Others have multimillion-dollar houses that were grossly underassessed.

Ms. Krone lives in this sprawling township with its growing number of horse farms and multimillion-dollar houses.

Faxes, computers and multimillion-dollar houses have made the Hamptons a virtual extension of Manhattan.

"I'm afraid of those things," said Joel Sommer, a Maryland builder who infuses his multimillion-dollar houses with high technology.

In Florida, bankruptcy does not necessarily mean poverty, since state law allows debtors to shield their homes from creditors, even multimillion-dollar houses.

She sat in her two-story living room here, where floor-to-ceiling windows look out onto a pond in a guarded, gated enclave of multimillion-dollar houses.

It is being advertised as a tear-down because it is in a neighborhood of newer and much larger multimillion-dollar houses.

Fine, as long as the market for multimillion-dollar houses stays strong.

Despite the slowing economy, he had no trouble finding buyers for what, depending on their size and accouterments, will be multimillion-dollar houses, he said.

For Mr. Steinman, the cost of the stone accounts for 15 percent of the overall budget for his multimillion-dollar house.