I thought I would devote today’s thoughts to a continuation of my post from last week titled “A PLACE CALLED HOME!” (06/02/2020), in which I referenced an article titled “Titans’ Kevin Byard Buys ‘Forever Home’ For Mother: ‘Stuff Like This Is A Pipe Dream’”.
A related article by Jordi Lippe-McGraw occurred in The New York Post a week earlier on May 30, 2020. This one was titled “Maryland Mansion For Sale Comes With Christmas Village Complete With Cobblestone Streets In Basement”.
It describes an enormous home for sale in Potomac, Maryland that has even more than all those things one might expect from a stately mansion in a luxury neighborhood. Listed at $4.5 million, it comes with five bedrooms, a heated pool, a tennis court, and a library. That is one big house!
But it’s all the features that really make this house so impressive. The foyer sports a grand staircase, the music room has a Steinway piano, and there are floor-to-ceiling bookcases in the library. Moreover, every bedroom has an en-suite bathroom; and there are not one, but two formal dining areas.
If that is not appealing enough, then there is also an entire Christmas village in the basement. It seems that the owners of the red-brick estate decided to transform their 1,216-square-foot lower level into what looks like the Main Street of a quaint winter wonderland.
The listing on Realtor.com includes no less than 94 eye-popping photos, revealing that the first floor comes “complete with stores, cobblestone streets and cars”. We learn that there are 15 “storefront facades”, including a post office, a massage parlor, a sporting goods store, and a cozy-looking inn fitted out with a working bathroom.
Adding to the touch of realism, the “faux” town even has a movie theater with a marquee showing “The Exorcist” and “Mary Poppins”. Along the way, real, life-size vintage cars line the streets. Suitably festive snow covered pine trees, poinsettias, and gingerbread men complete the Christmas décor.
Topping it all off on the lower level is a separate game room with billiards tables, a fireplace and a TV, as well as a hidden garage (which helps move the classic cars in and out the village).
According to the listing agent, the owner “has a very interesting sense of humor, and he wanted something different in his basement. He wanted to make it fun.” He appears to have succeeded.
As I read this article, and looked at the parade of pictures, I begrudgingly had to accept the fact that I will very likely never reside in such a fine mansion – at least not in this world. To do so, I would have to hit it big in the lottery, which is highly unlikely as I never have and never spend my hard-earned money on a lottery ticket.
Beyond this, I would have to discover that some long lost, unknown spinster of an aunt or uncle died and left me a “gazillion” dollars. But let’s be honest, the chances of that happening are even less than my winning the lottery!
But that’s’ okay, because I already have a mansion waiting for me. It too is a really big house located by a river in a capital city – only it's by the River of Life in the New Jerusalem! And the street accompanying my mansion is not made of cobblestones, but of solid gold!
You can read about my mansion in the New Testament. Its builder, Jesus Christ, talks about it there in the Gospel of John, chapter 14. Later, He describes it in great detail to the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation, chapters 21 and 22.
The really great news is that I do not have to worry that I cannot afford this home. It has already been bought and paid for on my behalf. The One Who built it for me absorbed the full cost by sacrificing Himself on my behalf on an old rugged cross. Because of Him, I now get to live forever in a wonderful place called Heaven.
In that sense, my mansion, too, celebrates Christmas, when God sent His one and only Son into this world to seek and save that which was lost!
Of course, what He has done for me He has also done for you! By placing your faith and trust in Him, you, like me, can also be forgiven of your sins and receive the promise of eternal life in Heaven as a result! I hope you have done so. If not, I hope you soon will. It would a terrible thing to miss out on so wonderful a future in so wonderful a place!
STORY SOURCE:
https://nypost.com/2020/05/28/maryland-mansion-has-elaborate-christmas-village-hidden-in-basement/.
SEE ALSO:
https://www.foxnews.com/real-estate/maryland-mansion-for-sale-christmas-village-basement.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/bsb/john/14.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/revelation/21.htm; and https://biblehub.com/niv/revelation/22.htm.
A related article by Jordi Lippe-McGraw occurred in The New York Post a week earlier on May 30, 2020. This one was titled “Maryland Mansion For Sale Comes With Christmas Village Complete With Cobblestone Streets In Basement”.
It describes an enormous home for sale in Potomac, Maryland that has even more than all those things one might expect from a stately mansion in a luxury neighborhood. Listed at $4.5 million, it comes with five bedrooms, a heated pool, a tennis court, and a library. That is one big house!
But it’s all the features that really make this house so impressive. The foyer sports a grand staircase, the music room has a Steinway piano, and there are floor-to-ceiling bookcases in the library. Moreover, every bedroom has an en-suite bathroom; and there are not one, but two formal dining areas.
If that is not appealing enough, then there is also an entire Christmas village in the basement. It seems that the owners of the red-brick estate decided to transform their 1,216-square-foot lower level into what looks like the Main Street of a quaint winter wonderland.
The listing on Realtor.com includes no less than 94 eye-popping photos, revealing that the first floor comes “complete with stores, cobblestone streets and cars”. We learn that there are 15 “storefront facades”, including a post office, a massage parlor, a sporting goods store, and a cozy-looking inn fitted out with a working bathroom.
Adding to the touch of realism, the “faux” town even has a movie theater with a marquee showing “The Exorcist” and “Mary Poppins”. Along the way, real, life-size vintage cars line the streets. Suitably festive snow covered pine trees, poinsettias, and gingerbread men complete the Christmas décor.
Topping it all off on the lower level is a separate game room with billiards tables, a fireplace and a TV, as well as a hidden garage (which helps move the classic cars in and out the village).
According to the listing agent, the owner “has a very interesting sense of humor, and he wanted something different in his basement. He wanted to make it fun.” He appears to have succeeded.
As I read this article, and looked at the parade of pictures, I begrudgingly had to accept the fact that I will very likely never reside in such a fine mansion – at least not in this world. To do so, I would have to hit it big in the lottery, which is highly unlikely as I never have and never spend my hard-earned money on a lottery ticket.
Beyond this, I would have to discover that some long lost, unknown spinster of an aunt or uncle died and left me a “gazillion” dollars. But let’s be honest, the chances of that happening are even less than my winning the lottery!
But that’s’ okay, because I already have a mansion waiting for me. It too is a really big house located by a river in a capital city – only it's by the River of Life in the New Jerusalem! And the street accompanying my mansion is not made of cobblestones, but of solid gold!
You can read about my mansion in the New Testament. Its builder, Jesus Christ, talks about it there in the Gospel of John, chapter 14. Later, He describes it in great detail to the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation, chapters 21 and 22.
The really great news is that I do not have to worry that I cannot afford this home. It has already been bought and paid for on my behalf. The One Who built it for me absorbed the full cost by sacrificing Himself on my behalf on an old rugged cross. Because of Him, I now get to live forever in a wonderful place called Heaven.
In that sense, my mansion, too, celebrates Christmas, when God sent His one and only Son into this world to seek and save that which was lost!
Of course, what He has done for me He has also done for you! By placing your faith and trust in Him, you, like me, can also be forgiven of your sins and receive the promise of eternal life in Heaven as a result! I hope you have done so. If not, I hope you soon will. It would a terrible thing to miss out on so wonderful a future in so wonderful a place!
STORY SOURCE:
https://nypost.com/2020/05/28/maryland-mansion-has-elaborate-christmas-village-hidden-in-basement/.
SEE ALSO:
https://www.foxnews.com/real-estate/maryland-mansion-for-sale-christmas-village-basement.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/bsb/john/14.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/revelation/21.htm; and https://biblehub.com/niv/revelation/22.htm.