Wealth and Water

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/garden/16pools.html?ref=garden

I do appreciate fine architecture, but...

Still, she’s confident it was a wise investment. “It was what put the house in the over-the-top-category,” she said, helping her to sell it in November for $7.5 million. She estimates the pool added $1 million to the price tag.

(You know, because $6.5 million, just isn't enough...)

Mr. Nagel [the pool designer] said that most of his clients are interested in being “the envy of all their friends.” He is currently working on an all-marble pool in the shape of a dolphin... for the home of Ken and Georgia Chamitoff... the idea came from their 8-year-old daughter, Sophia.

“We didn’t want the typical tropical lagoon that everyone else has in the backyard,” Mrs. Chamitoff explained. “I think it was important to Ken that Sophia could talk about having a dolphin pool with her friends at school.”

(Riiiiight. Because I feel so much better when I have little children groveling over my family's income too. Oh, and I wouldn't care if my daughter grows up to be a braggy little brat either...)

Please excuse me while I try to find a way to pay for college, thank you very much.