Tiger Planning Modest 9,000-Square Foot House

by Mulligan Stu on Apr 20, 2007 2:19 PM EDT Comment 0 comments

When is a 9,000-square foot house considered modest? When it's being built by one of the world's wealthiest athletes, in one of the world's wealthiest neighborhoods. And when it will be dwarfed by some of the houses on the same block.

Tiger Woods and wife Elin Nordegren have filed paperwork with the city of Palm Beach, Fla., for the work they plan to have done on the 12-acre estate Woods purchased in early 2006.

That estate sits on Jupiter Island, Fla., an area sometimes called "the most expensive ZIP Code in America." Woods paid nearly $40 million for the property, which came with four houses, including a massive main house and a 6,000-square-foot "mother-in-law" suite.

The existing property owned by Tiger.
(Photo: Palm Beach Post)

But hey, Tiger's a modest guy. He plans to tear down all those existing homes and replace them with one 9,000-square-foot house, plus a second smaller building.

Jeff Newell, the "building boss" in Palm Beach (the man in charge of the department that gives the thumbs-up or -down to new building projects), told the Palm Beach Post:

"By our standards here, this is a modest project. He's not pushing the envelope like some residents do when they build here."

The Post had a look at the building plans, and offers this report:

First observation: The home will be seen by only a selected few, unless there's trespassing involved. The 9,729-square-foot, two-story main house is smack-dab in the middle of a 12-acre tropical forest that stretches from the beach to the Intracoastal.

"Obviously, this is someone who likes his privacy," said town building boss Jeff Newell. "Whether from South Beach Road or the Intracoastal, no one will know whether he's there or not. No one will even know that there's a house."

Second: The home is modest, almost nondescript, at least on paper. No Palm Beach-style castle. No McMansion. No flourishing Mizner job. The artist's rendition shows a simple, yet modern-looking building with giant windows on one side and barely any on the other.

The main home will be connected to a 6,400-square-foot gym-media room-bar with a glass-covered walkway. There's an elevator. A reflecting pond. A library and a children's playroom. A weirdly skinny lap pool. And a steel roof.

But from the outside, the place looks like a northern European part-brick, part-concrete motel or government building.

Hmm, looks like a motel ... or government building? How insulting. Tiger's neighbors - who include Celine Dion and Greg Norman - are probably happy they won't be able to see it.