COMMENT OF THE DAY: HIDING YOUR SURPLUS SQUARE FOOTAGE “The saddest part of this discussion is that nobody would have known or cared if the Schillers had simply paid $50,000 for a 170-square-foot extension to their home, in the form of a fully furnished guest apartment, and decorated it as a ‘playroom.’ My home is not in River Oaks, nor near it, but one of its spare bedrooms is furnished as a play room. We also have a ‘quarters’ above the garage. I await the vigorous disapprobation of the swamplot crowd, and the river of suggestions that I should convert this playroom and those quarters into homeless shelters. I dare say that a good number of readers of this blog have spare bedrooms and/or quarters in their homes, and these spaces . . . go unused for a large part of the year. God knows, if everyone could just convert all their guest quarters and spare bedrooms into homeless shelters, Mankind would finally transcend into the Superior Beings we all deserve to become. Thank goodness we have the Commenters of Swamplot to Guide us along the Path toward Righteousness!” [J.V., commenting on The Fanciest Playhouse in River Oaks]
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We should all convert our garages to studio apartments with complete gourmet kitchens, too. And grow our own organic vegetables. And make our own electricity.
There is the sport of running other people’s lives, taste, diet and spending habits. Lets be strong happy and always live well !
Well the fact remains that any halfway decent HOA would have nipped this one in the bud (as for renovating a spare room, probably not). Did a thread just get ~50 comments about a Cape Cod-style playhouse that would never be allowed in Cape Cod?
I can’t believe no one said the playhouse was ‘faux Tuscan”
This post seems odd…
Sarcasm… Just what we needed more of in this world.
i disagree, the saddest part about the whole discussion is that it happened at all – you can thank the NYT for that. i doubt the schiller’s care what anyone says so it’s not like we should either.
however, i do find it annoying in that it’s another article with houstonians looking like we have horrible taste and can’t even build a cool $50k playhouse, thanks guys.
There is a big difference between making an improvement to your home for a play room and building a $50,000 toy for your child. In a few years, the kid will outgrow the playhouse. If it were an addition or a garage apartment, they could use it for some other purpose after the kid out grew it. But once the kid grows up, the playhouse will probably just get torn down. Thus, it is nothing more than conspicuous consumption.
Old School,
Yes, but it is THEIR money…let them do whatever they want with it without getting all moral high ground on us.
I’m late to this, but my parents’ old neighborhood bordered Jimmy Swaggart’s former property in Baton Rouge. They, too, had a 2 story air conditioned play house, built for their grand kids. While perhaps not as fancy as this one, it seemed just as crazy at the time, especially as church member donations were what went to fund it. At least the Schillers paid for it themselves!
Old School has a valid point, but following up on LandMan’s comment, I think my point stands. If they had built a full bar, or home theater, or bowling lane, or some other uncommon add-on, especially one which might suffer as tastes changr, it would not have been news.
In which sense Old School is actually making my point for me! The house actually *benefits* from having an add-on which is not permanently affixed! In a few years they might be able to strap it to the back of a flatbed and resell it!
I don’t have a particular problem with these people spending $50k on a playhouse for their kid (of course it does feeds the kid’s ego which probably isn’t good in the long term)
My problem is that in a time of huge deficits these same rich folks and their definders b*tch and moan about allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire which would mean a measly 3% increase over their marginal tax rate above $250k in adjusted gross income. These people would prefer any savings come from cutting Social Security and Medicare to the poor and middle class.
THAT’s my problem People like this that have an extra $50k to spend on their kids toys really should complain about their taxes getting increased.
Josh: It’s THEIR money to spend on THEIR kids! It’s not the governments to steal and give away. THEY created that wealth. NOT you.
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But even setting aside the moral argument of government theft, it’s likely better for the economy if these people spend $50k in lumber, parts, and local labor vs. sending it off to the federal government where its squandered and wasted on god knows what.
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I’m sure home depot, its suppliers, and the contractors they used are happy to have the $50k.
They can do what they want with their money, but they do have an obligation to pay for the things WE (the people) have decided are important to keep us smart, safe and healthy.
It’s also THEIR schools, THEIR roads, THEIR troops, THEIR grandparents… I’m sure the teachers, construction crews, soldiers, and doctors would be happy to have the $50K, too.
@cody
Please don’t defend the indefensible.
Spending $50k of your own money is now considered an indefensible act?