Posted on 06/07/2022 12:50:16 PM PDT by servo1969
Oh sure, you may think that when you have a cool $7 million in the bank, life is all wine and roses. But that's wrong. Rich people do have problems, and the latest high drama out of Laguna Beach (average household income around $216,000) proves it:
Bond King Bill Gross has finally won the turf war against his neighbor over a million dollar art installation at the billionaire's California beachfront home.
After a lengthy legal battle, the former PIMCO CEO and his wife, Amy Gross, have won approval from Laguna Beach lawmakers to keep their $1 million, 10-foot-tall cobalt glass sculpture installed in his backyard.
"Amy and I are relieved we can finally enjoy our art in peace and in full compliance with the City of Laguna Beach," Gross said in a statement to The Post.
Oh yeah sure, Mr. Gross, you'll enjoy the heck out of this thing for many years:
What is that, exactly? It looks like a particularly chaotic rendition of a song in Apple Music Visualizer, like the final spike of the legendary choral crescendo in Bohemian Rhapsody:
I mean...
That looks less like art and more like some awful torture device. Seriously, I don't blame the man for wanting it out of his line of sight. I'd get stress headaches having to look at that over my morning coffee every day.
Still, though...things got pretty weird during the fight.
The Grosses filed a complaint that Towfiq was a "peeping Tom" and that he had cameras directed at them — a situation that made them feel like they were "in prison."
Towfiq filed his own complaint alleging the couple were "bullies" and that they blared loud music — namely the Gilligan's Island theme song on repeat. ...
Both parties filed restraining orders against each other.
I gotta say, after seeing how rich people settle their beefs, I'm over here in my solidly-middle-class, perfectly pleasant neighborhood like:
Right. I was expecting a lot worse.
I don’t think it’s that bad. Unless you plan to jump that fence into it.
Assuming the neighbor is wealthy, they should have bought property that isn’t that close to a neighbor.
Other options are a privacy fence, trees, bushes, sand dune...
Or go into the glass sculpture business and make a fortune selling to the Grosses.
what...
ever...
If you don’t like the way something looks, then don’t look at it. Problem solved.
“Hideous”? Hardly. It’s great garden art. The shapes evoking motion and the colors perfectly reflect the ocean. They guy who sued is nuts.
Anything happens to that art, filed, will be an expensive lawsuit.
I agree I thought it looked like Chihuly’s work too.
I think the pellet gun would be for the speakers blaring the”Gilligan’s Island” theme ALL DAY LONG.
The neighbor is gonna need a taller fence.
If you have to hide you “art” behind a wall so only your neighbors can see it then the owners admit it sucks. I have some “art” that I will sell them for only half a million dollars.
You can probably make your own facsimile or similar structure for less than 1 million. Those orbs look like the dollar planters at the dollar+ stores....I am sure you can find a custom glazer who can mimic the cerulean blue glass and smooth it out and stretch it for a few grand. If I wanted to tee off the billionaire, I would put up three 15 foot tall flagpoles which would black the view of the artwork with different flags rotating on and off and make sure the pulleys squeaked and the flags made lots of noise flapping in the breeze.
I’ve seen far worse art. I don’t think it’s bad at all. It certainly wouldn’t bother me if my neighbors had it in their yard. Not that any of my neighbors could afford it!
Improve the sculpture by putting a hot dog on top of each one.
Chihuly’s better...
Dispute Between Neighbors. A True Story. 04-08-2009, 05:44 PM
A city councilman in Utah, Mark Easton, had a beautiful view of the East Mountains, until a new neighbor purchased the lot below his house and built a new home. The new home was 18 inches higher than the ordinances would allow, so Mark Easton, mad about his lost view, went to the city to make sure they enforced the lower roof line ordinance. The new neighbor had to drop the roof line, at great expense.
Recently, Mark Easton called the city, and informed them that his new neighbor had installed some vents on the side of his home. Mark didn't like the look of these vents and asked the city to investigate.
When they went to Marks home to see the vent view, this is what they found:¦
https://forum.officer.com/forum/public-forums/the-off-duty-forums/121016-dispute-between-neighbors-a-true-story
I think he’s long since retired from that. Some would say deposed from that.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/14/books/review/bond-king-mary-childs.html?searchResultPosition=1
Curious that the piece doesn’t mention that the glass installation is by Dale Chihuly, arguably the most famous glass artist in the world. The neighbor may not like it, but it’s hardly something the Grosses scrounged from a thrift store. Honestly, my son has a neighbor with a garden gnome and flamingo display that is MUCH worse, and it’s in the front yard.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.