Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/08/03/this-4-5m-maryland-mansion-ha.html
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Such convenience! Going out to visit a Potemkin village is always such a hassle. /s
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Some people do beneficial things with their money. Some people piss it away.
Like the old line about coke-“Cocaine is god’s way of proving that you have too much money.”
Seems like having a pretend town of storefronts in your basement might be the same thing.
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Isn’t the illusion destroyed by the exposed ceiling and sprinkler system? They should have splurged and painted a faux sky up there. Sigh, if only they had another $50k in their budget.
PS. What kind of freak watches Mary Poppins followed by the Exorcist?
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It’s basically the same story.
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I’d take the E-Type, though.
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Coincidentally, Marilyn Manson does not.
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So it’s a McMansion with a McMainStreet.
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Barbra Streisand has one of these as well.
Someone wrote a play about this deranged situation.
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And a Stan Lee McCameo.
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I’d be worried about the McVillagers, with tiny, pointy pitchforks… 
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Some see Main Streets in the basement and ask “Why?”.
I see Main Streets in the basement and ask “Why the fuck!!?”.
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Probably a great setting for hosting themed, exclusive gatherings for corporate bigwigs or the wealthy. Certainly better than a hotel conference room. Renting it out regularly could likely pay the mortgage - might even itself be (one of?) the owner’s successful business.
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My thoughts exactly, when I first saw it. A “proper” sky would make it more airy and brighter too.
"The town also comes with “real working parked cars.” I mused that they were driven in, presumably, so there would probably be a route to drive them out, unless they were taken in first and the rest of the street built around them afterwards. Can’t see how they could be run in the confined space as “working cars” with the exhaust fume hazard. Noticed just a glimpse of the front of the Jaguar E-Type - nice!
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I see Main Street in the basement and ask “this was the MOST you thought to do with this awesome creation? You’ve got Stan Lee, where are the rest of the Marvel heroes? Have Hulk crashing through one storefront, Thanos fighting Captain Marvel and Iron-man in the street, Spider-man swinging overhead. Use your power and wealth for good!”
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LOL I drove through Potomac yesterday. The funny thing is that you pass hundreds of these mansions there. Hundreds of ugly over-the-top brick monstrosities of bad taste. Not once did I ever imagine that such craziness was underneath some of them. Now I do.
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Those aren’t cobblestones. Cobblestones are the rounded stones taken from a watercourse, whose erosion shapes them. The shaped rectangular pavers pictured are Belgian blocks, or setts. They feature in the Paris-Roubaix bike race, where’s they’re called “pavé” and are a big part of why that race is called “The Hell of the North”.
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My first thought was that when I was a nurse, I worked in a couple of dementia units that had things like this. Often a bus stop, a library, and even exit doors camouflaged as bookcases. Folks with dementia are busy, and tend to walk in a circular circuit. The bus stops were especially great because having Mabel fret over getting to the shops every ten minutes and forgetting you told her the shops were closed it was Sunday, meant she could go out and wait for the bus, forget, and come back in.
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Can someone explain the bedroom:bathroom ratio? What is going on in that house?
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Hey, having looked at the Wikipedia article for setts after your comment I have seldom seen such a ludicrous text. Their example page is Rome, Edinburgh, a small town in England and a list of some places in the US, completely ignoring pretty much every town in Europe
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