When a Mega-Mansion Runs Over Budget (The New York Times)

When Ziad Ghandour was planning to build a dream house for his family in Los Angeles he decided to go big — really big. At 35,500 square feet, the home would be one of the largest in a city filled with large homes.

Now, nearly a decade and $20 million later, Mr. Ghandour said his dream house has turned out to be a nightmare.

Construction began in 2012 and was supposed to take two years to complete. Mr. Ghandour said it ended up taking nearly five, and the original cost of $13 million grew by an additional $7 million. Fixing the remaining structural and cosmetic problems, he said, could run in the millions on top of that. “The meter is still running.”