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Hmmmmmm, Class Warfare anyone? Where is the Revolution?

After five years of waiting, we can finally see what $87 million will buy in Orange County. Villa del Lago – priced to sell, obviously, with a value equal to
that of 205 O.C. homes at the $425,000 median price – is shaping up
just as promised, its stately main house rising amid a lake, a
vineyard, a tennis court and equestrian stables.

Though still unfinished and not open for viewing, the grounds were photographed last week through open gates and from hillsides below and above the property.

Developed by John McMonigle of Monarch Estates, the Pelican Hill palace first made headlines in 2005, when its asking price was just $50 million. Even then, amid a roaring housing market, real estate experts
doubted the 12.5-acre property could sell for such a towering sum.

The full price would nearly match the nation's most lucrative sale ever – the $90 million Maison de L'Amitie in Palm Beach sold by Donald Trump in 2008 – and would obliterate Orange County's priciest sale, a
$35 million Newport Harbor manse sold by actor Nicolas Cage the same year.

Officials with Monarch and Newport Beach-based McMonigle Group did not return requests for comment, but have said previously the $87 million price is merely a "placeholder."

Repeated price increases have raised eyebrows from commentators who suggest it's an attempt to inflate the value. The project is also behind schedule – perhaps partly because of the housing downturn – with
officials once promising it would be finished by summer 2007.

As Monarch notes in promotional literature, the acreage is remarkable for the area. "In a place where land is scarce, Villa del Lago offers it in abundance," Monarch says.

However, the quantity of the land may exceed its quality – the view is mainly of city lights and canyon, with a sliver of ocean visible in the distance.

Still, officials seem confident the 16,700-square-foot home and its impressive surroundings will become a lasting piece of residential art, advertising the property with this bit of poetry: "In a time when
impermanence reigns, Villa del Lago promises to become a landmark,
proudly handed down from generation to generation."

But in a time when far-more-modest mansions spend years on the market, it also promises to be a tough sell.