30 October 2008 - 18:06Dictators’ Homes

 

Saddam….

You have probably seen the pictures of the inside of Saddam Hussain’s palaces that appeared after the fall of Baghdad.  But have you ever wondered what Idi Amin’s place looked like?  Did you ever ask yourself what Joseph Stalin’s or Adolph Hitler’s decorators were able to whip up for them on limitless budgets? You probably know what  Imelda Marcos’ closets were full of, but what did the rest of her house look like?  Or that burning question, did General Franco have good taste?  Well, now you can find out how they and a number of other tyrants from around the world decorated their homes.  It’s all in a fascinating and hilarious book by Peter York called Dictators’ Homes.

 

The author begins with the following question.  Even the wealthiest individuals face constraints when designing their dream house.  But what if you are an absolute ruler? Not only do you have a limitless budget and unlimited access to the resources of the country, but should some member of the zoning board or an obnoxious neighbour complain about your plans, you could have them and their families shot.  And certainly there would be no disagreements with contractors or trouble with decorators.  So what did all this unlimited power produce?  The answer is that like the regimes themselves at best mediocrity, and at worst a nightmare.

 

Lenin….

Franco…

The dictators span the twentieth century and as one would expect, while there is no uniformity of decorating style, there are strong family resemblances.  Having said that, the houses vary in style from the austere and simple styles of Lenin and Hitler through the grandiose décor favored by Franco, who demonstrated that it was possible to be a fascist and still have communist taste, to the flamboyance of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos’ place that looks like it was decorated by Liberace while on LSD.  But the hands down worst house is Saddam Hussain’s, a place so hideous that even Elvis would have been embarrassed to call it home. Who knows what the style is.  Baghdad Regency?   Early Halloween?  Some rooms look like they were influenced by an adult comic book version of Aladdin?  If Sadam hadn’t already shot his decorator, the Americans should have for crimes against good taste.

Marcos…..

The coverage of the houses is uneven.  Some dictators allowed their houses to be extensively photographed while others were more secretive.  But even where there are relatively few images, the author has interesting, funny and shocking stories to tell about the houses and their owners.  And, in the spirit of the times, the author concludes with ten rules on how to achieve the Dictator Look.

More Saddam….

 

 

1.  Make it oversize.  Huge spaces and furniture to match huge egos.

 

2.  Buy reproductions because the real thing is too small, too old and too shabby.

 

3.  Go French, the taste of the nouveau riches for the past one hundred and fifty years.

 

4.  Make it look as much like a hotel as possible.

 

5.  Use as much gold as possible.

 

6.  Have at least one huge chandelier in each room.

 

7.  Use as much marble as possible.

 

8.  The only art worth displaying is nineteenth century French.

 

9.  The only exception to rule number 8 is portraits of oneself.

 

10.  Display luxury brand names wherever possible.

 

Even a brief glance at this list reminds one that you don’t have to be a Dictator to want the Dictator Look.  It has been, is and probably always will be the style of those with more money and power than taste.

 

 

[Dictators’ Homes is written by Peter York and published by Atlantic Books in 2006]