Americana: Royal Trappings

The giant desk will cost about $3,500; the chair another $700. A couple of comfy sofas carry price tags of about $4,500 each. The main room and an adjoining den are being paneled in Philippine mahogany and carpeted with 85 yds. of virgin New Zealand wool that costs about $60 per yd.

An office for a Saudi prince? A corner suite for the president of a FORTUNE 500 company? No, it's all part of a million-dollar face-lift planned for the eleventh-floor offices of Detroit Mayor Coleman Young and about 100 top-ranking city employees. Since the offices had not been redecorated in 25 years, the city council had no hesitation in finding money in the 1978-79 budget of $1.5 billion to feather the mayor's nest. Extravagant? "I don't know a damn thing about carpeting," says Young. "Whether it comes from New Zealand or Brazil, I don't care." The man just knows what he likes.