David Siegel’s Unfinished Mansion Raises the Bar on Excess

The housing boom in Florida certainly fueled it share of excess. Our new favorite: David Siegel’s Versailles, an unfinished 90,000-square-foot home in the Orlando area that boasts 13 bedrooms, 23 full bathrooms, a 6,000-square-foot master suite (with plans in place for a bed on a rotating platform), a banquet kitchen plus 10 satellite kitchens, a 20-car garage, three pools, a two-story wine cellar and a grand hall with a 30-foot stained glass dome.

Mr. Siegel, the chief executive officer of Orlando-based Westgate Resorts, began building the sprawling, resort-like mega mansion for himself and his family in the town of Windermere a few years ago. “Construction was halted last year to save money in a recession that proved particularly hard on Mr. Siegel’s once-booming industry,” according to the AP. The unfinished home is now listed for $75 million. If you want the building completed, tack on another $25 million.

Mr. Siegel could not be reached for comment.

Of course, a home doesn’t get named after a French palace without a few more gilded extras. There’s also a boat house, formal gardens, a baseball field, two tennis courts and a rock grotto with a waterfall, a fitness center, a two-lane bowling alley, a roller rink, a video arcade and a theater.

“Instead of putting [his extra money] into this home, he’s putting it back into the company to save the employees,” says listing agent of Lorraine Barrett of Coldwell Banker, noting that Mr. Siegel has had to cut some of his 12,000 employees at Orlando-based Westgate Resorts. Ms. Barrett says Mr. Siegel currently lives in a 26,000-square-foot home in the nearby Isleworth community, which Tiger Woods also calls home. (It’s no Versailles, but we suppose it’ll do.)

Westgate Resorts

A rendering of the finished home.Though construction has largely halted on Versailles for now, Ms. Barrett says the home, which she describes as being “built like a hotel,” could be completed within 12 to 18 months, if a buyer sticks with Mr. Siegel’s original plans. Changing them would extend the building process.

Ms. Barrett speculates a potential buyer would likely have several children, as well as an estate manger, nannies, a cook and extended family living with them. Inquiries, she says, are coming in from areas like Russia and the Middle East.

Mr. Siegel’s Versailles is not the only mega mansion on the market with a mega price tag. Richard Kurtz, who runs Kamson Corporation, a New Jersey Firm that owns and manages apartments across the Northeast, earlier this month listed a 30,000-square-foot home in Alpine, N.J., for $68 million. That five-story home has 12 bathrooms, 19 bedrooms, a library, a ballroom, a main kitchen, a catering kitchen, a basketball court, a movie theater and an 11-car garage. Set to be completed this summer, it will also have a saline pool and a tennis court.

The current record holder for the most expensive sale this year is a 3,500-acre Colorado ranch that Texas energy executive Kelcy Warren bought for $46.5 million in April. Pending is the sale of a 48,000-square-foot mansion in Los Angeles’ Bel-Air neighborhood for around $50 million.