Epic egos, petty jealousies, and knock-down, drag-out legal brawls are to be expected when the rich clash over beauty, but the music from Gilligan's Island played a surprising starring role in a blue-chip battle royal like no other in a tony corner of Southern California.
When Amy Gross's mother fell ill, Amy's husband, the investor Bill Gross, bought his wife a $1 million Dale Chihuly: a 9-foot-high-by-22-foot-long sculpture madeup of spheres and wispy blown-glass tubes in cobalt and teal blue. Blue is her mother's favorite color.
They installed it in the backyard of their cliffside Laguna Beach home. Amy said she and her mother started praying to it. "Since I have no children of my own, they are like my babies," she added. So it was upsetting when a sphere got damaged.
Odd, it seemed to her, because "the ball is very, very thick and the glass is strong, like if I kicked it nothing would happen," she texted their neighbor to the north, who in turn suggested that a falling palm frond might have been the culprit. To protect the piece, the Grosses installed steel poles and a net-a soccer goal, more or less.
Their neighbors, tech entrepreneur Mark Towfiq and his wife Carol Nakahara, then noticed that to enjoy the full span of their ocean view from their primary bedroom, they would need to look out over the Grosses' backyard. Over the Chihuly. And its uplighting. And the net. They asked the Grosses to remove the shield, and when they didn't comply, the neighbors complained to the city.
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Denne historien er fra May 2022-utgaven av Town & Country.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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For Your Eyes Only
A small wedding has many charms. Here's the proof
Anatomy of a Classic
Ballet flats have been around since medieval times. They still know how to have fun.
It's the Capital Gains Tax, Stupid
In the battle for billionaire political donations, the presidential election finally turned Silicon Valley into Wall Street without the monocle.
I'll Have What She's Wearing
Refined neutrals, face-framing turtlenecks, a white coat that says: I've got 30 more. Twenty-five years on, Rene Russo's Thomas Crown Affair wardrobe remains the blueprint for grown-up glamour.
Isn't That RICH?
If fragrance is invisible jewelry, how do you smell as if you're wearing diamonds, not cubic zirconia?
THE MACKENZIE EFFECT
A $36 billion fortune made MacKenzie Scott one of the richest women in the world. How shes giving it away makes her fascinating.
Her Roman Empire
Seventeen floors up, across from the Vegas behemoth that bears her name, Elaine Wynn is charting a major cultural future for America's casino capital, and she's doing it from a Michael Smith-designed oasis in the middle of the neon desert.
Are You There, God? I'm at Harvard
Why on earth are a bunch of successful midcareer professionals quitting their jobs and applying to Harvard Divinity School? Hint: It has nothing to do with heaven.
Bryan Stevenson
He has dedicated his life to defending the unfairly incarcerated and condemned. But his vision for racial justice has always been about more than winning in court.
Emma Heming Willis
Once best known as a model and entrepreneur, today shes an advocate for patients and caretakers dealing with an incurable disease—one that hits very close to home. Here, she speaks with Katie Couric about her mission.
