Strange Estates... Part II

We talked last week about my experiences with the nouveau riche, let's talk a little about the other class. The real people, beset by real problems but a whole lot more interesting than their "monied" cousins.

We responded to a couple of other estate calls last week. After we had settled down from our lecture by the trophy wife with the priceless silver collection we arrived at a low-key tract home in the East Bay area. Although it had none of the pretense of the "gated" household, this place too was a total wreck.

At least half of it was.

Throughout the home's six rooms a line had been painted. At some times imaginary, in some parts of the house - an actual white line. On one side of the room, the mess I mentioned and a decidedly male collection of guns, deer heads, tools and other items. The other side had a distinctly feminine feeling to it.

My host was in his early 40s. He was watching me take it all in.

"My parent's house," he said with a shrug. "They were divorced for the last 15 years of their marriage but continued to live together anyway. Probably didn't know any other way."

It was a strange feeling being inside that house, but it had a quirky sensibility to it I liked.

"Dad stayed on his side of the place, mom on hers," the son told me. "The strange thing of it was they both seemed happier that way."

It was a cool story and a great housecall. I ended up buying several things. But I can't seem to shake the memories of those two people, and wonder if they have a line drawn between them up in heaven.

Dr. Carr's Car: A REAL Barn Burner

Just got a call from "The Brigadier," my London pal and resident U.K. antiques expert, and he says the automotive world is buzzing with news about that Bugatti they just found - and sold - for a record number this week.

Dr. Harold Carr died childless in 2007 at the age of 89 and no one knew what he had stored away in his dusty garage. Estate agents found a 1937 Bugatti 57S Atalante, one of 17 in existence, along with the rat and bat droppings and, as soon as word got out, the antique car dealers started lining up.

The Bugatti, a black two-seater, was delivered to Earl Howe, the first president of the British Racing Drivers’ Club and a winner of the 24 Hour Le Mans race, soon after it was completed on May 5, 1937. He kept the car for eight years, adding personal touches including a luggage rack, after which it changed hands a couple of times before Dr. Carr bought it from Lord Ridley, a member of the Northumberland gentry, in 1955.

He drove the car for a few years, but he parked it in the 60s. The Brigadier says it has exceptional originality, retaining original chassis, engine and drivetrain. Even the odometer gives a mileage of only 26,284, although the vehicle is almost 72 years old.

"It's an amazing piece of machinery," The General says. "When it was built most cars were doing only 50 mph or so - with tailwind. This beauty could do 120."

It could also do a million, $4.4 million to be precise, when the car went on the block at Bonhams Friday.