staff dining room. We were joined for lunch by Amanda, Ralph's personal assistant, who came here with him and his wife from London, as did the chauffeur and the servant who was with us all day. Looking at the phone number list on the wall in the staff dining room, I saw there are four staff bedrooms in the house...and five phones in the master suite alone, all with separate extension numbers. I'm guessing all told there were something like 25 to 30 extensions listed on the phone list. The photos we hung were fairly unremarkable B&W portraits of Ralph, his wife, and the kids, but according to the logo, they were taken at a studio in St. Tropez. Ralph apparently gets around. :rolleyes:

My boss Perry has worked for Ralph for about 10 years, so he was pretty relaxed and joking around with us. I also got a kick out of the fact that Ralph was wearing a typical polo shirt and slacks, with black and white Converse high-top sneakers. I kind of doubt Ralph goes to the grocery store himself, but if he did, he'd just look like a typical guy wearing his weekend clothes.

All in all, it made for an interesting day. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, indeed.
 
:eek: :eek: :eek:

Maybe this will lead to a book deal for you.

That sounds like another planet. When I was young I was friendly with a nice (unpretentious) girl who came from a family like that. Once I realized what kind of life she lived at home, it made me really uncomfortable and I let the relationship fade away on purpose. I identified more with the help than with her real family.

I hope you'll remember us when you start selling to these guys and you become rich and famous. :rofl: :rofl:
 
The upkeep and salaries alone on that one house would make a comfortable living for most of us.
OTOH, my compliments to Ralph. Rich folks should spend their money and hire people. It employs people who, otherwise, might not have jobs and the spending lavishly helps more people (e.g. art installers) by circulating money into the economy.
As long as he didn't garrote anyone in the process to gain his wealth, my compliments to Ralph for making it big.
 
Quite the interesting view into the world of SoCal. Can't say I've ever met many folks like that!
 
While it might be nice to have that kind of money, I'm thinking it would open a whole new set of problems... and problems I'm not sure I would really want.... and while I'm glad he does, but I often wonder why someone would hire an outside company to hang a picture... don't you just put a nail in the wall and hook the wire over the nail?:dunno: Although I'm sure I would think twice about putting a nail in the wall of a multi-million dollar house.:eek::eek:
 
Years ago I used to sell pumps. I sold Doris Duke a replacement pump so she could use sea water to take her hot salt water baths. Huge mansion in Newport RI. She haggled over the price for 20 minutes :rofl:
She would oversee everything that went on in and around her house. She had a bunch of crazy greyhounds that followed her around all day. She also had camels walking around her yard. One greyhound had a deformed mouth. She named him Smiley:D
 
Chuck, one reason they hire someone else to hang stuff is because we're insured for liability and property damage. Also, we use hardware that most folks wouldn't know existed. If we hang something, it'll still be level after an earthquake. ;)
 
Quite the interesting view into the world of SoCal. Can't say I've ever met many folks like that!

When I was in the newspaper business I met many. Some were from the shadier side of society (can I suggest from my grandparents home country? :rolleyes: ) and others simply highly successful business people. Invariably they were genuinely nice, non-pretentious people you would enjoy meeting and knowing. We currently have a friend in Arkansas politics who is from a well known American super-wealthy dynasty family. You can't find nicer, more down home folks.
OTOH, those I've met just below the 'super wealthy' class, but still very rich, are often huge snobs, arrogant and, to put it politely, not nice folks. I guess jealous of the super wealthy.
 
Chuck, one reason they hire someone else to hang stuff is because we're insured for liability and property damage. Also, we use hardware that most folks wouldn't know existed. If we hang something, it'll still be level after an earthquake. ;)

What he means it will still be level on the wall which is now laying flat on the ground. :rolleyes:
 
Dan Gonzales said:
What he means it will still be level on the wall which is now laying flat on the ground. :rolleyes:

Yeah, I was gonna say the pieces will be however level the wall is. :D

I'll try to remember to grab some samples of the hardware we use so I can post pics. Even when we just drive nails in the wall, they're special nails.
 
Folks are folks...

Long ago, I contracted as a photographer for Country Club directories... one of my clubs was in Hotlanta, and I met many mid to high level executives and so on at that club Perhaps the very nicest was a couple whom I photographed one evening... they were well dressed (this was notable because Everyone there was dressed nicely...) and I found out it was their anniversary. I did my usual sitting with them... spending perhaps half an hour getting their photos done.
Afterwards the club manager on duty approached me and passed on a compliment.. they had enjoyed the sitting and told the manager. He asked if I knew 'who' they were... I checked their card and said they're Mr and Mrs 'Smith'... turns out the 'Smiths' owned a Major Newspaper and a couple of dozen radio and television stations, so called 'Pillars' of the club. The manager knew 'who' they were of course, and was in 'awe' of them. One thing they said to him was that I had treated them well... without any pretense...

I'm pretty certain they usually were fawned over and so on, but I simply posed them and did their photos like everyone else...

Kirk,
I'd be very happy on perhaps $1M or so (net after taxes..)
 
Top