Mansion

Mansions are merely large, expensive houses. That said, it is everyones dream to someday have a mansion of their own, a custom-built luxury home that fits all of your needs and desires. The mansion is the new castle, literally, as the first mansions were built as summer homes for European Royalty.

The word mansion comes from the Latin manere to stay. The Roman mansio was a stopping place along a Roman road. The first mansions as we know them were built in the 16th Century, and were also stopping places; vacation spots for the wealthy sprinkled throughout the country.

We all admire mansions. Programs like "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" and architectural magazines allow glimpses into envious mansions personalized for each character that lives within their sturdy walls. Playground games like "Mansion-Apartment-Shack-House" exemplify the American obsession with the mansion, which starts in early childhood.

The classic American mansion can be found in droves along Fifth Avenue in New York. From the Roman to the Gothic style, many of these mansions have since been demolished but were, in the early 19th century, a sight to behold. Many famous American mansions were built as replicas of European country mansions and many of these pairs can still be matched from across the world.

Technically, realtors term mansions as houses that have at least 8,000 square feet of floor space. Until the twentieth century, European mansions contained ball rooms, billiard rooms, several salons, breakfast rooms, dining rooms, playrooms, music rooms and tens of bedrooms, but were often short on bathrooms. Modern mansions are, simply, big houseswith whatever amenities the builder desires.