Uh, Beverly? You write for a newspaper, right? There's this thing called "research" that used to be popular for journalists before they committed word to page. If you don't understand who lives in them, why not...ask a few?
I bet she'd find that 70-80% of those castle-on-the-hill denizens are liberals who vote democrat.
I don't understand who lives in these massive homes or who can afford them.
Ms. Beckham doesn't "understand" who lives in these homes or who can afford them? What? Ms Beckham doesn't speak these homeowners' language? Do the homeowners speak Japanese, Spanish or Farsi? Perhaps Ms. Beckham meant to say " I don't understand the mindset of those who live in massive homes, and I have never met a person who could afford one. I don't really care to journalistically pursue it further. But, continue to let me sermonize..."
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
You're right on with those comments. A more productive story may have come to light if the reporter had interviewed a few of those big house owners. Who knows, maybe they would turn out to be evil money hoarders whose success came from illicit or immoral conduct. That would have give the article some weight. But an interview might have revealed them as kind, moral, educated, hard working people who made good decisions and society is better for their efforts, regardless of how big their house may be. But that would not have fit this reporter's agenda. So she took the easy way out and just wrote commentary from her biased victim based perspective.