Do you think Barbra regrets sharing her basement mall with the world?

Babs needs to visit Ethiopia (or her grandfather's place in Kazakhstan) to get a perspective on real life

It’s her money. If this brings her pleasure, so what? Besides, she is a philanthropist. I admire her.

She looks beautiful in the photos. How long ago were they taken? I am guessing mid-late nineties?

Is it fucked up that, even though the concept of a mall in your basement is ridiculous... I'm kind of jealous?

The underground mall looks tacky but she should set up a museum so all us gawkers can pay to have a gawk.

I imagine something on this scale or perhaps she could redo the Hearst castle—

It wasn't that big, there wasn't a Roller Coaster or a Dry Cleaners in it. It was cute and fun.

[quote]She's received nothing but ridicule for it

...because it is ridiculous!

[quote]R2 It’s her money. If this brings her pleasure, so what?

I agree. She's a hardworker and can buy what she likes, as far as I'm concerned. That's the whole point of money: OPTIONS.

But the thing that's so ridiculous about that book (MY PASSION FOR DESIGN) is how boringly conventional her taste is. She goes on and on and on about how all the deatails in her house have to be [italic] just right, [/italic] and then every room ends up looking like it's in a sterile, homogenized hotel! It's not like it's bad, but more like, [italic] "That's all ya got ?" [/italic]

The customer reviews at amazon.com are a riot.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[quote] I can't see how she spent $100,000,000 on this "house"

[quote] You will feel good about your much better taste in decorating. On the plus side, the book is physically well constructed, and serves as a marvelous doorstop.

[quote] The problem is that her tendency to over think, and over manage every single element of every space, inside and out, has resulted in a house that - despite the massive money involved - looks and feels nothing like the real thing at all. What it looks like is a movie set, designed by a committee, where nobody actually lives.

[quote] If you are at all interested in living in a museum, then this is definitely the house for you. Her chickens are adorable...truly. I wish there had been more photographs of the birds...and fewer of the wooden rooms.

[quote] Darling, HGTV is NOT a bastion of good design and this book looks like you've been tuning in just a little too often. You have some lovely possessions, that says a lot, but when you overdo with the mission furniture and try to out "greene and greene, greene and greene" all I can say is, stop already! Can you say wabi sabi? Your house doesn't look livable or comfortable, someplace that Jim could have a beer in his boxers of a Saturday night. I'm getting a migraine just THINKING about what it must be like to try to kick back and relax there. Everything is just a little too too. Please, none of us are getting any younger. Just sing, give up on the design, hire somebody to do it! Diane Keaton can give you a few names, I know!

[quote] From a design point of view this house is not anything terribly ground breaking, exciting, interesting, or revolutionary. The whole thing a rather New Englandy-Funny Girl mess. It seems like what Ms Streisand was going for was a palatial, Cape Cod cottagey barn xanadu compound. She has not succeeded (no one ever will with that combo).

That 'basement shoppes' link is the frauiest thing Ive ever seen! A DL win!

R9 If you want to hear her chitchat about her humble little abode, HERE she is on an NPR broadcast.

She immediately has to point out her house (a compound in Malibu) "isn't a mansion."

Re: R10

SORRY....she doesn't really talk about the book....just her life. It must just be the beginning of the interview they have at the site.

Skip it.

Memememememememememe.....

This is amazing.

I love the photo of her and all her awards. Funny how she only has the Oscars in display cases, everything else is pretty much, "fuck, who cares?".

[quote]R12 Brolin must be completely passive and benign

Well, he married a gazillionaire. Such spouses usually make concessions.

He wasn't getting any younger.