The 'Queen of Versailles' Says They're Still Gonna Finish That House

Jackie Siegel and her husband (time-share magnate David Siegel), the stars of the 2012 recessionary classic The Queen of Versailles, say they’re still working on their monstrosity of a house and in fact their plans are grander than ever. Truly, happy days are here again, America!

The Siegels started work on their Florida palace in the frothy, credit-backed days of 2004. It was to be the largest single family home in America, attracting a documentary crew to cover the building. But then of course the economy collapsed, the movie took a dark turn, and it looked like the project was done for. Out of cash to fund their Waterloo of taste, the Siegels put the unfinished shell on the market. But nobody wanted it, and business supposedly picked back up again (for people like the Siegels, anyway) and so in 2013 they supposedly restarted construction, aiming for a 2015 completion date. Jackie even gave CNBC’s Secret Lives of the Super Rich a walking tour of their raw hunk of timber.

Well, it’s 2015, and it’s still not done. Not even close! But Yahoo’s The Insider says they’re working on the house, which Jackie Siegel continuing to promise grand things:

“The Insider” just checked in with the Siegels, who resumed work on Versailles some time ago, and learned from Jackie that “if I have my way, it’s going to be bigger.” (She and David may need to get on the same page there; he told the Orlando Business Journal that “It’s already big enough as it is.”)

Completion is projected for “between two and two and a half years,” David said. Jackie had originally hoped to have his 80th birthday party there, even if the house wasn’t ready to move in — but judging from footage shot by “The Insider,” we suspect it’s not going to happen. His birthday is May 3.

The Insider notes that recent pictures don’t seem to show much progress, but hey—Neuschwanstein wasn’t built in a day. (And in fact before the Bavarian king building it could finish, various family members had him declared insane. Just something to think about.)