The Hala Mat is Out

The name is “Hala,” which in Arabic means “welcome,” but of 1,000 requests for a tour, so far only 11 have been granted, so something seems to have been lost in translation. We’re talkin’ about the 56,000-square-foot ranch home (on 95 acres), now owned by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, former Saudi Ambassador to the US, on offer at $135 million (link).

Mr. and Mrs. Buce will not be inquiring: Prince Bandar keeps his kitchen in the basement, but for us it is the center of the action, just inside the front door and just off the front patio. We trust that our incuriosity will not crimp style, seeing as how he might be needing some of the $135 mill for bail money as the Brits investigate whether an arms contractor poured more than $2 billion into accounts that he controlled.

One curiosity: the agent says that “so far… a majority of the serious shoppers for Hala have come from old money, fortunes gained at least a generation ago.” Ah, how long is a generation anymore? I was once taught “33 years.” Using fingers, that takes me back to about 1974—which is to say, back around the time of the first Arab oil shock, which made people like Prince Bandar what they are today. Old money as before the first Arab oil shock: I wonder if this is a bit short-sighted. Seems to me the real first oil shock would have John D. Rockefeller in, what, 1882?