People, Feb. 23, 1976

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"I wanted to live heliotropically, with the bedrooms facing east and the cocktail and dining area facing west," complained Millionaire Stewart Mott, 38, describing his hopes to build the perfect Manhattan home. Begun three years ago atop the 54th floor of a new apartment building, the four-story penthouse was to include a solarium kitchen, a library, pool, four bedrooms, office space for up to seven secretaries, a multilevel grand salon and more than 1,500 sq. ft. of terrace for Mott's main passion: organic vegetable gardening. The fastest-growing item at Mott's midtown Xanadu, however, was the construction bill, which climbed from a projected $1.6 million to $3.2 million. So last week Mott sadly backed out of the deal, $300,000 poorer thanks to legal and engineering costs, and began the search for new digs. His builders, meanwhile, began the search for a new buyer and put the penthouse up for sale with a price tag boosted to $3.5 million to cover their losses.

The quiet rustle of asparagus sprengeri and chlorophytum comosum is music to the ears of Rock Impresario Bill Graham these days. Graham, 45, the former proprietor of the Fillmore rock emporiums in New York and San Francisco, last week opened a six-day horticultural extravaganza at the San Francisco Cow Palace. Called "The World of Plants," it is a kind of Woodstock for flora freaks, featuring exhibits by 250 plant merchants, a 35-ft.-high bush-covered volcano, human tomatoes, and the piped-in music of Villa-Lobos, Debussy and Bartók. Rock groups may be fun, Graham reflects, but plant fiends are easier on the nerves. None of that "standing beside a limousine at the airport praying that your star hasn't flown off to India instead of doing the concert," he says. "I'm the only one who raises his voice around here."

He started in the cheap seats at New York City's Ebbets Field watching the old Brooklyn Dodgers. When the team moved to Los Angeles, Actor-Comedian Danny Kaye went to the box seats and became one of the staunchest rooters in Chavez Ravine. But come spring, Kaye, 63, will be doing his cheering in Seattle, where he and five local businessmen have just bought the American League's newest major league franchise for $5.5 million. Will Danny have any playing tips for his yet unnamed team? Hardly, considering his own boyhood performance at the plate. "Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, boy could I hit," he recalls. "Tuesdays and Thursdays, I couldn't hit my ass."

The San Francisco Opera House provided the setting, and Carole King provided the entertainment at her own 35th birthday celebration last week. Now making her first concert tour in three years, the Brooklyn-born singer-composer (Where You Lead; You 've Got a Friend) starred in an S.R.O. performance before 3,400 fans. She had more to toast than just the passing of another year. While King sang in San Francisco, her 1971 album Tapestry celebrated its 254th week on Billboard magazine's top albums chart. Its worldwide sales so far: more than 13 million.