If you've ever driven down Scenic Highway in Pensacola, you've seen it. You couldn't miss it if you tried.
That stone mansion with the gold roof sitting right on Escambia Bay. The one that looks like someone tried to build the Taj Mahal, a Kremlin, and a Vegas casino all at once, and somehow succeeded at none of them.
Locals call it everything from "the Taj Mahal" to "the Kremlin" to "Garbaj Mahal." Pool service guys use it as a landmark. The internet has opinions.
But what's actually true about this place, and what's just local legend? I dug through public records and online discussions to sort it out. What I found was stranger than the rumors - and more complicated, too.
What I Know for Sure
The house sits on Scenic Highway - I won't put the exact address here, but you can't miss it. Public records confirm it's owned by Dr. Mohammad Mikhchi (sometimes misspelled Mikichi).
According to Florida business records, Mikhchi owns multiple assisted living facilities in the area: Northpointe Retirement Community, Westpointe, and possibly Grandepointe - or at least he owned Grandepointe at some point in the past.
The house has been listed for sale before and appeared on Zillow and other realtor websites.
The Wetland Violation
This one is documented. The Pensacola News Journal reported in 2015 that Mikhchi was ordered to restore wetlands on the property. He had illegally cleared trees from the beach area, which was protected swampland. Probably wanted more of a view, no doubt.
Court Records
Escambia County court records show a handful of minor cases under his name:
- 2015: Two animal control violations. He pled not guilty and was acquitted on both counts in April 2015 for lack of evidence.
- 2000: Expired registration ticket from Florida Highway Patrol. Dismissed after he showed valid registration.
- 1992: Parking violation. Paid $100 fine.
- 1990: Fire lane parking violation. Paid $35 fine.
That's it. No major criminal cases in the Escambia County public record.
Hurricane Sally (2020)
Hurricane Sally hit Pensacola in September 2020. The storm caused significant damage along Scenic Highway, and the property was visibly damaged afterward - anyone driving by could see it. The golden palace sat wounded for years.
Recent observations confirm that repair work has finally begun. Locals have noted a new roof on the structure.
The Retirement Community Reviews
I expected the anonymous complaints about the assisted living facilities to be unverifiable gossip. But there's a public paper trail backing some of it up.
Caring.com, a senior living review site, has listings for both Westpointe and Northpointe. The reviews are scathing.
Westpointe Retirement Community has a 2.6 out of 5 rating from 5 reviews. One positive review from June 2024 praises the rooms, food, and staff. But the rest paint a different picture. A 2021 resident described the food as "horrible, not even edible" and "unsanitary." During COVID, they said residents were essentially confined to rooms while staff didn't wear masks.
A 2019 reviewer wrote that their relative lost over 30 pounds because the facility "doesn't provide enough calories to maintain adequate weight." They also reported the place was "over-run with roaches, flies & mice" and that "roaches & flies are in the dining room." Response to urgent call bells was "slow to non-existent." When residents complained, management was "dismissive" and would "offer for them to leave if they don't like it."
Northpointe Retirement Community is worse - mostly one-star reviews.
A 2022 reviewer who had both parents stay there wrote: "The food was terrible and of the poorest quality. The place, in general, was filthy and infested with mice and roaches." Their mother "had to purchase her own rat traps and bait." After their mother fell and broke her hip, she was "left unattended for over 5 hours." She died shortly after surgery. The reviewer called it "the WORST place anyone could go."
A 2018 insurance evaluator couldn't even finish their site evaluation because "the place is a dump and was failing on the evaluation not even half way through." They added: "If this is a Retirement Community, I would go rob a bank and be sentenced to a Federal Prison first."
Multiple reviews from 2016 and 2017 mention a rude administrator, dirty rooms, foul odors, and management telling unhappy visitors to "get off his property."
These aren't rumors. These are real people, writing under their own accounts, describing mice, roaches, unexplained weight loss, falls, and dismissive behavior. It's on a public review site for anyone to see.
You can read the full reviews here:
What People Say
Now we get into the murkier territory - online discussions, Reddit threads, local forums. This is hearsay, not verified fact. But some of it fills in a picture that the public records only sketch.
The Inside of the Palace
People who claim to have seen the interior - or photos from when it was listed - describe some wild features. The ground floor supposedly has a pool that runs under the walls, so you can swim from one room to another. Lace curtains and crystal chandeliers hang over the water. Egyptian artifacts scattered throughout. Blue tile everywhere. Something about the "largest chandelier ever."
One insurance agent who quoted the house said simply: "It's WILD."
Multiple people mention the house was featured in the local Bella magazine years ago, which would make this verifiable if someone was able to dig up that issue.
The Pink Treehouse
Several people confirm the family owns property across the street with a treehouse on stilts. It's visible from the road, so that part checks out.
The stories around it are harder to verify. People claim it originally had electricity, a landline phone, and cable TV. It was supposedly white before turning pink. Neighborhood kids say they used to play in it.
My favorite detail: supposedly when Mikhchi stopped maintaining his bee hives - the fresh honey was "amazing," per one commenter - the bees migrated into the treehouse attic. "Made things more exciting," one neighbor recalled.
Today, everyone agrees it's falling apart, being slowly consumed by the tree that holds it.
His Background
Someone claiming to be a longtime family friend posted a detailed backstory. According to them, Mikhchi and his brother came to the States from Iran after the Islamic Revolution in the late 1970s. Both brothers supposedly served in the Imperial Iranian Air Force before fleeing.
Another commenter put it more simply: "He's from Iran. That's the style if you have money where he're from. Eccentric taste, but nice guy."
I haven't been able to independently verify any of this.
The Insurance Dispute
Multiple people claim Hurricane Sally flooded the property and the insurance company refused to pay the full value. They say Mikhchi has been fighting it in court ever since.
This would explain why the house sat in disrepair for years, but I haven't found court filings to confirm it.
The Assisted Living Complaints
Beyond the Caring.com reviews, anonymous Reddit users share their own stories. One former employee claimed both facilities "constantly have rats or snakes in the kitchen area" and that "the rats don't care if you're in the room with them." They alleged Northpointe houses "better paying families" while Westpointe houses "lower paying families," with staff walking between both during meals.
Another commenter said their father "seemed hungry a lot" while staying there.
One person called him "one of the biggest crooks in the city."
The Other Side
Not everyone online has complaints.
One person described how Mikhchi and his wife bought Lady Gaga tickets for a financially struggling single mother's kids and "treated them to anything they wanted that night."
Multiple people describe him as a "nice guy" with "eccentric taste."
One commenter pushed back on the gossip: "I don't put much stock into local gossip seeing as how you incorrectly stated what business he owns and people constantly say he's Indian."
The Christmas Lights
Multiple people fondly remember the Christmas light displays. One wrote: "I hope they continue the Christmas tradition, it always made me smile to see, all the way across the bay bridge at 75mph."
Whether the tradition returns now that repairs are underway remains to be seen.
What to Make of It
Here's what we actually know: a man named Mohammad Mikhchi owns a very unusual house on Scenic Highway. He also owns several assisted living facilities - and the public reviews for those facilities are brutal. He got in trouble for clearing protected wetlands. Hurricane Sally damaged the place. He was acquitted on animal control charges and paid a couple parking tickets in the '90s.
Everything else - the swimming pool under the walls, the Iranian Air Force backstory, the bee-infested treehouse, the insurance battle, the Lady Gaga tickets - is what the internet says. Some of it is probably true. Some of it might be exaggerated. Some of it could be completely made up.
But here's what I keep thinking about.
A man builds a golden palace he wants everyone to see. He puts up Christmas lights that make people smile from across the bay. He buys concert tickets for strangers' kids. And he also clears protected wetlands because he wants a better view, and runs facilities where elderly people lose weight from hunger and have to buy their own rat traps.
I don't think these are contradictions. I think they're the same impulse pointed in different directions. This is a man who wants to participate - to make his mark, to be someone in this community. Sometimes that impulse builds something generous or beautiful. Sometimes it bulldozes whatever's in the way.
The house is still there on Scenic Highway, impossible to ignore. Drive by it sometime.