Palaces of the Week

With the real-estate market in such disarray and the word recession pounding in our ears lately, you might expect the realty pages of the local newspapers to tone down their House of the Week features. But maybe there's something in an economic downturn that makes a mansion that much more gawkable. The Courier-Journal of Louisville is touting the Leichleiter home in Mockingbird Valley, just east of Kentucky's biggest city. The Valley has the highest per capita income in Kentucky, and the tenth highest in the United States. Fittingly, the Leichleiters' is a 5,200-square-foot colonial where personal space is the focus of the design. The elder daughter's room, gushes the C-J, is "pure girl"--purple and pink with white wrought-iron twin beds and a fuchsia chaise. The master of the house, the CEO of a healthcare company, keeps a library with leather-covered walls that "exude masculinity."

The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, offers a Spanish colonial filled with "old California charm." On the block at $15 million, this 10,116-square-footer has 23-foot ceilings. Outside are a pool, barn, and paddock.

Homes like these are more House of the Year than House of the Week. Or maybe House of the Boom that Was.