# How much would a Versailles-like palace cost today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626 "2009-02-13T01:28:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/1 "2009-02-13T01:28:38Z")
Suppose Obama convinced Congress that it’s past time we had a gigantic presidential palace, and they allocated the funds to build one. If it were nearly the same size and stocked with nearly the same level of decorations (such as all the gold and jewelry), although with new artwork, not priceless originals. How much would this cost? I realize that there is not one definite answer to this, but the Dope is always a good place to have hypothetical discussions that are at least ballpark-accurate. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/2 "2009-02-13T03:37:56Z")
Versailles was actually largely restored in 1923 by funding by the John D Rockefeller Foundation, for $1,000,000. Presuming that building it would cost no more than double that and bringing up to 2009 value would be something like $25 million. Not too bad, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/3 "2009-02-13T03:54:11Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Versailles was actually largely restored in 1923 by funding by the John D Rockefeller Foundation, for $1,000,000. Presuming that building it would cost no more than double that and bringing up to 2009 value would be something like $25 million. > > Not too bad, actually. That’s not taking inflation into account, though. The Biltmore estate (which is awesome and pretty Versailles-like itself) only cost around $7 million at the time, if I recall correctly. Also, if personal experience is any guide, I know a couple people with multi-million dollar houses—they aren’t that big (and not gold-plated on the inside, either). There’s just no way you could get something like that done today for that kind of money. You also forgot to triple the cost due to it being a government project. 😉 Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/4 "2009-02-13T05:07:50Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Versailles was actually largely restored in 1923 by funding by the John D Rockefeller Foundation, for $1,000,000. Presuming that building it would cost no more than double that and bringing up to 2009 value would be something like $25 million. > > Not too bad, actually. Adjusting for inflation $1 million in 1923 dollars works out to roughly $120.5 million in today’s money. So, $241 million or thereabouts. I imagine Air Force One has a pretty similar price tag. IIRC, some of the homes in the Hamptons have a similar price tag. [And this house with 3.5 acres of **marble** , is probably in the same ballpark.](http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/inside_the_house_of_an_extremely_rich_person_12493.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/5 "2009-02-13T05:19:34Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Adjusting for inflation $1 million in 1923 dollars works out to roughly $120.5 million in today’s money. So, $241 million or thereabouts. I imagine Air Force One has a pretty similar price tag. IIRC, some of the homes in the Hamptons have a similar price tag. [And this house with 3.5 acres of **marble** , is probably in the same ballpark.](http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/inside_the_house_of_an_extremely_rich_person_12493.asp) I just used the first online inflation calculator Google brought up. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/6 "2009-02-13T05:21:52Z")
I can’t find the cite but I heard that it would be the equivilent of a city airport. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/7 "2009-02-13T05:22:12Z")
Would this be in Washington DC? ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/8 "2009-02-13T05:23:02Z")
> [@Vox\_Imperatoris](#): > > You also forgot to triple the cost due to it being a government project. 😉 Yup. It just seems building one of these things today would be incredibly inefficient. You’d have to find special craftsmen. Who’d probably be in Unions. And think their unique skill is worth of $200/hr (or the contractors who’ll hire them will take $155/hr out of that and pass $45 on). I imagine the project today would be enormously expensive, much more than it would have back in the day. I’m sometimes scared what various projects seem to cost these days. I’ve heard it estimated that if you managed to buy a 747, you’d need to spend another $100m to renovate it inside. Wtf? 2,000 man years? I really think it’s the intrinsic inefficiency of the system rather than modern high wages. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/9 "2009-02-13T05:48:28Z")
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/06/AR2007100601450.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/06/AR2007100601450.html) It might go like this. It cost a ton with contracting out people who used forced labor. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/10 "2009-02-13T05:58:32Z")
The American Embassy in Baghdad cost over 1 billion. That is a pretty big project at any time in history. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/11 "2009-02-13T06:39:26Z")
I had a tour in versailles last year and they told me that a lot of the paintings and furniture were gifts from other states, local counties etc coming to court for favours. I bet that over time, the hypothetical Obama Presidential Palace would get more Versaille-like. Also, a couple of the decorations have gotten cheaper over time. The mirrors of the Mirror hall would cost a fraction today of what they cost back in the 1700s. I wonder if the artisanship would cost about the same today. What is the rate for a painter of exquisite murals or crown moldings these days? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/12 "2009-02-13T15:26:44Z")
Hearst Castle might be a rough American analogue to Versailles. It cost about $10m to build and furnish from 1919-47, including its amazing art collection. It includes several buildings with a total of 90K sq ft. and 56 (!) bedrooms: > **[Hearst Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Castle)** > > Hearst Castle, known formally as La Cuesta Encantada (Spanish for "The Enchanted Hill"), is a historic estate in San Simeon, located on the Central Coast of California. Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his architect Julia Morgan, the castle was built between 1919 and 1947. Today, Hearst Castle is a museum open to the public as a California State Park and registered as a National Historic Landmark and California Historical Landmark. > George Hearst, William Rando... Build it today and you’d probably have to triple the budget, if it could be built at all. But there’s nothing contractors like to hear more than “Price is no object!” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/13 "2009-02-13T15:30:29Z")
I think our starting point should be finding out how much acreage Versailles occupies, and finding the price of similar acreage in suburban Washington. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/14 "2009-02-13T15:51:00Z")
If the Presidential Palace was a close replica of the Palace at Versailles, it would have no bathrooms (per the recent “diapers in the Middle Ages” here in GQ). So that would save some money 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/15 "2009-02-13T16:46:32Z")
I think the restoration of [Windsor Castle](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/31069.stm) is a good parallel here. Not only is the Windsor fire relatively recent, but the fire destroyed many of the grandest rooms in the castle (in total, more than 100 rooms). The restoration itself took 5 years, from 1993 to 1998, and cost £40 million. Granted, the bulk of that £40 million was to restoring the interior of the castle, as the superstructure remained intact, so it would probably cost a bit more than that to secure a suitable plot of land, build the building and gardens etc. (Seeing the restoration, it’s also quite impressive that so many master craftsmen, capable of such work, still exist!) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/16 "2009-02-13T16:50:14Z")
A big question is whether you want to construct the building using traditional methods or using modern methods. For example, you could probably build it today using steel and concrete more quickly and cheaply than the original building was constructed out of hand-carved stone blocks. Carved wood decoration could be reproduced using a milling machine. Ornamental plaster could be replaced by prefabricated molded pieces (which you can buy at Home Depot today). ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/17 "2009-02-13T17:19:24Z")
I read a number of years ago an article where they estimated the cost of rebuilding various famous monuments, amongst others Versailles. I don’t remember anymore the cost mentioned but it was way higher than the figure listed so far. More importantly, the article began by mentioning that all the costs assumed modern materials (like concrete, for instance) or lower quality industrial reproductions, because building them like the originals would be plainly impossible, since according to them there aren’t enough qualified craftsmen (gilders, woodcarvers, stonecutters, whatever) in the whole world nowadays to build an identical copy of any of the listed monuments. So, for instance if you were to make again the chandeliers at Versailles, you would have to monopolize all the companies still making such high end glass products for a veerryyy long time. Same for the marble carvings of the Taj Mahal, etc… ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/18 "2009-02-13T17:37:03Z")
I found a figure for the current program of renovation in Versailles. It will last 17 years, and 180 millions will be spent during the first 7 years, so it would put the renovation cost at something like 440 millions. That’s for a mere restoration. I don’t dare to imagine how much _building_ it from scratch would cost. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/19 "2009-02-13T17:57:16Z")
At 11 hectares, you’d need 27 acres of land. At 51,210 square meters of floor space, that’s 551, 220 square feet. Over 2000 windows, 6000 paintings, 15,000 engravings, over 2000 pieces of sculpture, 5000 pieces of furniture and objets d’art. What about those ginormous reflecting pools? Being of the pre-electric, pre-running water era we’d save money there. OTOH chandeliers etc. ain’t cheap. I imagine it would be over $1B easily. > **[Palace of Versailles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles)** > > The Palace of Versailles (/vɛərˈsaɪ, vɜːrˈsaɪ/ vair-SY, vur-SY; French: Château de Versailles \[ʃɑto d(ə) vɛʁsɑj\] ⓘ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about 19 kilometers (12 mi) west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, under the direction of the French Ministry of Culture, by the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles. About 15,000,000 people visit the pal Lou... [http://www.acrestohectares.com/](http://www.acrestohectares.com/) [Mel Brooks]It’s good to be the king![/Mel Brooks] ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626/20 "2009-02-13T19:45:58Z")
One thing I’m curious about is how much of Versailles was built with hard currency. There was more barter then wasn’t there? I’d imagine that being appointed royal architect was lucrative in the long run even if you didn’t get payed an hourly rate. Also calling yourself a ‘craftsman to the king’ probably carried more cachet than it would today. I wouldn’t be surprised if position and reputation weren’t a bigger part of the compensation package. I also wonder how much of the decorations might come from the national treasury? If we decorated Obamasailles with gold from fort knox that was still considered part of the gold reserves it wouldn’t cost much. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-a-versailles-like-palace-cost-today/485626.md?page=2)