The tony little Los Angeles County town of Rancho Palos Verdes is home to a five-bedroom, 10-bathroom villa completed in 1997 that is known as Villa LaBarba. The Lunada Pointe estate has a wide ocean view and is designed in a style that's described by the EasyReader News as "reminiscent of the Palladian style of architecture not often seen on the the [Palos Verdes] Peninsula."
The house is extravagant to say the least, and is packed with elaborate details inspired by the international travels of the residence's owners, Georgene McKim and Jim LaBarba, veterans of the garment industry. Here, some of the most over-the-top elements of their lavish abode:
—Before even getting in the house, there are the grounds, which hold 1,000 rose bushes and 300 merlot grape bushes.
—The mansion is intended to be "a living study of classical architecture combined with English Manor appurtenances," with the latter seen through touches like the dumbwaiter that runs through the house's three levels, just like on Downton Abbey.
—Interior doors are dotted with 3D "ornamental fish."
—In the great room, look down to see a 15,000-piece mosaic of Mercury and Medusa on the floor.
—That same great room was inspired by the Ringling Mansion in Sarasota, Florida, "built by the family of the renowned Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus."
—Domestic inspiration doesn't stop there, but continues on to Las Vegas; the dining room's ceiling has been "gilded and stenciled to emulate Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas."
—The two molded ceilings of the dining room and library are done in the same way as the ceilings inside the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown LA.
—The moldings were made by the same guy who actually worked on Caesar's Palace and the Biltmore, so he was able to do both justice in replicating them on the Villa LaBarba's ceiling.
—The villa has appeared on shows like The Mentalist and Medium, "on which Villa LaBarbra was home to a murder scene showing a pool of cinematic blood."
See all these wonders on display in this 2014 video made of the home:
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