Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more
Jackie Siegel, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Versailles,” has shared a first look at the interior of her 90,000 square-foot mansion, which is more than 20 years in the making.
The construction of Siegel’s mansion — one of the largest single-family homes in America, based on France’s Palace of Versailles and the top floors of Las Vegas’s Paris Hotel — has been well-documented since she and her late husband of 25 years, Westgate timeshare magnate David Siegel, broke ground on the project in 2004. The 2012 documentary film The Queen of Versailles, along with the one-season 2022 reality show Queen of Versailles Reigns Again, followed the couple as they famously had to pause construction during the 2008 stock market crash, resuming in 2013 once they had reestablished their fortune.
Speaking to The Independent about the brand new Broadway musical based on her life (also titled The Queen of Versailles), Siegel shared an update on the status of the home she began building over two decades ago.
“I really haven’t been allowed to show anyone,” she shared of the home’s progress. “I don’t know if it’s that I’m not allowed, but I’m not supposed to be showing the inside of Versailles, I think probably for PR reasons, until the grand reveal.
“But I will show you a little sneak peek,” she said.
open image in gallery
Jackie Siegel’s 90,000 square-foot mansion, named Versailles, is nearing completion (Jackie Siegel)
open image in gallery
Jackie Siegel shared an exclusive first look at the nearly completed interior of her living room in Versailles (Jackie Siegel)
Siegel shared one photo posing outside of her soon-to-be home in a tight-fitting red top, jeans, and white flip flops — before revealing a first look at her living room.
The angle of the photo gives a glimpse into just how vast the home’s floor plan is. The ceiling is designed with gold detailing to match the trim of the walls and stairs. Floor-to-ceiling windows, some still with plastic or paper coverings, span the entire upper floor. Separate staircases — still covered in paper, likely to protect the delicate floors — on either side of the upstairs hallway unite in the middle to lead down to the living room.
Pictured underneath an ornate chandelier in the room’s center are Siegel and her dog, Mochi, barely visible from the photo’s vantage point atop the steps.
“I don’t have the railings yet because my railings are in China and the taxes are so high right now,” she explained.
“I’m gonna have to pay like two or three times the amount,” she continued, adding that there are “fake railings” installed temporarily.
The home, rumored to cost about $100 million to complete, boasts 14 bedrooms and 30 bathrooms, along with five kitchens, a 150-person event hall, a 35-car garage, and a British-style pub, among other lavish amenities.
open image in gallery
Siegel says the railings needed to complete her grand staircase are in China because taxes are ‘so high’ (Tom Richell/The Independent)
Siegel claimed her late husband, who died in April at age 89, was the mastermind behind the entire plan.
David and his ex-wife were high school sweethearts, married for 27 years. They built a 67,000 square-foot mansion on Lake Butler near Walt Disney World in Florida — the same lake that her Versailles is built upon.
While David and his ex were still living in the home, “Michael Jackson offered to buy his house. He was there with Lisa Marie Presley,” Siegel claimed, adding that the singer offered $100 million for the home.
David’s ex wasn’t willing to sell, Siegel said, explaining that his ex “was obsessed with the house.”
When the couple divorced, Siegel said the ex-wife retained the home. A few years later, when David met Siegel, he decided he wanted to build Versailles.
“First of all, I thought it was crazy that he was giving a house a name,” Siegel said. “I mean, who names a house? I grew up in a $20,000 house,” the Endwell, New York, native continued.
“He would always tell me the story that building the mansion with his ex-wife broke up their marriage,” she said. “He said, ‘This house is getting out of control. Prove to me that you love me and stop construction on the house.’ And she looks at him and she says, ‘I can’t.’
“And she finished the house and gave up their marriage,” Siegel said. “I wasn’t gonna let that happen to me and my husband. So we just never finished construction.”
She recalled that David “wanted to be the one with the biggest house at the end, not his ex-wife.”
“This was his baby,” she said of their nearly finished palace. “Now, well, he’s here as my guardian angel.”
