L.A. Times: Hagadone Desert Home “A Blight”

Item: Battling the monster on the hill: Publishing tycoon Duane Hagadone’s Palm Desert neighbors consider his dream castle a $30-million offense against nature (complete with photo gallery) /Valerie Reitman, L.A. Times.

Hagadone’s place is being built in the hill above the home in the foreground. The times have good shots of it.

Before that vote in 2004, one City Council member envisioned write-ups “in every architectural magazine around the world”; another said he’d already inquired about using this “jewel in our crown” as a venue for fundraising events for the local theater. “We’ll all be bragging about it,” a third council member said. Instead, the home has brought a load of grief for this city now that it is just about complete. Visible from miles away and set on a prominent ridgeline, its frame resembles a wayward space station parked amid the picturesque foothills. Hagadone and his representatives declined interview requests. But upset residents have flooded the city with e-mails, branding the house “an unsightly scar on the hill,” “a blight,” “a monstrosity,” “a pimple” and an “abortion” of city planning. “We had an untouched ridgeline, untouched,” lamented resident Larry Sutter.

Question: Is it just me, or is there something ironic about this?