Avowing a passion for trees of awesome girth and rarity is a means of gaining social cachet these days. Soaring crimson king maples and golden honey locusts are among the new status symbols, giving a surprising new meaning to “tree climbing.”

What is the latest status symbol of the ultra rich? A spectacular residence they purchase for millions, reconfigure with the world’s leading architects and interior designers for even more millions, then elect not to live in.

The remains of his day have been scattered among astonishingly diverse locations, from the home of Nancy and Ronald Reagan in California to the 26th Street flea market, with an auction at the determinedly unglamorous Holiday Inn in Dedham, Mass., falling somewhere in between.