| It is always nice to see how the other half lives, take | | | | American households hit a high at the end of last |
| for instance there is the | | | | year, increasing from $46.59 trillion in the third quarter |
| Life of Luxury: the George Hamilton way. | | | | of 2004 to $48.53 trillion in the fourth quarter. |
| This is a TV show which looks at the lives of the | | | | Rising real estate and stock prices helped push the |
| Super Rich in which the first episode looks at the | | | | country's household net worth up 4% between the |
| PlayBoy Mansion, a collection of multi-million dollar | | | | third and fourth quarters. You can now buy a |
| homes, hip-hop half-billion dollar empires and some | | | | $67,000 hand-crafted bathtub; Luxury is no longer |
| queens of shopping. | | | | confined to the affluent. |
| Tom Delay's Life of Luxury over the last six years: | | | | To enhance people's lives they are willing to pay |
| Public documents reviewed by The Associated Press | | | | more for luxury items like expensive perfumes and |
| document his 48 visits to golf clubs and resorts; 100 | | | | designer handbags. Sometimes it's hard to justify |
| flights aboard private company planes; 200 stays at | | | | spending much more on an item when something |
| hotels, many world-class; and 500 meals at | | | | considerably less expensive offers the same |
| restaurants, some averaging nearly $200 for a dinner | | | | functionality. |
| for two. Not all paid for by Tom Delay. | | | | You can, for instance, buy a watch for $10 and you |
| ARCHESTRATUS: THE LIFE OF LUXURY | | | | can buy a watch for $20,000 that offers the exact |
| ARCHESTRATUS was a Sicilian Greek who wrote a | | | | same functionality so where is the rationale for |
| poem that was an actual cookbook describing styles | | | | buying the expensive watch? Still, the expensive |
| of Greek food in antiquity In travelling throughout the | | | | watches get sold and people are proud to own them. |
| Greek world - Greece, Southern Italy and Sicily, the | | | | The exclusive maker of mattresses for the British |
| coast of Asia Minor, the Black Sea - Archestratus | | | | royal family will reject a container of cashmere if it is |
| shows us how the ancient Greeks were extremely | | | | deemed to be clumpy or defective in any way, says |
| cosmopolitan. | | | | the director for the American division. |
| His influences - ingredients, combinations of flavours, | | | | For each bed, workers cover thousands of springs in |
| techniques - are drawn from a wide Mediterranean | | | | calico cotton; the damask cases are hand-woven in |
| background, taking in a diversity of ideas unrestricted | | | | Belgium If you have to ask how much these |
| by the topography of the Greek mainland. | | | | mattresses cost you can't afford them. |
| The Life of Luxury: Check out the Robb Report: | | | | Life of Luxury: living on your own Cruise Ship |
| Luxury Homes | | | | The World is the only private luxury community at |
| The Robb Report features this Beverly Hills house. | | | | sea. It is a Cruise Ship built with apartments and |
| The owners, a retired industrialist and his wife, who is | | | | studios for long term residency rather than vacation |
| a trustee of Los Angeles' Museum of Contemporary | | | | cruises. |
| Art, wanted the architect to maintain a simple palette | | | | For sale originally were 106 apartments, 19 studio |
| that would not compete with their art collection, | | | | apartments and 40 studios, with square footage |
| which includes a beautiful collection of contemporary | | | | starting at 675 for studios and maxing out at 3,242 |
| art. | | | | for a three bedroom apartment with optional jet |
| The Life of Luxury's Most Expensive ZIP Codes | | | | pool. With the exception of studios, which have more |
| From Beverly Hills to TriBeCa, from notorious | | | | limited amenities, The World's residential |
| enclaves of mansions and lush lawns to little-known | | | | accommodations include fully-equipped kitchens, living |
| niches of wealth, this is where the most expensive | | | | room, veranda and all furniture and audio/video |
| real estate in the country can be found. | | | | equipment. |
| Many of these neighborhoods are rarified places, of | | | | Studios and Apartments can be had from 1.4 million |
| course. They are close to beaches and golf courses | | | | to 4.8 million dollars and annual maintenance costs |
| and prime yacht moorings--or at least within spitting | | | | start at $100,000. |
| distance of the power centers that are the sources | | | | This is a 40,000-ton ship which could easily carry |
| of great wealth. they have high tax bases, expensive | | | | 1,500 passengers but the World Residensea carries |
| private schools, exclusive restaurants and they are | | | | an average of 285 guests plus a crew of 252. |
| not all located close to Rodeo Drive. | | | | The passenger distribution is about 40% Americans, |
| The Life of Luxury; Some Expensive Must-Have | | | | 40% Europeans and 20% from other nations. The |
| Items | | | | price of a "home" on board the ship includes furniture, |
| We must be getting richer. Designer items are | | | | appliances, carpet, draperies, linen, china, cutlery and |
| becoming more and more popular, we are no longer | | | | crystal. Maintenance charges will cover daily |
| happy with a cheap watch but want an Omega or a | | | | housekeeping service, repairs and replacement of |
| Tag Heuer. | | | | appliances, fixtures and fittings supplied by the builder. |
| According to the Federal Reserve, the net wealth of | | | | |