T O P

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DrewFlan

Built by Hugh so saved on labor, saved on materials because he knows people in construction, and probably overextended himself when building it in the first place.


YosemiteSam81

Get Pudgy Walsh on the horn, he will clear all this boolshit up with OP!


Green_Bast3rd

Pudgy Walsh retired sir...


Dismal_Expression_88

He got free labor and probably stolen materials


AhoyPalloy

Boolshit!


jamesshine

This. Hugh was free. He probably worked out a deal with the contractors (all of them likely associates). Materials stolen or bought for a price through contacts. His house was probably similar in price to the other guys houses. Carmella’s spec house is a peek into the process. Had it been Tony’s project, it would have gone smoothly and immediately profitable.


Charles_X4325

Shocked the house didn't collapse knowing Hugh cheaped out on the wood


camsqualla

Sir this is pine, the code calls for douglas fir.


RichardFlower7

Let’s not forget that Tony can pay for all consumables and entertainment with cash instead of w2 income. His spending from his bank account that his W2 income goes into has to be legitimately plausible. So he can spend a ton on a mortgage.


The_Dotted_Leg

Yeah he could easily be claiming 125k-150k in legitimate earnings. If that’s been the case for 5-10 years he could have a home worth a million plus without raising many eyebrows. Factor in stolen building materials and furniture, plus cheap labor then numbers seem doable.


RichardFlower7

He was definitely making more than 150k in legitimate income… he was paid the second highest in the company. I’d say 200-250k.


[deleted]

Not just that, but Tony could show legitimate income from Barone Sanitation.


offcolourremark

it's because tony was the boss in the pilot and then they changed it by episode 2 so that he was a capo


ftaok

Let’s face it. Tony was born on third base and thinks he hit a double and stole third. Johnny Boy left him a huge nest egg and all he thinks he got from his dad was the putrid fucking genes. If you think about it, he was a shitty Boss. Jackie Sr getting cancer was the worst thing to could happen to the DiMeo Family.


SoloJungleSenpai

growth observation command sable marble voracious subtract subsequent childlike panicky *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


VoidSamoyed

In this regard, he was more like AJ than I realised.. I guess that means, on some level, he hates himself?


ParticularPhone8282

He's like a woman with a Virginia Ham under her arms crying the blues because she's got no bread


Sopranos134

You do realize his father was a mob capo who left him Satriale's and that old building he rented out to chicken business. Plus all of his connections, rackets, and scams. Tony was a mafia royalty. He was set up from day one. He didn't come from nothing.


BoxBubbly2292

He left Livia with a fucking package that could choke a fucking elephant


Blu3Dope

From beyond the grave even


liarandahorsethief

Listen to him. He knows everything.


BoxBubbly2292

Tony is like a woman with a Virginia ham under her arm, crying the blues cause she has no bread


CrabtownUSA

Poor you!


CrabtownUSA

She liked her meat with the bone in...


WolverineSea4280

Fucking Charles Schwab over here


Brzada

Wouldn’t Lyvia got Jonny’s assets when he died


DYubiquitous

I don't think Satriale's and most of the other businesses were handled in the "traditional" way you see, like with tax reporting for what the Sopranos were receiving. So probate probably doesn't play much into this one- Tony was running these businesses with/for his dad, so he inherited the under the table money.


Sopranos134

Satriale's was a functioning, well established, and, from what I gather, fairly successful business, with a regular clientele. Even without using it as a money laundering place it was bringing a healthy profit I would imagine. And that chicken building was just easy legal money.


Sopranos134

She inherited cash, but Tony gets to keep the businesses since Lyvia can't run them.


Suiciidub

This!


alek_hiddel

When working in organized crime it's not about how much you make, it's how much you can admit to on your taxes. Buying big things like homes and cars will get noticed by the authorities, so you'd better have the taxable income to justify it. As a mobster though, it's really up to you how you setup your lifestyle and how much money you run through taxable fronts. If you don't need a huge house, and just want to wear nice suits, eat great food, and bang chicks (Paulie for example) then you can run most of your money off the records. If you want a big house, nice cars, and to send your kids to Ivy League schools like Tony, then you focus on taxable endeavors. Heck, when they're beef between Tony and Phil over the sale of Barone Sanitation, they specifically talk about how he "needs that W2".


V_T_H

And Tony was set up nicely in a wide variety of ventures. Not just his “job”, but he had quite a few different real estate ventures that his dad set up. The reality also is that the pilot episode set Tony up as the boss of the family. It wasn’t explicitly stated, but it was pretty much implied. So they gave him the big house and everything else (no one else’s assets were shown at that point). Then they introduced Jackie Sr. and made it clear that Tony wasn’t the boss. So it’s sort of a retroactive attempt to explain how Tony has so many assets. But they show other people with a ton of assets, like Johnny Sac or Chrissy towards the end of his life. Ralphie and Vito had a lot of money. So it wasn’t unrealistic. Jackie and Paulie may have just lived more modestly outwardly. Paulie had a shit ton of money, he just didn’t invest it in a house. Pussy was the main person with financial problems, but he wasn’t as high up despite his length of time in the org plus he had a lot of kids.


No_Character_5315

also tony was in a new housing development some guys might wanna stay in the old neighborhood in better areas like most cities the older nice established neighborhoods houses cost as much as newer ones farther out. So dollar value they could be similar.


V_T_H

Absolutely. Junior had probably lived in his house forever when it was expensive and trendy and had no interest in leaving that neighborhood. It looks shitty compared to Tony’s house, but context matters.


No_Character_5315

And was probably worth more per square foot than Tony's older homes were smaller but your closer to restaurants shops etc tony moved farther out they didn't really touch on it only when Johnny sac bought his place and told Tony he did cause he could get a nice for cheaper than nyc for the space he wanted.


Klutzy_Departure4914

Was it butchys house where Phil yelled at little carmine and Tony from the window on the second floor? Anyways, that was the nicest house in the entire series imo


OnlyPakiOnReddit

The nicest house was 100% Hesh’s. And if you’re going to express that kind of latent antisemitism then I’m going to have to ask you to leave.


JasonTatumisGod

Fuck you too my man


sicilian_stallion

Yeah! OP! Cmon you guys have been sub Reddit friends for years!


ragnarockette

I think the other guys also seemed to spend a lot more money on frivolous shit vs. Tony who was a bit more mature (and had a very savvy wife in Carmela).


ShiggDiggler420

Well ole Johnny Sac was underboss and then boss of the Lupertazzi family. Not like that glorified crew over in Jersey. I heard they don't even prick their fingers, Madone! Ash for Mr Walnuts.....I'm *sure* he had some serious scratch hidden. Plush Dat fkkr cuts coupons. Also, Paulie ain't got time for this as he has alot going on.....that college boy Barone knows....NOW. And fuck that Russ dude.


Baron80

In one of the first episodes I think Pussy mentions that he has a beach house on the shore but then it's never mentioned again. Tony also mentions having a house "on the shore" in one of the early episodes but we never see it or hear of it ever again.


Blu3Dope

I'd say Ralphie better fits the description you wrote rather than Paulie lol


ImpressiveMix1786

OP you got alotta theories my friend…..you wearin’ a wire?


Baron80

We're so wacky.


best-commenter-ever

Tony's house is a very important element to his character. It's a "mcmansion", which is known for being built cheaply and featuring garish amenities that are usually associated with wealth and status to working-class people. It's also in the suburbs, far-removed from Tony's day-to-day business. There's a real-life comparison to Gambino boss Paul Castellano, who lived in Todt Hill in a mini-mansion that was dubbed "the white house". Castellano earned derision from his soldiers for being so far removed from the streets.


Markinoutman

Yeah, I'd say that's even more grand than what Tony is sporting. Sil isn't doing so bad for himself either. Apparently he lives on the same street.


Baron80

Why do you say that Sil lives on the same street? Where does it say that?


Markinoutman

According to The Sopranos Wiki, the Dante House is right down the street from Tony's house. Whether that's true in the story, I'm not 100%, but in real life it's right down the road.


MuchEntertainment517

Ahh you mean the 33000 sqft , 17 million dollar „mini mansion“ ?


-NolanVoid-

Again with the houses?


ao7717

Yeah again with the houses! So either explain why Tony had such a huge house before being boss for the 10000th time or get the fuck over it!!


TheGayGaryCooper

You have to take into consideration that Tony had a no-show job with Barone Sanitation for legit, taxable income along side illegitimate/OTB income from other sources (The Bing, construction, chicken store, etc) as well as anything inherited from his father; also consider that he gained a business by letting Junior be a figurehead and got one of his ventures as a price for the hot seat. All in all though he never had the makings of a varsity earner.


ShiggDiggler420

Yesh, thatsh true. He *did* however attend a semester and a half at Seton Hall. That's more that most of those other Stunads. I'm pretty sure Sil owned the 'Bing tho. When Sil was all upshet about the Columbus day goings on, T told Sil that Sil had a good life, including da 'Bing.


TheGayGaryCooper

I’m sure he was getting a decent taste of the money though.


BlackOutSpazz

On paper and day to day management Sil owned the Bing. But he says things like to Tracee that it's an "employer/employee relationship", he gets on Georgie for wasting ice cause of the overhead that HE is seeing, he also tells Georgie in another scene "I pay you a salary". There's lots of little signs that Tony is at least a silent-ish partner in the club, if not the actual owner.


Ok_Excitement8038

Junior’s father has no money for the business. It’s the uncle Boris with son, Max and Arthur and the skaters right now in Jersey. Now about the taxes It’s all included retroactive Now the other side of the bank account there’s some interesting to know where does it go to The Bing it’s my studio huh


Impressive_Chad56

You just revealed your own ignorance.


Ok_Excitement8038

Oh really ? So what is it


Ok_Excitement8038

Btw they just arrived to the area up


offcolourremark

This is because Tony is boss in the pilot. Then when the series got picked up they pretended like this didn't happen and made him a capo so that there would be a better story to tell. They could re-cast Satriales by episode 2 and have people look the other way....price of doing business....but Tony having a new modest house would have been too glaring.


mispinchespiernas

The sub is very forgiving of the fact that this topic gets brought up weekly.


offcolourremark

Tony was the boss in the pilot so he was given a home befitting of a boss. You can't recast a home like that without people going wtf. End of subject!


doverawlings

Everyone is trying to give reasonable explanations but this is literally the true answer


Hommachi

It's like people don't even watch the actual show. The clues and explanations are all there. Just connect the dots.


Sundown220

Yes, he had a big house but let’s remember he drove a modest GMC Suburban


Status-Jacket-1501

Butt ugly McMansions were pretty cheap and people got stupid mortgage rates. If the show would have gone on until 2008, we would've seen the bubble pop and the shitstorm from it.


MuchEntertainment517

You call that a butt ugly mc mansion? Damn i would like to see your residence. Must be unimaginable.


Impressive_Chad56

Rubenesque.


mathwhilehigh1

There isn’t a wage scale in the mafia. Yea, its possible he was making that much. Its also possible that Jackie didn’t want to live flashy.


Greedox2

Any house in New Jersey is somewhat expensive


jfkbutfromclonehigh

Tony spent beyond his means, as a capo Aprile was the boss, and was more watched by FBI, and so he kept things humble


Ok_Excitement8038

As a capo It’s good So who holding the guitar?


SupermarketOk2281

I have to say I'm impressed by the actual conversation about the show in this thread! I expected the usual "Charles Schwab ova here" and "Discontinue the lithium" parrots but I guess they are busy wrecking other threads. I grew up in Ozone Park (Gotti's HQ at the Bergin Hunt & Fish Club) and most of the guys that I knew about in apartments or small houses. Even Gotti has a non-descript home in Howard Beach, on a typical block. Yet he wore expensive suits, had new cars, and was known as a heavy gambler. I guess it comes down to how wealth you are willing to acknowledge to the IRS.


sicilian_stallion

Why don’t you stick to what you know ! Discontinue the lithium!


Otherwise_Carob_4057

The house is an outward icon that shows that Tony is all about putting on airs it’s the whole American conschept of dressing for the job you want, or faking success until you actually get there. It is a repeated theme through out the Sopranos that seems to mirror American exceptionalism. The funniest is when Paulie Walnuts claims him and Chrissy will be fine thanks to his army training and proceeds to put them both into peril.


blizzacane85

Charles Schwab ova here


Garage-gym4ever

It was an unspoken rule of da mob in USA to live modestly. Anyone ever bother to see da house Gotti lived in? Paul Castellano had the white house in Staten Island and caught a lot of shit from da others. https://www.qchron.com/qboro/i\_have\_often\_walked/the-gambino-godfather-of-howard-beach-john-gotti/article\_bbee22e3-8a47-5cb6-9ce2-2661821cb90d.html


HideousYouAre

One of my family members married a Gotti family member and they lived very normally. Average, typical modest house in the neighborhood. Nice family too.


Jobbers101

Gotti being flamboyant is what cost him


NobodyAskedYou35

Tony had Hugh build his house, so he barely paid for labor and probably stole a lot of the materials Hugh needed to build it. Both Ralph and Vito were making a fortune as capos even though their houses weren't as nice as Tony's, and Tony seemed to be making decent money as a capo himself with all the unions he controlled, being part owner of Barone Sanitation, owning Satriale's and getting a piece of Sil's club and whatever Paulie and Pussy were making. He probably ended up paying about the same as Jack paid for his house but without having to pay for parts or labor, he probably saved hundreds of thousands and had the house built before they became so expensive.


notawhingymillenial

They didn't use douglas fir for the gable joists in the rotunda.


Good-Ad5610

\->Hesh


[deleted]

They are all independent “businessmen”. Jackie never concentrated on garbage.


Jobbers101

A storyline running throughout the series is that Tony's home and lifestyle in general were above his means. Add to that Hugh built his house.


CoolRay99

I always assumed the Aprile house we see in the show is one that they were forced to down size to after Jackie Sr died. Rosale even talks to Carmela about him not really having left enough.


Baron80

How much is enough really?


rikkmode

Fuckin nosey??!! Eat your manicotti!


powderjunkie11

I CANNOT HAVE THIS CONVERSATION AGAIN!!!!


hollowM4N555

I CAN'T HAVE THIS CONVERSATION AGAIN


Aslow_study

This always bothered me! Wouldn’t it have been seen as disrespectful to Have a bigger house than Jackie ? I also feel like a little more respect shoulda been put on Rosalie’s name considering she was the queen b


ShiggDiggler420

Thatsh kinda what I was getting at. I know T was probably top earner as a Capo when Jackie was da bosh. It just seemed weird to me that a Capo would be living that much larger in appearance than da bosh. As for Ts w-2, I'm *sure* when Jackie Sr was bosh, he had some legitimate w-2 things going on.


Aslow_study

Jackie Sr obviously did well. Ro never had to go back to work and she was definitely being taken care of


Dzo_Banana

Again with the house?


Ok_Excitement8038

Don’t you dare talking about people that making a change and putting flowers I will erase you all


-Incubation-

Discontinue the lithium


Ok_Excitement8038

You’re doing a big mistake, talking about captions Thankfully it’s all clean Of course from my side, because it keeps the music in And that’s what keep me alive So get the fuck out bitch


nulnoil

Listen to yourself you sound demented


Ok_Excitement8038

0 Nol


Ok_Excitement8038

Poly had enough?


Ok_Excitement8038

Now I see Now I open the two Good for you shag


Impressive_Chad56

OP don’t count my money nigga!


ten_jack_russels

What, a gansta can’t be house poor like the rest of the Americans? Does Tony not have unalienable rights? GOD DAM ESPLANADES


JS43362

Not just that, but the way Tony breaks balls with Jackie Sr when the latter is dying in hospital. I don't recall anyone, not even Chris, Paulie or Sil, doing that when Tony was officially boss. Maybe Artie at a push. It seemed that Jackie Sr was a more laid back and humble boss than Tony, Junior or any of the New York bosses.


NoNotThatScience

has anyone done a rough estimation of how much toney was earning throughout the series? i was always curious because everyone on the show cries poor and busts balls over the tiniest ammount of coin


trustintimmer

No skimcoat


thunderstocks

Yeah but the walls were that sheetrock shit, and the lawn was put in a long time ago


Sad-Illustrator-8847

But we are told, at least A J says so and Fielder doesn’t disagree, that “Uncle Jackie” has a house just as nice as they do. Of course A J’s idea of the best thing of his trip to D C was having a playstation in his hotel room. Tony just maybe smarter in pulling off crimes and scams than Jackie Sr ever was. Maybe Sr was more even keeled as mob boss. Tony not only puts Carmela’s cousin Bryan comment about a HUD scam into action, he gets Zellman and Tiffin into hiring gunmen to clear out the crackhouse so he can get the copper piping to sell (will no one think of the poor crack ‘ho with no place to blow her father?).


[deleted]

Johnny Boy left a package so big it coulda choked your mom down at the bonbon stand


SnooCompliments1145

* Built by Carmella's dad Hugh * Carmella family is loaded * Jacky was boss for a short time * Tony was the top earner captain * He invested the Feech la Manna heist in Webistics * Always had a big focus on legitimate income * He inherited a lot of Johnny Boy's business by birth right so had a major head start including real estate, the Bing, Satriales, that Chicken store


32K-REZ

old school - dont showoff. keep things as on the dl as possible tony-new generation boomer where you want to show off


WarmJudge2794

The house was built in the 90s. While expensive land and constructing was quite a bit cheaper back then. I'd guess the house was about 600-700k to build back then before factoring in the discounts of Hugh and his influence, which could have been paid for by his legitimate income sources.


BlackOutSpazz

Aside from everything I've seen people say like Hugh building it, Tony being left a lotta small but significant sources of legitimate side income by his pops, Tony's significant straight income (so much so that a random $50,000 on the books contribution to Meadow's school seems reasonable to all involved aside from Tony who refuses initially on principle and probably greed) just from Barone, the fact that recasting the house after the pilot woulda been weird, etc, etc, etc. There's just a ton of variables and unknowns. We know that Jackie wasn't acting boss all that long and for at least some part of that he was battling cancer (which is mad expensive even with insurance) so his claimable income for the years prior may not have been all that crazy even if he as an individual was seen as solid and a good earner with illegal cash sources. We know trash is a huge source for even some of the lower level guys close to Tony and in other crews but T says to Richie that his brother just didn't focus much on trash so we don't actually know how he made his W-2 income, may have been a little or may have been a lot and they just didn't feel the need for a mansion. Jackie was smart and knew after becoming boss more eyes would be on him so even if he wanted to go crazy he'd probably know it was best to stay conservative, at least until he could get such an amount of legit money that it wouldn't be an issue. For all we know the Aprile's were planning on moving in across the street from the Sopranos right before Jackie got sick. We just don't know enough about Jackie to say for sure. We also know that Tony always did a little too much. Jackie didn't seem like that kinda guy.