Moscow's Wealthiest Suburb, a Graveyard of Ridiculous, Tacky, Decaying Mansions No One Wants To Buy (Russian TV News)

Moscow's richest neighborhood of Rublyovka used to be the haunt of the new billionaire class.

Now its a hopeless hodgepodge of disastrous mega-mansions that are falling apart, a complete disaster.

Transcript below.

Transcript: 

Rubylovka - there is no such territorial unit on the map of the capital region (Moscow), but the fame of this piece of land near Moscow is far beyond the country's borders.

Back in the early 2000's, one of the estates on Rubylovka was one of the five most expensive houses in the world. 

And this, of course, was a palace, one of those they are vainly trying to sell today. 

One of the houses was put up, according to the criteria of Rubylovka, at a bargain price: 1.5 thousand square meters are sold for 1 billion, 200 million rubles (1.6 million dollars).  In addition, all bronze deer, bears, crystal candelabra, expensive furniture, and even Rolls-Royce are included, just pick them up. 

But there is no buyer - the house is outdated morally and physically. 

"Now it's more about being practical, ergonomic, economical. The area is usually 500 - 700 square meters. If the house has four bedrooms, then it needs at least three bathrooms, but earlier, in older houses, there was only one. " 

According to real estate agents, almost 80% of housing near the Rublevo-Uspensky highway does not meet modern requirements. Designers cannot define the style of many houses; their architectural designs are absurd.  

This house is also for sale, it occupies the entire plot of land. 

"This is also very strange for housing that is valued at half a million dollars. From your backyard, you can only see sky and a fence." 

Old-timers like Sergey remember Zhukovka when it was still a village, and in the place of the luxury-level shopping center, there was a post office, and next to it was a general store where they sold sprats in tomato sauce. 

"There was nothing, just quiet and peace." 

"What did they sell in the general store?" 

"Fish in tomato sauce, 'tourist breakfast', macaroni, caramel..." 

"Now you cannot find the same?" 

"I think you will not be able to find these products here." 

Everything changed in the early 90's when monumental buildings began to appear next to village houses and modest, by today's standards, cottages of distinguished scientists.  Their construction was controlled by men of the strong physique with massive chains around their necks and in jackets of the color of bricks. They were mainly inspired by low-class poetry that was easily understandable and for the malice of the day. 

"Don't shoot each other..." 

They stopped shooting. Then the 'rasberry jackets' remained only in folklore. They went abroad, they saw the Louvre and the Versailles. 

The architect Amalia recalls the orders that came from those who wished to settle on Rubylovka. 

"They asked, for example, a copy of the Paris Rodin Museum, just a bit smaller. Around 3 times smaller.

They are already fixed proportions! We cannot take it and squeeze it.

Why not? Let's squeeze it and pull on this facade. " 

The architectural race began to be insane, as well as the fantasies of the new owners. There were parties almost every day. 

"I was amazed when I was performing in one of the palaces, and there was a barman who had a pemanent job there. That was the latest fashion trend." 

Columns are a must, and one must have more than his neighbor.  An area of 5 thousand square meters was designed for a family of three. Some rooms have not been visited for years. 

The inhabitants of Rubylovka implemented their vision of beauty by enriching the building materials market. This competition for luxury combined the incompatible. 

"Police could live next to some prominent bandits, and they were chasing each other, but not there..." 

Today, in this reservation for millionaires, a new trend is to collect money. 

It is impossible to bring the estates built in the 90's to new realities. In addition, the buyer became interested in village fees and home maintenance. 

Singer Alena Kravec doesn't give up on fashion. 

"Gas, electricity is a big expense. No less than 2 cleaning ladies because one cleaning lady cannot manage to clean everything. It's not realistic, you need to be a robot to do it. " 

It's the same, neighbors living in compact homes, the inhabitant living for 17 years do not understand them. 

"I couldn't live in such a 'box' of a home. Look at our copper roof, everything is copper, neighbors are jealous." 

Land for construction is almost not allocated in a prestigious area near Moscow. Rubylovka is built up with palaces, like Rio with favelas. 

The discounts on the sale of estates are crazy, they reach up to 50 percent, only there are not buyers - it is too expensive to free the site from construction waste after breaking a luxurious and useless palace. 

Thus, in the Rubylovka karaoke bar the main hit is like before Vladimirovsk central (a famous song about jail time).