From the White House to the Tower of London: Replicas of Western landmarks are springing up in the most unlikely places
There is a clone of the White House in Virginia, Vietnam and even Iraq, while in China you can find the Tower of London, Mount Rushmore and the entire Austrian alpine village of Hallstatt
Wednesday 29 October 2014
Those who have suggested that Iraq has been the 51st state of America for more than a decade might, at first, find themselves concerned upon learning that a version of the White House is under construction in the country's northern Kurdistan region.
But this isn't Barack Obama's way to further stake a claim over the land; the work-in-progress replica of the President's Washington DC residence is actually the project of Shihab N Shihab, a Kurdish businessman who has long admired the "beauty and simplicity" of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and now wants to create his own to live in.
Shihab, 58, has spent more than $20m (£12.3m) on his new home, which is due to be completed in about four months' time and will include a cinema, swimming pool and gold leaf banisters.
Expensive? Sure. But Shibab has put a positive spin on his huge investment. "I get to keep my bedroom for the rest of my life while Obama has to vacate it when his term ends," he cheerily told Bloomberg.
Somewhat astonishingly, Shibab's is not the first clone of the White House to spring up. You can also find its famous Greek marble columns in McLean, Virginia, where an anonymous Vietnamese engineer built his own version after immigrating. Another can be found in Hangzhou, China.
A copy of Mount Rushmore at a park in Chongqing, China (Getty)
The Chinese famously adore replicating landmarks. Across its vast land you can find the Tower of London, Mount Rushmore and the entire Austrian alpine village of Hallstatt.
Another Chinese businessman enthralled with Western architecture, Zhang Yuchen, copied Paris's 17th-century Baroque triumph – Chateau de Maisons-Laffitte – in 2012. Chateau Zhang Laffitte is a functioning hotel that used the original blueprints and 10,000 photos of the building as a guide.
"It cost me $50m [£30m] but that's because we made so many improvements compared with the original," Mr Zhang told The New York Times. "I considered Versailles but that was just too big."
The entire Austrian alpine village of Hallstatt has been recreated in China (Rex)
One couple who refused to be defeated by the extravagant one-time home of Marie Antoinette was David and Jackie Siegel, whose attempt to build a replica palace in Windermere, Florida, featured in the award-winning documentary Queen of Versailles.
The self-made billionaire and his wife were forced to abandon work on their new digs in 2009 after the recession drained their funds. But fans of gaudy models will be thrilled to know that the couple have secured the extra cash they needed and they hope to complete it next year.
And if you lack the millions that such constructions cost, why not just wander around Las Vegas, where tacky copycats line the arid streets. Failing that, there's always Legoland to fill your boots.
Will explain back story to fictional kingdom Westeros
Arts & Ents blogs
- 1 It's not hard to see why Palawan was voted the best island in the world
- 2 Hugh Jackman skin cancer: Actor treated for basal cell carcinoma on his nose for third time in under a year
- 3 Sex with more than 20 women 'reduces risk of prostate cancer'
- 4 Katie Price: Oscar Pistorius sent me 'chit-chat' messages during murder trial
- 5 Kentucky gang rape: 15-year-old boy left in critical condition after sexual attack by group at party
-
Interstellar review: Christopher Nolan's new blockbuster is a true epic
-
This is what a film sex scene actually looks like on set (mostly awkward)
-
Cumberbacklash: Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange angers Marvel fans
-
American Horror Story, Massacres and Matinees, review: Twisted yet weirdly compelling with hints of Glee
-
Downton Abbey season 5 episode 6 - review: Thomas and Lady Edith show sad signs of the times
-
Pope Francis declares evolution and Big Bang theory are real and God isn't 'a magician with a magic wand'
-
Huge surge in Ukip support after EU funding row, according to new poll
-
Ukip ‘exploiting grooming scandal’ to secure party’s first police chief
-
Nigel Farage: 'There’s nothing wrong with white people blacking up'
-
Tony Blair 'says Ed Miliband will lose 2015 general election'
-
Muslims, immigration and teenage pregnancy: British people are ignorant about almost everything
Follow Simon Calder's journey in Cuba
As winter takes hold in Britain, sunny days and warm nights await in the Cuba.
Playing a strong hand
How mobile technology has changed the instant trading game
i100: A single mother on benefits who became one of the world's most successful authors
11 rags-to-riches underdog success stories
Made of London Series
England’s most-capped player tells 50 lucky Evening Standard readers at The Counting House that Stuart Lancaster can lead his team to World Cup glory next year.
From medieval to ultramodern
Mons is embracing the future as it prepares for its role as next year’s European Capital of Culture, but it’s also steeped in intriguing history. Philip Sweeney explores its two sides
Lines Ruled
Lines ruled at New York Fashion Week as highlighter stripes took centre stage. Emma McCarthy gets next season’s look now.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.