个月，我有幸参观了凡尔赛宫，哦，可不是法国那个凡尔赛宫，我说的这个凡尔赛宫是在佛罗里达。
凡 尔赛宫是奥兰多附近一栋尚未完工的宅邸，占地大约9万平方英尺，是全美国占地面积最大的私人住所。（范德比尔特家族[Vanderbilt]的比尔特摩庄 园[Biltmore Estate]占地17万5千平方英尺，不过如今已经不是某个家族的私产，而是比尔特摩公司[Biltmore Co.]的产业了。）
本报读者也许还有印象，凡尔赛宫目前的市场售价是7500万美元，竣工后则是1亿美元。卖家是杰奎琳•西格尔 （Jacqueline Siegel）和戴维•西格尔（David Siegel）夫妇，戴维经营分时度假房积聚了大量的财富，不过在房地产信贷危机中遭受了巨大的冲击。
西 格尔夫人和房产中介洛伦•巴雷特（Lorraine Barrett）领我参观了房子。我问她怎么会想到要把自己的家弄成两个白宫那么大，她说，“我们一开始的规划是大约1万2千平方英尺，可是后来家里人越 来越多，我们有了八个孩子，在设计的过程中，这个房子就不断地长大了。”
她又说，“我想给孩子们弄个保龄球馆，我还想要一个室内的滚轴和真冰溜冰场，我丈夫想要一间1万平方英尺、带一个室内放松池的spa室，于是房子就越来越大，我们也就买了越来越多的地。”
我又问房子这么大，他们一家人在里面转一圈都很费劲吧。
西格尔夫人说，“我丈夫原来开玩笑说，房子太大了，要到孩子们大学毕业，我们才看得到他们。”
她说，他们还买了10辆赛格威，好从房子的这头骑到另一头，如今这些车子还在仓库里摆着呢。
参观这个地方时，你会觉得里头真的太辽阔了。我花了半个小时转了一圈，不过还是有一两处附属建筑没能走到。按照原先的设想，这栋大宅里会有12间卧室和23间浴室。
不过它所处的位置实在是太棒了，能够看到绝妙的湖景。网民们对一栋未完工的宅邸开价如此之高表示了震惊，事实却是，很多超级富豪买主不管买到什么房子都是会推倒重建的。他们真正看重的是好位置和便于施工的特点，这两点凡尔赛宫都具备了。
会有人买下凡尔赛宫吗？最终肯定会有的。西格尔夫妇已经接受了好几次郑重其事的询价，询价者基本上都是亚洲、欧洲、俄罗斯和中东的超级富豪。
我问杰奎琳失去这栋豪宅是否会觉得遗憾，她望着窗外那个本来会成为一个超大泳池的巨大的混凝土水池说：“我们花了这么多的时间和金钱进去，这里本来会成为我们的梦想之屋。我丈夫当然也想给后辈下点东西。不过现在我们急需把钱投回到公司去，目前这是最要紧的事情。”
你说最终谁会买下这个翻版凡尔赛宫呢？
Last month I had the good fortune to tour Versailles. No, not the one in France, the one in Florida.
Versailles is the partially-finished mansion near Orlando that clocks in at around 90,000 square-feet, making it what could be the largest privately-owned home in America. (The Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate, at 175,000 square feet is no longer a single-family residence but part of the Biltmore Co.)
As Wall Street Journal readers know, Versailles is on market for $75 million as is, or $100 million finished. It is being sold by Jacqueline and David Siegel, who made his fortune from timeshares but who has taken a financial hit from the housing and credit crunch.
Mrs. Siegel gave me the tour-along with Realtor Lorraine Barrett -and I asked her how she wound up with a home that is almost twice as large as the White House: 'We had planned maybe a 12,000 square-foot home, but our family grew, we have eight kids, and during the design process the house just kind of took on a life of its own.'
She added, 'I wanted a bowling alley for the kids and I wanted an indoor roller- and ice-skating rink, and my husband wanted a 10,000 square-foot health spa with an indoor relaxation pool and the house kept growing and we had to keep buying more lots.'
I asked how her family would even get around such a big house.
'My husband used to joke that the house is so big we'll only see the kids when they graduate college,' Mrs. Siegel said.
She added that they bought 10 Segways, which are still in storage, to make their way from one part of the house to another.
It certainly feels mammoth when you tour the place. I spent a half hour wandering around and I still missed a wing or two. The home was expected to have 13 bedrooms and 23 baths.
But the location and views of the lake are stunning. And while online commentators have expressed shock at selling an unfinished estate for such a big price, the reality is that many superrich buyers gut and renovate whatever they buy anyway. What they really want is location and ease of construction, which Versailles offers.
Will anyone buy it? Eventually, at some price. The couple has received several serious inquiries, most from superrich folks from Asia, Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
When I asked Jacqueline Siegel if she is sorry to lose it, she looked out over the giant concrete basin that was to become her super-size pool and said:
'We've put so much time and money into this, this was going to be our dream. And of course my husband wanted to leave a legacy. But we really need to put the money back into the company right now. That's our priority.'
Who do you think will eventually buy Versailles II?