Little Versailles

We found out that the people of Salisbury refer to the house we are filming in as "Little Versailles." If you don't know what Versailles is it is a palace in France that was built in the 1600s and home to the royal family for some time. It is 67 staircases and 2,300 rooms! Can you imagine? And so the people of Salisbury have coined the Graham home "Little Versailles" due to its grand scale in comparison to all the surrounding homes. It truly is a palace when compared to the rather luxurious homes in the same neighborhood. Today I spent a bit more time wondering around the place as we filmed in quite a bit more of the house than we did yesterday. I even ventured upstairs and had a look at the two expansive glass cases that were built into the walls of the house. I wondered what they were for until I looked closer and saw the plaques at the bottom. Each case was to hold a dress of Princess Diana's that the Grahams' had purchased. I later learned that both dresses were currently on loan to a museum. I'm not sure why exactly someone would purchase a dress of Princess Diana's but I thought it was amazing that they did. I guess when you have the money, why not buy a dress or two. It would be fun to tell people a part of your collection was on loan to a museum.

In talking to the owners of "Little Versailles," I learned a few more details about the house. For one there is this gigantic mirror above the mantel in one of their living rooms. The mirror was so heavy and so large that it was brought in on a crane when they were building the house and it is built into the wall so that it cannot be removed. In the front foyer, there is a cool statue of two children playing leap frog. The statue probably stands a good 3 1/2 feet tall and Mrs. Graham told me it was made of copper. She also said that the movers put it there when they brought it in 12 years ago and it was so heavy they never could move it anywhere else. I learned some other fun trivia about the house. For instance, it has 11 toilets and they are all exactly the same. All the hardware in the house (i.e. door handles) are exactly the same pattern only different types of metal. The house sits on 17 acres of land but not a single tree was cut down on the property when they built the house. They did have to move a few trees, but they transplanted them to other places on the property.

It was so interesting to me to meet and talk with the homeowner. I'm so in awe of people who live like this. The house is so over the top and to learn that only 4 people live in the house was astonishing. And one of the four is away at college and the daughter will be in college next year. What in the world are two people going to do in that gigantic house all by themselves. You could probably live for weeks in the same house and never see each other. I'm curious about the kids too. How do kids that grow up in such a large house acclimate to life outside that mansion? Or do the parents buy them a large house of their own too? They probably do. They are probably the type of parents that when their kids get married as a wedding gift they give them a huge house. Why not if you have the money? It certainly would be nice to not have a mortgage payment. Can you imagine? Oh to have grown up never having to worry about money. By the looks of it, I don't think the Graham kids will ever have to worry about money as long as they don't squander their inheritance away. Some people are just born into a life of privilege. I was happy to hear that neither Mr. or Mrs. Graham came from money but were indeed self-made millionaires. She lived in a house with her parents and four brothers and only had 1 bathroom. He had to work at mill to put himself through law school. So I guess they figured when they made it that they really had earned it and so decided that they were going to enjoy it. I don't blame them. I would too. I would have a really big house with all the amenities I want if I could afford it too.