Who is the insane rich person who built this monstrosity in Connecticut?

Hideous beyond belief

The dark colors of the interior probably look a little better in the blinding sun of the Middle East, but not in Connecticut.

Good god, what the fuck? This is hideous, HIDEOUS.

True R1. All that ugly concrete.

Why, R3? Maybe he's a Harry Potter fan.

before I saw

[quote] Persians or Turks.

my first thought on the exterior was arab or russian.

Though I did track down some info on the original owner... family is rooted in Slovakia.

Oh cool, R5. Thanks for the info.

Known as the “Chris Mark Castle,” the Brickyard Road castle is named after its owner Christopher Mark, a philanthropist and descendent of steel industrialist Clayton Mark

[quote]Some of the interior details suggest the owners are Persians or Turks.

Nope. But it did house "ethnic look[ing]" models at one point.

[quote]According to a 2008 article in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, a long-since taken down website called www.castle-models.com once advertised the home as an international modeling agency, with pictures of young women, listing their "ethnic look," with measurements including tattoo and piercing counts, along with truly horrifying copy which read, "Just one look at the shapely form of beautiful women brings about physiological changes that our senses will not allow our minds to deceive, nor pretend does not exist. And with the laws of attraction in hand, comes desire, intrigue, and lust, which man has learned to exploit and sell as if it were a commodity." The site listed a rate of $125 per hour to have one of these models do a photo shoot, with a minimum requirement of two hours.

More than you'd ever want to know:

Christopher Mark (includes photo).

He was in the NY Post 11 years ago.

Thanks for the extra info, guys.

He should just calculate the value of the land. Nobody wants that house. He's going to take a bath when he finally sells.

r6 eh, seems I may have been wrong. but all the dates are confusing

my info came at 2003

r8 2008

the listings say it was built 2010

in recent years, the tax man in CT assessed the value at $2.8MM - or about $7,000 per acre; house included.

It was started in 2003 and finished in 2010.

It "sits on a quartz crystal" and was "inspired by our ancestors in Ireland, because they lived in castles as well."

Alrighty then.

He keeps raising the price as it sits on the market. The guy is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

Mark persuaded Isakova to leave her husband. Now she faces eviction from her Brighton Beach walk-up and lives on food stamps. He seems like a stand up guy. I assume they didn't have a wedding.

Is it wrong that the thing that bothers me the MOST is the mixture of towers and turrets of different architectural periods and geographic style? I want to tear them off with my bare hands.

Connecticut was so decent, at one time. The north was beautiful. Now it seems to be populated with utter scum from end to end, both rich and poor. Maybe its spillage from New Jersey.

Or Staten Island.

It does look like CT is attracting wealthy trash.

Wow, does it come with the trashy low rent party girls in R14's video? Are they his daughters?

The one with blond hair is a daughter.

So in other words, this is a hideous and egregiously overpriced brothel.

It looks like DisneyLand, circa 1910.

Teresa Giudice's house looks classy in comparison (except the exterior).

[quote]Connecticut was so decent, at one time. The north was beautiful. Now it seems to be populated with utter scum from end to end, both rich and poor. Maybe its spillage from New Jersey.

Too much “new” money.

That guy tried to sell it for 30 million with no takers, took it off the market and raised it to 60 million? What kind of Realtor logic is this?

I could see JLo buying it.

If the biggest poser EVER, Kat Von D still had her thriving makeup company and wasn't downsizing and moving to more affordable states, I'm sure she would have loved to own this monstrosity.

It's insane of course and probably sinister as hell at nightfall.

R28 She’s become a born again Christian recently (like most middle aged washed up Z-listers who are angry they’re no longer popular), so she probably wouldn’t now.

I'm getting sand castle vibes from it

This gets posted every few months, and r8 has it right: it was basically a brothel.

They're going to end up forfeiting it to the bank or state because no one will buy it except for the land, and the land isn't worth tens of millions of dollars.

My grandmother's childhood home was used as a brothel by the people who rented it from us (though we only found that out afterwards). I also found a semi-mummified cat in the house after they left.

Yep, r32 is right. This is AT LEAST the third thread we've had on this monstrosity. There's more information on some of the other threads, if you care to search.

On a side note, I cannot believe the guy in r9's link is actually straight. That eyeliner!

It's just a castle. I don't see a problem.

Mad King Ludwig II had far better taste in castles than this guy

[quote]From an early age, Christopher Mark's philanthropic spirit began to manifest itself. As a young boy, Chris nurtured his interest in making quality items fit for sale in his local area. From selling painted rocks to creating toy figurines in the suburbs surrounding Chicago, Christopher's inventiveness continued into adulthood.

r9 Why do I get the feeling this guy doesn't fully understand what philanthropy means? I think the word he's looking for is enterprising.

Philanthropy is whatever rich people say it is.

That's why the Rockefellers still run our society from the grave.

^ Could you imagine a Trump Museum or a Trump library wing at Harvard or a Trump Park? 😂

Okay, yes, the brown-and-yellow interiors are hideous but wouldn’t it be fun to pour boiling oil onto guests as they arrive in eager anticipation of the revels, seances, and orgies? I’ll be Morticia and you can be Gomez! We will scandalize the peasantry for miles about.

Looks like a theme park.

You know what would make cooking more fun? The chance to walk face-first into a pillar whenever you need to get something out if the fridge.

^ Yes, Draculaland

How did Zoning allow such an eyesore?

^ If you have enough acreage zoning doesn't effect you much

But his yard looks small as shit.

The house is like a foot from the driveway.

Oh shit, is there a sidewalk in front of his Kastle!

Bro…

😂😂😂😂😂😂

That is one regal recycling bin in the front.

Real classy-type nigga

Sorry for wasting your time, R34. I was looking at the most expensive homes in Connecticut on a real estate website when I came across this house. I haven't noticed the other threads and I'm on DL a lot. You could always ignore this thread instead of complaining.

An ugly, very poorly executed castle, R36.

Imagine how spooky it would be stumbling around this place in the dark if you need to get a glass of water or go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Impressive. Very, very impressive.

Keep going in this direction. We need much more of this.

And what search terms would you use to find the previous threads, R34? "Tasteful friends castle" doesn't work.

I’ll take it!

This is why humans will have a short run on this planet, relatively speaking.

Because of immigrant castles?

I did not know that.

r55 But "tasteless" does.

Previous thread troll, do you ever sleep? This site is slow enough without you gumming up the works.

The owner reminds me of someone...

Ah well, R59. Silly me. Of course, "tasteless" is the obvious search term. Only a fool would use terms like "castle" or "Connecticut" or "Mark castle". It's obvious "tasteless" is the correct search term instead of "hideous". So easy to find.

It could make a good theme park castle....like Disney World. Ugly as hell for a private residence.

Disney castles are much more attractive than this place. The exterior of the Connecticut house looks ugly and cheaply made, even though it probably cost millions. It looks like the execution fell far short of the vision.

A lot of drywall for a castle, brehs.

How has this house not been used in a Guillermo Del Toro movie?

I thought the same, r43. I've seen some of these truly awful new builds with decorative pillars on the edge of the kitchen, and those were bad enough, but this one has what looks like a gigantic prosthetic peg leg in the middle of the room, with notches cut into it to hold your Mrs. Dash and celery salt.

You'd think they'd at least have made it a booze cabinet.

First thought when I saw it "OH GOD!"

Second thought "Looks like it would fall in a strong wind."

Third thought "With all that money you would think the driveway would not look so shitty."

Who was running the whore house? This millionaire "philanthropist", who looks creepy as hell, I might add.

He looks like the sniveling right hand man to Vigo the Carpathian.

Boldt Castle in the St. Lawrence River's Thousand Islands. Cheesy but it makes me smile. At least it's not butt ugly like Mark Castle.

[quote] "Is it wrong that the thing that bothers me the MOST is the mixture of towers and turrets of different architectural periods and geographic style? I want to tear them off with my bare hands."

Not at all, R17. This is one of the reasons the house is so hideous. It's chaotic, and was designed (and I use that term very loosely) by someone who obviously had absolutely no background in architecture, interior design, or art history. It also doesnt help that the materials are very cheap in appearance. And no amount of faux Gothic window dressing can make up for that (the clutter! Ye gods, the clutter!). Of course, all of that looks cheap as well. It's nightmarish, honestly. And I feel filthy looking at it (MARY!).

This house is one ignorant, unsophisticated man's idea of what a castle could or should be. Mixing of period elements CAN be done successfully, but for something on that level, it takes an erudite individual to make it work. Which he clearly is not. So the end result is the expression of that ignorance & false sophistication.

I think a smallish, beautifully designed & crafted castle home could be really fun & even chic. But this isn't it.

R37 I've ALWAYS been fascinated with Ludwig, and Neuschwanstein, and cannot wait to see it in person!

Stunning

Christopher Mark is very lucky he inherited money. Otherwise he'd be working a minimum wage job.

Castles of the U.S.

Best: Lyndhurst, Hearst Castle, Smithsonian Institute Castle, Boston University Castle, Morningside Castle

Worst: Bishop's Palace, John Trube "Danish Castle", Gillette Castle

They should do a collab w that thatched roof planned community Thomas Kinkade, The Painter of Light ™, fronted in California.

That looks like a movie set for an Adam's Family movie. Unspeakably hideous.

They forgot Berkeley Castle, The Palace Of Gold, and The Good Counsel Friary in my home state, R74!

Oh cool, R77. Thanks for the additional recommendations.

I've visited Lyndhurst and the Smithsonian Institute Castle, and have heard of Hearst Castle and Biltmore but I wasn't familiar with most of the other places.

Oh, R71, OPULENT SOIRÉES! I’ve only attended one opulent soirée in my whole life, commemorating the sinking of Titanic, and would have angled for an invitation to another ever since, except that I don’t even know how to “angle.”

(I recently offered a few remarks on Ben Affleck’s personality and films in a discussion here and, reading them, a DLer so completely lost his composure that he felt compelled to notify me that I am both basic and tedious.

Now, after long hours of contemplation, I have been forced to the realization that the truth is the truth: I am basic. But if I am ever afforded the opportunity to soireée again [can soirée be a verb?] I shall and I live in hopes that it will be held in a castle like the one pictured in your post.)

A Brutalist Castle?

The wonders of cement.

^^^^

I didn't know these impressive buildings were in West Virginia, R77. Very cool. I saw Berkeley and just assumed it was in California.

I’ve always liked Atalaya Castle in SC.

Proof positive: you CAN watch Beauty and the Beast too many times.

I'm sure some Silicon Valley asshole family with way too much money and a passion for renaissance fairs and Magic the Gathering will snatch this gem up.

Ren Faire Turkey Leg

Not for $60 million he won't, R85. He'd have to be a complete fool.

$10 million maybe.

[quote]It could make a good theme park castle

The first thing on a theme park's to-do list would be removing the outdoor lighting and replacing it with something less garish.

It needs TWO moat bridges?

Fore and aft.

Feel free to use the tradesman’s entrance, r89.

^ That's the dumbest thing I ever read 🥴

So ugly. But it would be a helluva an Airbnb.

I ….think you’re missing the sexual undertone, r92…

My eyes!

R92 = frau

Is that the Gillette Castle?

They should just rent it out for theme parties, Halloween and weddings. Ain't nobody buying that shit to live in

@r96, Not a Frau, but it's still the dumbest thing I ever read on a dish

- r92

Calling the post office to place a package intercept as I type! I even pre-drilled the holes so you could hand it right up in your dungeon.

Well!

R97, this is the Gillette Castle in East Haddam, Connecticut. It's also stunningly ugly.

R16, I wouldn't feel too sorry for Isakova. It looks like a situation of water finding its own level.

How does one "persuade" a married woman with a 9-year old to leave her marriage? They don't. She happily dumped her husband because she likely thought this nut job would provide her with a more luxurious lifestyle. So she took her 9-year old and moved in with this guy who already had his own two daughters age 6 and 8 at the time.

And why did she face eviction from her Brighton Beach walk-up and live on food stamps? Was she unable to work? He was giving her $1, 000 a month back in 2011. Not enough to live on by itself but she could have gotten a job.

They didn't have a wedding because the nut job was legally married to another woman when Isakova was living with him. I doubt he wanted her to get pregnant as she claims.

Probably a nouveau-riche Powerball winner built that tacky thing.

Nope, R103. The owner Christopher Mark is a descendent of steel industrialist Clayton Mark, according to R7's link. It must be inherited wealth. Surely the guy isn't bright enough to make his own money and he didn't win the lottery.

So, let me guess. He's going broke, and this is his last remaining major asset. It's not unusual in this situation to put a huge price tag on it with the wishful thinking they will get a sucker to come along and get them out of their hole.

@r101, Yikes! It's melting 😳

Ugh, the camel died of starvation.

Probably, R105. I wouldn't be surprised if he had lived more modestly, without a zoo and a staff of ten, he could have lived comfortably for the rest of his life.

Part Disney, part Kremlin.

Rumour has it that Harry and Meghan want to move to the east coast.

True, R102. She wanted a luxurious lifestyle and for a while, he delivered the goods. I assume part of the reason she wasn't working is that her baby was very young.

I guess it's not just inherited wealth. In R10's link, Isakova says he owns a manufacturing plant not far from the castle house. I assume the plant is making money.

60 million and its fueled by...propane ?

What's with these rich guys and Russian/Eastern European women?

She looks like Melania pre-surgery btw.

" Ain't nobody buying that shit to live in."

As has been noted a lot of DL, who ever has that sort of money to buy it in the first place can get exactly they want, so why buy that place? If you're gonna do a crazy custom build, you better want to live in it for a long time or hope to get lucky and find a buyer with similar tastes.

It looks like the Jack of Hearts would be happy living there. What a tacky place, is there a hookah pipe room?

Are there no Architects in Hell?

Tommy Mattola?

It's like gothic meets Gaudi!

Looks like a mad Russian.

Or is that a redundancy?

Yes.its ghastly over all BUT there is quite a bit to work with. I rather like the outside,but Ive always embraced the weird. That kitchen would have to go ASAP,and the bathrooms too. I could see transforming it into one of those gigantic English Victorian country houses . Personally i love it being moated.I would have actual working drawbridges so I can raise them when I hate people again.

It's a tear down.

I LOVE that the first picture has a Waste Management green garbage can. Not that I think rich people are above getting their trash picked up the same way as everyone else. Just, why have it in the pic? 150k bungalow listings don't include a pic of the trash cans out front on trash day.

Home Value Estimate.........................$15,720,003 ($837/Sqft)

🙄

The interior is almost as ghastly, tacky and hideous as the architecture.

This place has been on the market for quite a while, since 2015 or longer. Who would have thunk?

From the link at R125, you can see a King Tut coffin in one of the bedrooms. Hilarious.

As mentioned in some of the linked articles, the house cost $4.1 million to build and he's asking $60 million for the house, land and a lake? That takes nerve.

As R105 said, he must be in financial trouble and looking for a very rich sucker.

Also, asking an outrageous amount for a white elephant of a house gets a lot more publicity. We all would have completely forgotten about this mess if he hadn't raised the price, which gets everyone talking about it again

Very good point, R128.

DesegregateCT will push for state to take property under eminent domain, then turn it into "affordable housing".

Some of the poor and homeless would refuse to live in it. The place gives off bad vibes.

Yes, R128. This hideous house currently has the highest asking price in the entire state. The second most expensive one is $41.5 million.

R33, your comment just tickles me. So wry and perfect and funny. I would like to microwave some popcorn with you, carefully avoid the pillar, and find a place to watch a movie with castles in it.

How do you feel about Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer?

Whoops! I meant R43. I hope we have enough popcorn.