In the Doghouse, Please

Sept. 27, 2007 — -- Can't get enough distressing news about the real-estate meltdown? "20/20" found one area where the housing market is booming. But this property isn't for human occupancy, it's for dogs.

The late Leona Helmsley's pampered pooch, Trouble, stands to inherit $12 million. But the Maltese has no home of her own. For $6,000, however, Trouble could nibble her kibble in one of Manhattan designer Betsy Boggs' high-end canine creations.

"The dome is all bent carved wood, and this is gold leafing, hand-done, it's all been varnished, so the red comes through, and then an upholsterer comes and puts on the velvet," Boggs said of the Marie Antoinette model.

To anyone who questions why you'd spend that much on your dog, Boggs replies, "They're ornaments of furniture for your home."

Inspired by Precious, a stray she picked up on a Georgia highway divider, Boggs named her creations Precious Palaces. They're hand-crafted homes designed for the upscale, small-size urban dog.

The Asian-styled Pagoda runs $3,100.

And for a $5,600, your puppy can sleep in his very own Louis XVI-style four-poster bed.

"It's on Velcro, so it can be cleaned easily. It is faux-painted, a little dust ruffle in the cushion, which are all custom, and a beautiful silk brocade," Boggs said.

According to Boggs, the princess of Dubai owns two of the Louis XVI models, one for each of her Pekinese dogs, Killer and Candy.

Then there's a funky model called the The S&M Ottoman.

"It's made out of faux-leather, and it has biker studs around the trim," Boggs said. "It has a nice little link chain, which I bought at the Pleasure Chest in L.A., with a little collar for the puppies."

But the collar isn't necessarily meant for a dog. "It's really for an owner," Boggs said.

A Mansion for Fido

Nothing comes between builder John DesMaris and his dog Calvin. DesMaris considers Calvin his best friend, so it was with great pleasure that DesMaris spent 300 hours building a Rottweiler's paradise that looks like a colonial house. The fancy railings on the porch, the fluted columns, and the stunning slate roof all demonstrate sensational attention to detail.

"Every shingle had to go through a machine and be cut so that it would lay flat," DesMaris said.

In order to build the home, he had to cut 1,040 pieces of the slate roof by hand, but DesMaris has no regrets. "My dog's the most important thing on that level, and for me, the time was well-spent."

Calvin, on the other hand, shows a kind of Yankee reserve about his new home.

"He really didn't care," DesMaris said. "He didn't have too much interest in it, to be honest with you."

But that's not a problem for DesMaris -- he has less to clean if Calvin stays out of the house.

"If someone wanted to spend the $10,000 for it, I could build as many of them as they wanted," DesMaris said.

Calvin's doghouse was inspired by the design of La Petite Maison, a company that makes custom dog houses in addition to children's playhouses.

Michelle Pollak, their interior designer, has received many special requests for these pet dwellings.

"I'll add a chandelier if the client wants it. We'll do marble floors. We'll do custom wallpaper with little hand-painted doggie paw prints. One of the houses that we did, the dogs, I guess, loved music, according to the client, so they had a stereo system put in. So it's kind of like the dog's media room," Pollak said.

This summer, one man in Japan wanted a "Hello Kitty"-themed crystal glass doggie condo, and he was willing to pay more than $33,000 for it. In the "Peanuts" cartoons, Snoopy's doghouse was said to have a spiral staircase, a pool table and an Andrew Wyeth painting. Yet he still slept on top of it.

'It Was Nicer Than Our House'

Snoopy would be astonished by the West Palm Beach doggie mansion that Doc and Debbie Walker bought for their four dogs: two Boxers and two Italian Greyhounds.

"When I looked inside, it was nicer than our house was when we first moved here," Debbie said.

She's not kidding. With paintings, a picket fence, even a view of the water, this is one place where it would be sweet to be "in the doghouse."

"Have you poked your head in there? There's a flat screen, there's a DVD, there's air conditioning, there's a furry couch, there's pillows, there's a carpet," Debbie said.

The Walker's doghouse was built by an outfit called Doggie Mansions. Don Gorbach and his girlfriend came up with idea for the company one night at a dinner.

"Somebody asked me what I was doing now that the real estate's gone to the dogs. And all of a sudden a light bulb went off in my head and my girlfriend's head, and we thought, you know, why shouldn't the real estate market go to the dogs?" Gorbach said.

The Walker's dogs Rugby, Scooby-Doo, Bice and Sox, seem to agree. But they're … you know … dogs. Debbie was afraid to ask her husband how much he spent on the house.

Doc laughed when asked about the price. "This particular model cost us $8,500."

Even if your dog's idea of prime real estate consists of the available space on your bed, the Walkers said building a doggie mansion makes financial sense.

"I think that it absolutely adds value to the house. I think people right now with the market the way it is -- people will look at this as a twist; it's something unique," Debbie said.

Meanwhile, Gorbach would be happy to get a certain high-profile pet named Trouble into a house right now.

"I thing that's probably my next customer," Gorbach said. "I'm trying to find a way to sell her a house. We'll put 'Trouble' on the mailbox, and she'll be all set."