the.com/mansion
a house that ran out of reasons to stop
means A large, imposing, and often grand residence, the kind with more rooms than a single family could reasonably occupy.
from From Latin 'mansio,' meaning a 'staying' or 'dwelling' — literally a place where one remains, from the verb 'manere,' to stay or abide. The same root that gives us 'permanent' and 'remain.' It traveled through Old French 'mansion' (a dwelling, a stopping place) into English, where over the centuries the humble idea of 'a place to stay' swelled, room by room, into the sprawling grandeur we picture today.
- origin
- from Latin for a place to stay overnight
- empty rooms
- most have wings the owners never enter
- upkeep
- staffing costs often exceed the purchase price yearly
- biltmore
- America's largest has 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces
- resale
- too big to sell, too proud to shrink
biltmore estate — 250-room château built by george washington vanderbilt ii in asheville, north carolina in 1895
hearst castle — 165-room hilltop mansion built by william randolph hearst in san simeon, california between 1919-1947
buckingham palace — 775-room official residence of the british monarch in london with 52 royal and guest bedrooms
the playboy mansion — 20-room gothic-tudor style mansion in los angeles owned by hugh hefner from 1971-2016