Are you part of the fabled one percent? The New York Times offers an interactive chart where you can see how your income stacks up in various regions of the United States.

See the chart here.

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Last year, I wrote a short article about the worlds most expensive mansion in Mumbai, India being built by uber-wealthy Mukesh Ambani.

In addition to arguably being the most expensive private home in the world (how about $1 Billion to build?), it will also be the tallest measuring in at 42 stories. Residence Antilla, though, will only have 27 stories, due to Ambanis desire for taller ceilings.

Mukesh Ambani is reported to be the 14th richest man in the world, with estimated personal wealth of around $21 billion. He is also one of the more visible men of wealth in India.

When completed, the high-rise mansion will also be one of the most visible (and discussed) mansions in all of Mumbai, if not India and the rest of the world.

Designed to house Ambanis fortunate family of six and a doting staff of 600, this enormous mansion will also have six floors dedicated to pampered storage and parking for a collection of at least 168 automobiles. Included in this magnificent residence will also be a full-service spa, fully-equipped gym, a home theater that should turn Hollywood moguls green, and multiple floors set aside for visiting dignitaries and guests.

The family will have to make do with the top four stories set aside for their viewing and living pleasure.

Completion date was initially set for Fall, 2008, so well keep an eye on its progress.

In the meantime, I am hoping for an invitation to the Ambani housewarming gala.

The post Most Expensive Mansion in the World: Redux appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

Once upon a time, the lowly shower offered faint competition for the jetted bathtub.

The bathtub was where one went to luxuriate, while the shower was a functional cleanser.

Not any more.

These days the lowly shower is one of the hottest home luxuries in demand. The shower stall might contain a steam shower, a multi-headed storm of warm water, or simply a place to stand under a rainfall of ambient temperature.

More and more, as we tour San Diego luxury homes, we are seeing the shower stall (or room) overtake the once dominant bathtub. And even if the shower stall doesnt have a steam feature, discriminating home buyers will often stand back and scrutinize the possibilities of extending glass walls to the ceiling so that steam features and functionality can be installed.

What are these luxury buyers seeking? They want oversized shower rooms with a tiled seat and multiple shower heads. They also like the possibility of sharing the luxury shower with others.

Hence, dual shower heads are also popular. On busy mornings or playful evenings, it might be necessary, compelling, or just plain fun to shower in toto.

These days, the luxury bathroom is closer to a luxury spa than the tiled bath with sink, toilet and tub of the last century. Owners now want not only the jetted garden tub, but also a high-performance shower system that can deliver calming massage sprays as well as invigorating jets that might awaken the most sleep-starved soul.

And even if a complete shower overhaul is not possible, there are some alternatives and remedies to consider:

1. Consider installing a shower arm extension to raise the shower head. Most older homes assumed that nobody in the home stood over 5² 5³ tall.
2. If you are considering relining the shower stall, consider alternatives to the traditional tile. How about travertine or other stone products?
3. Is it possible to add a second shower head especially if there is a tub and water supply nearby?
4. Be sure to locate shower head products that accommodate your local water pressure. The higher the better.
5. Want a steam shower? When remodeling the bath, this might be an alternative to consider especially if the glass enclosure and door can be brought to the ceiling.

Other luxurious appointments:

The Snoring Room

The Self Service Spa (Do it at home?)

Long-Lasting Roses

Induction-Cooktop for the Luxury Kitchen

Ultimate Phone for the Luxury Bath

How to Hide the Bedroom TV

Switchable Mirror Glass Windows

SONOS: The Ultimate Sound System

Haute Refrigerators for Cool Kitchens?

The Overflowing Infinity Tub

Luxury Wine Storage for Oenophiles

The Illuminated Bathtub

Luxury Design Trends for 2008

The post The Luxury Shower (and 5 Tips on How to Create One) appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

Luxury is booming and Wall Street is keeping a keen eye on how the rich are spending their wealth. And what better way to measure that hedonism than by creating a variety of indexes that track the shopping of the ultra-rich that we can call the Luxury Blingdex.

The demand for four-figure handbags, five-figure baubles, six-figure cars, luxury resorts and travel, insurable art and heady wines has created a new and trackable economy for the very wealthy.

What intrigues investors is how well the carriage trade merchants are faring. This is mostly due to the fact that the rich are getting richer and their numbers on a global basis are growing along with their spending habits. A look at some of these uber-wealth tracking indexes reveals more than a little about the favored products and shopping stops of the rich. For example, sales at Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys New York are increasing at twice the level of the retail sector as a whole. Some of the indexes and the luxury companies they track include:

• Merrill Lynch tracks a basket of companies including BMW, Porsche, Bulgari, Coach, Tiffany Jewelers, auctioneer Sothebys and the private banking firm Julius Baer. The performance? Up 23 percent in 2005 and 12.5 percent in 2006. This compares to the respective 14 and 7 percent for global consumer stock during the same periods.
• Citibanks Plutonomy Index tracks world spending of the worlds growing class of plutocrats. This index mirrors much of Merrills’, but also includes Japans highly regarded Shinwa Art Auction and Hong Kong’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. We might call this one the ruler of wealth.
• Deutsche Borse introduced its own World Luxury Index earlier this year. It tracks Bulgari, Sothebys, Hermes International and requires that the companies it tracks generate at least 50 percent of its income from luxury spending.

What is the appeal of these indexes or the term we have coined–the Blingdex? Some surmise that those who cant afford the lifestyle of the ultra-wealthy can still be in the money by investing in so-called luxury stocks. Finding true luxury stocks can be a difficult task, though. Many of these high end brands are now part of larger conglomerates. And because publicly-traded pure luxe companies are becoming so rare, many of the indexes are including brands such as Nike, Puma, Gap Stores, Harley Davidson and other popular products in their mix.

The reason for this interest and the Blingdex is obvious. The rich are getting richer and are far more numerous. The number of millionaires in the US has more than doubled since 1995 and total wealth held by the top 1 percent has increased by more than 50 percent since 1998 (much due to real estate appreciation, I’m sure). It should come as no surprise that luxury spending has kept pace with the soaring incomes and wealth at the top rung of of the economic ladder. And according to a Citigroup study, the top 20 percent of American earners are responsible for between 37 and 70 percent of total consumption.

And what is fueling this consumption? Its the desire to have the finest in homes, travel, dining, dress, art and social connections, according to Margaret Mager with Goldman Sachs High-End Consumer Index. Today the good life is defines by the assets you have, she said.

Tip of the top hat to Robert Frank and The Wall Street Journal Wealth Report. Would provide a link, but paid subscription is required. Even for something as old as this.

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