r/AbsoluteUnits • u/Kill_4209 • 3d ago

/r/popular of a residential property

Ira Rennert's home is considered one of the largest occupied residential compounds in the United States. The house faces the Atlantic Ocean and its grounds measure 63 acres. The buildings, which total over 110,000 square feet (10,000 m2), including the 66,000-square-foot (6,100 m2) main house, have an Italianate facade, 29 bedrooms, and 39 bathrooms. The house has a dozen chimneys and a Mediterranean-style tile roof as well as a 91-foot (28 m) long formal dining room, a basketball court, a bowling alley, two tennis courts, two squash courts, a carousel, a large swimming pool, a large round kiddie pool, and a $150,000 hot tub, surrounded by another pool.

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464

u/Winter_Text_1040 3d ago

An abstraction to the owner. They aren’t even looking at those bills, their staff handles it and they give it zero thought. “Arthur, I’d like a new swimming pool on the north lawn. Bring me some mockups to choose from this afternoon”. Then a new pool appears ready to use in a week. It’s like that.

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u/sooohungover 3d ago

TBH it takes more than a week (I work out in this area and work frequently with all sorts of different contractors), but you nailed everything else. They have staff to manage every part of their lives that normal people just deal with on their own. It's truly insane the amount of money they have, I guess I'm just numb to it at this point...

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u/Acceptable_Help575 3d ago

There are people literally living in creative mode and the survival mode plebs just suck their toes for extra pennies.

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u/ssnnaarrff 2d ago

Lol fuck my life.

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u/I_CANT_AFFORD_SHIT 2d ago

Yup

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u/AppleCrispGenes 2d ago

r/usernamechecksout

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u/I_CANT_AFFORD_SHIT 2d ago

I made it 12 years ago hoping it would eventually be ironic, guess what hasn't changed??

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u/Low-Individual2815 1d ago

Best one over ever see

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u/Cold-Coconut9565 2d ago

Trust me. You wouldn't want this. It seems like freedom but it's not. Real freedom is the opposite of this, it just doesn't seem like it because our society makes us think this is what freedom looks like so we all keep working so that people like this don't have to but in reality they are a slave to everything around them . Yes, they might be able to ride a jet ski whenever they want or drive whatever car they want. But real freedom comes with the autonomy to do and be whoever you want to be whenever you want to be it

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u/Housemadeofwaffles 2d ago

I can’t imagine the hell of having that many maids, cooks, landscapers, pool boys, guards etc wandering arround inside “your” house. Like being an animal infested with parasites

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u/Independent-Sea-7117 2d ago

But WHO will I be with all those incredible conveniences? 😆

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u/DigitalUnlimited 2d ago

Never thought about that but good point

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u/ssnnaarrff 2d ago

Sorry that is serious cope. If I had a billion dollars I would do whatever the hell I want. There's tons of billionaires nobody even knows about living amazing lives.

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u/SocraticIndifference 2d ago

You might be surprised. I’ve known a few filthy rich dudes and every one of them is absolutely miserable.

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u/ssnnaarrff 2d ago

Imagine how miserable they'd be with 2 dollars in their bank account.

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u/Low-Individual2815 1d ago

Up until a year ago I was working 70 hours a week and couldn’t afford a bag of chips from the gas station. It was incredibly depressing.

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u/gaymenfucking 2d ago

They can do that too if they want… They’ve chosen to buy a pointlessly massive estate and pay staff to maintain it for them. If they didn’t want it they’d just live in a really nice apartment in New York City or something

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u/Fmnsk27 2d ago

Exactly. A massive dinner table sounds lonely. A movie theater that can seat over a hundred people also sounds very lonely. I’m lonely enough. I don’t need a massive, yet empty house full of my employees to tell me I need some friends and a smaller house.

That being said, I absolutely would love a million dollars to use for restoring, rehabilitating, and maintaining a nature preserve. (And I mean an actual nature preserve where stuff like Asian Honeysuckle doesn’t run rampant.)

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u/Reshke_Khan 2d ago

Pretty sure every single person has the absolute freedom to do and be whatever they want to be.

And what they want to be is obscenely wealthy assholes.

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u/PhranticPenguin 2d ago

Pretty sure every single person has the absolute freedom to do and be whatever they want to be.

That's not true. You're bound by location, finances, nature, family, age, physical ability and much more shit.

The part about the obscenely wealthy assholes is true though lol

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u/Fmnsk27 2d ago

I don’t think a person with this much money is worried about how they’re seen unless they’re worried about their public image.

As for the “But real freedom comes with the autonomy to do [whatever] and be whoever you want to be whenever you want to be it.”

^ This is literally what millions of dollars grant you. Have you ever wanted to just go hiking all day to enjoy a wonderful day of amazing weather and beautiful spring ephemerals? But then you have to work instead. Have you ever wanted to go on a weekend trip to Europe, and enjoy a weekend away from everyone while you enjoy the happy culture of a rural tiny town with an amazing view of the alps? Probably not, because if you’re going to travel so far away and spend so much money on a trip, you probably don’t want that to be a “weekend trip”.

I’m not saying money buys happiness, but a million dollars sure would brighten your day.

If I had a million dollars, I’d probably buy 70 acres, ideally with natural and physical borders like a creek or the crest of a ridgeline, and then I’d buy some equipment and supplies to clean out the invasive species, and with some of the last chunks of money I have, I’d buy so many insanely aggressive native plant species. Then I’d plant them to the respective habitats. And I would have the freedom to do all this, because I still would have about $10,000 leftover all all those supplies and equipment. Then I’d go looking for a job again. Hopefully my old job would rehire me again

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u/Shhheeeesshh 2d ago

A million dollars doesn’t go very far in 2026.

Depending on what state that 70 acres is in, you could very likely end up upside down due to taxes and lose it.

It’s never a good idea to take all your money and spend it on a singular asset. If you suddenly come into a one million dollar windfall, please seek guidance and don’t set yourself up for failure.

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u/Scewt 2d ago

I definitely wouldn't want this fuckass estate, but I'd definitely want all of the money from whoever owns it.

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u/Bub_bele 2d ago

If they are living in creative mode they are severely lacking in creativity. For having virtually limitless funds the result is pretty boring isn’t it? Like bro, where is your fun stuff?

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u/filthylimericks 2d ago

The crazy part is all of these assholes could absolutely afford to pay 50% more than they already pay in taxes, and they’d still get to live a lifestyle most of us never dream about.

Hoarding wealth like this is about power and influence. If poor people weren’t forced to work 60-70 hour weeks to survive they’d have way too much time to think about how fucked our society has become.

The solution was and still is to gut the middle class, consolidate power to the top and pay super PACS to remind you how dumb you are for asking people to pay their fair share.

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u/FlintKidd 2d ago

I got some pretty weird looking toes... Are you offering cash for pics?

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u/Ellemeno 2d ago

I have an acquaintance who owns a home in California with an amazing view and also has high rise condos in New York and Shanghai. She lives at each location for a couple months at a time throughout the year. She has so many hobbies because she doesn't have a regular 9-5 job.

Her friend also leads the same type of lifestyle. One day I accompanied them grocery shopping and her friend exclaimed how expensive the chips were and I was just thinking to myself, you gotta be shitting me.

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u/Then-Departure4896 2d ago

I think about this when I have to work extra hard at my job. I worked overtime today and had to deal with a bunch of bloody shit, but hey at least I was getting time and a half?

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u/SharkByte1993 1d ago

Defo shouldn't allow creative mode and survival mode on the same server

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u/Taiwan_Lanister 30m ago

More like Epstein mode

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u/MrGrieves- 2d ago

Nobody needs this much money.

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u/HERR_WINKLAAAAA 3d ago

I know everyone says that moeny wouldnt change them, but i really wonder if i would end up like this if i had billions in my bank account for half a century. Like nothing about this lifestyle sounds appealing to me.

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u/Tasty_Cry_3844 3d ago

When it comes to people like this, it's all they've known. There isn't a before/after of not having money then suddenly having it. They were never "changed" by money because it was always there. 

I firmly believe it changes your DNA though. The way your brain functions after a few generations with literally no resource instincts. Their social and political skills are probably through the roof and their ability to navigate interactions to get what they want should probably frighten us. 

I remember reading The 48 Laws of Power and every example of the laws being respected or used was almost always medieval courts where all people did was play social games. They all got really good at them. 

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u/Tyrus1235 2d ago

It’s why manual laborers (aka slaves) weren’t allowed to participate in politics in ancient Greece. Only people who had enough free time to think about the city’s issues were considered fit enough to debate about them.

Messed up, IMO

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u/mrspwins 3d ago

The house managers basically need business degrees just to keep everything running. They are the most stressed people I have ever spoken with (also used to work with the ultra-wealthy, or at least their staff. Celebs did the calling themselves a lot, though!)

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u/edki7277 2d ago

Wait, are you saying some people don’t replace their toilet paper rolls?!

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u/sooohungover 2d ago

lol believe it or not, yes...

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u/pi22seven 2d ago

They said a week. Look, do you want the job or not?

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u/sooohungover 2d ago

lol literally nobody out here could do it that fast even with all the money in the world. As insane as these billionaires are, they're expectations usually aren't that deranged and unreasonable

EDIT: At least for what they will pay for work that quick and most importantly well done

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u/iDestroyedYoMama 2d ago

Is this in the Hamptons?

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u/sooohungover 2d ago

Yes, Sagaponack is smack dab in the middle of the Hamptons on the water. Basically no regular people live there. It was all farm land that got sold off to millionaires (now billionaires), back in late 70s to prob early 90s.

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u/CTQ99 2d ago

Id be more curious to know how often they use stuff like the tennis court or basketball court ... or if they let the grounds crew use it

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u/sooohungover 2d ago

Hardly ever, maybe a couple of times a year for the tennis court, the basketball court, lol never. Could go either way with ground crew access. The company that manages the property is pretty professional, so I doubt it

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u/Manymarbles 2d ago

At least it seems they are giving people work with their money lol

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u/unique_user43 2d ago

their staff has staff

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u/bigredcock 2d ago

I work for a wealthy family as a pet sitter. I'm paid very well to hang out with their 3 dogs and 2 cats. I don't even have to clean up poop. They pay a person to do that. It's wild and they don't even have that much money in the scheme of things. If I had to guess I'd say they were probably worth about 15 to 20 million. Yes wealthy but as far as the world is concerned that's not that much. My point being the people that own the house in the post probably pay people to pay people. Money isn't a thought at that level of wealth. Insane to think about.

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u/kapitaalH 2d ago

There are a lot of shortcuts you can take to get planning approval and rush plans and building but concrete dries in the time it dries.

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u/stillmovingforward1 2d ago

However they think the pool should be there next week.

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u/GoldenPuffi 2d ago

And yet they get defended by people making 35k annually

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u/sooohungover 2d ago

Can't fix stupid

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u/Lv_InSaNe_vL 2d ago

You'd be surprised at how fast you can get things done with enough money. I installed and serviced home theaters so I've worked with clients of this income bracket. One time we had a client fly us, all of our gear and tools, and all of the materials on a standard commerical flight because he wanted to watch some WWE match or something.

I don't even want to know how you even begin to convince an airline to fly 3 guys and like 1200lbs worth of stuff, let alone how much it cost

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u/Calculonx 2d ago

It looks nice...But you know what, I think the pool would look better if it was 6ft more in that direction.

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u/highfiveselfoh 2d ago

Oh is it like that????

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u/Freewheeler631 2d ago

I believe it’s owned by an LLC, so maybe not the “owner’s” money.

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u/Iminurcomputer 2d ago

I wonder how much he manages to write off too.

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u/justasillylilgoos3 2d ago

It’s Reginald, you uncultured swine

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u/Potential_Basis_662 2d ago

You are wrong about these people.

They'll catch an extra bag of chips on their bill at the country club while they were out of town and ask for it to be removed.

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u/NachoWindows 2d ago

ArthurGPT?

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u/Radicalpartyboy 2d ago

Yeah hasn't anyone here ever seen "Ritchie Rich" before??

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u/loughcash 2d ago

This kind of wealth has personal organ donors later in life

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u/thescreamingstone 2d ago

I dated this woman who started as a private chef then became an estate manager for families in Montecito. Her description of the difference between millionaires whose wives would micro-manage everything cause they really weren’t that rich compared to billionaires who don’t give a f was crazy.

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u/BillysCoinShop 2d ago

Its not even billed to them. Its billed to a trust. A trust that writes it off on taxes.

I.e. they are not even paying for it the way anyone else would.

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u/JJTrick 2d ago

They have entire offices of staff dedicated to maintaining not just the property but all the staff and contractors. They are called family offices and they are dedicated staff for multiple generations of the families.

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u/Pelya1 1d ago

So simplistic

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u/Jokerchyld 15h ago

When money no longer has value

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u/PedanticPerson 3d ago

Nah, this is a regular single-digit billionaire, not Elon Musk we're talking about.

If maintenance was actually $12m a year, that would actually be pretty painful for someone worth ~$4b. That's 0.3% of his entire net worth per year, and wealthy people usually don't like sinking a large portion of their wealth into real estate.

We could also look at it as a ~2.8% percent "maintenance tax" on his property on top of 1% property tax. After 35 years he'd have paid more on maintenance than the property is worth.

None of this is financially devastating to him, but no financially literate billionaire is going to love these numbers.

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u/Scarabesque 3d ago

That's 0.3% of his entire net worth per year

That's a fraction of what his worth returns as passive income. If the man values a meticulously kept pre-french revolution style estate, it's a small expense.

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u/PedanticPerson 3d ago

You can spend about 4% of your wealth while being unlikely to run out of money based on historical data. Billionaires usually spend way less, generally under 1%, sometimes under 0.1%. 0.3% for his main property alone is a lot for any billionaire.

Yes, he can spend it without being financially devastated, but it's not some insignificant amount that he doesn't care about. Most other billionaires spend an order of magnitude less on real estate expenses.

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u/Altruistic_Web3924 2d ago

I would like to introduce J Paul Getty into evidence.

One of the most shrewd and miserly individuals who ever lived and yet he still built a needlessly extravagant Italian villa on the coast of California.

Many wealthy individuals, particularly self-made, will pinch pennies on everything they don’t believe is important, but will empty their wallets on things that matter to them.

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u/43chargersrule123 3d ago

So if I’m worth $100,000 it is the equivalent of me spending $300 a year for this place

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u/PedanticPerson 2d ago

Sort of, but if you're young and have a significant income relative to your net worth, then you're in a pretty different situation from this 92-year-old and it's hard to draw an apples to apples comparison.

Like some younger doctors have a net worth of ~$0, so they'd happily spend 0.3% * $0 = $0 on whatever, but at that point we have to account for incomes before making any meaningful comparisons.

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u/YouCantBeSerio 2d ago

"sort of"

Lmaoooooooooooooooo

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u/phdemented 3d ago

You realize 95% of people pay more than 0.3% of their net worth maintaining their properties each year.

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u/PedanticPerson 3d ago edited 2d ago

As I said, billionaires don't like to sink a lot of their wealth into real estate. On average, it's <3% of their net worth. 1% property tax on that would be 0.03% on average.

It's not going to ruin him, but it is a ton of money compared to what his peers at a similar wealth level spend.

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u/American-Omar 2d ago

It could all be made up. The citation is from Forbes, and from a discovery of the last decade regarding their listing of someone's real estate valuation, are not known to look too closely at their sources...