Americana: The Rich Are Different from You and Me

Beverly Hills has known more than a bit of architectural ghastliness in its day, but a new record may be in the process of being set. The imminent potential titleholder is Saudi Arabian Sheik Mohammad al-Fassi, 23, who spent $2.4 million to purchase a sprawling, 38-room quasi-Palladian palazzo, originally built in 1917 for a local dairy magnate. Some $1.5 million worth of extensive renovations later, his neighbors are agog at what the sheik hath overwrought on the city's Sunset Boulevard.

The mansion, formerly a discreet shade of white, is now a jolting mint green. A garish copper roof is being installed. On the balustrade surrounding the mansion are a dozen life-size male and female statues, some of them nude renderings of great anatomical precision. Urns filled with pink, blue and orange plastic flowers line the property's stone and wrought-iron fence. A mosque is being built next to the swimming pool. Still to come are a basement discotheque and kennel space for twelve Great Danes (although a Beverly Hills local ordinance forbids any homeowner to keep more than four dogs at a time).

Sheik al-Fassi's neighbors find it all very weird, even though some are trying to be understanding. Says one local dowager: "When people from different cultures come to Los Angeles, they may have different tastes, different styles, and their tastes may not fit in well with the tastes of the community. What am I trying to say? It just looks like hell." Or, as Beverly Hills City Councilman Richard Stone puts it, "One privilege of home ownership is the right to have lousy taste and display it."