After two weeks of negotiating, Lisa Ling and The Oprah Show crew were granted entrance into one of the most exclusive polygamist communities in the country. Centennial Park, Arizona, is home to approximately 1,500 people. Pictured here is Richard's house, who has three wives. Ruth, another Centennial Park resident, takes Lisa on a tour inside a 30,000-square-foot mansion with three levels, three wings and 33 bedrooms. "The homes in Centennial Park are just these enormous, palatial houses. They are just never ending, some of them," Lisa says. She asks Ruth if it is fair to call Centennial Park a polygamist community. "I think it's fair because it's a fundamental belief for most of us, whether they live it at this time or not," Ruth says.
How do these families afford to live in mansions? "Certainly not all the homes are that palatial but a lot of them are, because they do have enormous families and the people in Centennial Park seem to be very hard working," Lisa says. "What's also interesting about these very large plural families is that everybody contributes. So it's not like the wives are all home taking care of the family. Some of them may be, but some of them may be contributing to the economy of the familyand the kids as well."
Published 10/26/2007
