Chillicothe Gazette from Chillicothe, Ohio • 17

Saturday, May 6, 1972 CltUltrollje 9. C82ftt- 3 Carpenters build real estate empire By LINDA SMALL Pop Scene Seryice DOWNEY, Calif. Two apartment complexes with the unlikely names of "Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun," stand not far from each other in this quiet community in the shadow of the Hollywood hills. The apartments are part of a vast real estate empire being put together by the Carpenters, Richard and Karen, from their record royalties. And they've only just begun.

"Karen and I believe in real estate as an investment," 25-year-old Richard Carpenter explained. "I mean, you can't go wrong with land and so Karen and I keep buying and developing more land here and we keep making more improvements on our house. "We're also building two huge shopping centers," Richard adds "The first one is in Downey, and will probably be called Carpenter Center. The great thing about these centers is that they will house the first of my music schools. Wow, can you imagine.

Me Richard Carpenter Music School all over the country. Isn't that far out?" The small city of Downey was distinguished for its quiet, tree-lined streets and simple living until Agnes and Harold Carpenter uprooted their children from Hartford, in their teens and headed West. "We knew Richard had great talent as a pianist, composer and arranger," Mrs. Carpenter said. "When Rich was studying piano at Yale we just began to RICHARD AND KAREN CARPENTER her travels.

Mirrors dominate the room which has bright-flowered wallpaper and antique furnishings. Music and trophy room The most exciting room in the house quite naturally is the mu-. sic room, where they keep their piano, drums and organ. Just recently Rich and Karen bought the lot next to their house in order to add their own recreation unit which, in addition to the music room, has a pool room for Rich, and a trophy room where all of the awards of the Carpenters are displayed and Where Rich has just had installed quadrosonic sound. Although Rich and Karen spand more time together than most brothers and sisters, like other siblings, they have their arguments.

"We had one beauty recently," Karen laughs. "It was, what else, about music. Rich wanted a song one way and I wanted it another way. Wow. Stale-matesville!" "We never have much to argue about, though," Rich said.

"We're really too busy for silly quarrels. I mean, we're successful and I want us to remain successful. I can't worry about silly things. I am concerned with the charts. I always worry if our next record will be number one.

I mean, important. A hit. And then we always have to think about what our next song will be." So far the Carpenters have been more than lucky. They have had gold singles consecutively, and each is a milliaire in his own right. They could retire now if they wanted to, but there's no chance of that.

There's not much time for the ordinary youthful pleasures because of their work schedule and time spent on the road. "We spend holidays at home with Mom and Dad," Karen says. There also isn't much time for dating. Both Rich and Karen have the opportunity of meeting people on the road but it is easier for Rich to take out a strange girl in a strange town than for Karen to do the same. Therefore, Rich has a string of girls in tow most nights and Karen remains rather more selective.

Believes in Double-Standard Richard and Karen have both discuss the fact that we had to get him closer to Hollywood where he would have a chance to be discovered." Karen, on the other hand, was not even in the picture, musically, at the. time. "Karen was still playing baseball -with the boys when we noved to Downey," Mrs. Carpenter said. "We never even knew she had any talent until she was 16 and then it 'was justt the drums.

Can you imagine, she didn't even sing until she was 16 or so." Now the Carpenters all four of them are the most famous residents of the small community, which, in turn, has shown the Carpenter family its appreciation. The Mayor has honored Rich and Karen by declaring one day last year "Carpenter Day." They also weme marshals of last year's Christmas Day Parade. In spite of the special treatment Richard and Karen are nonplussed by it all. Honored but net bothered "We can live a normal life here," Karen said. Roam around; do whatever we like.

Everyone knows who we are. Everyone knows who we are everywhere we go, but here they don't bother us. Sometimes cars pass slowly by the house and people look in, but, well, We expect that. Our friend are here from schooil. The kids Rich went to college with; my high school friends." i "Lots of people want to know why we live here and not move to a mansion in Beverly Hills," Richard says.

"Well, that may be fine for some people, but it isn't our way of life. We're happy here and have evry luxury imagineable. It's a real place to live. Show business is not always real, but I think Karen and I are. We see lots of people on drugs and wonder why.

We live a frantic life sometimes out on the road mcst of the time. One night here another night there. But when we come home, it really is home!" Although Rich admits that he and Karen and their parents do not live in a mansion, their home is not small or simple. Just a nice house on an ordinary street. But the inside is plush and equipped with a variety of convenience appliances.

Mrs. Carpenter has a huge kitchen which she uses constantly when her children are home. Richard's room is tailored and full of mementos. Karen had a hand in decorating her oversized room, which has one completely shelved wall to hold the dozens of stuffed animals she has received from fans. The room is full of souvenirs from that writes deserves a response.

Especially all of those marriage proposals Karen receives. She even gets expensive rings in the mail. "Boy, I wouldn't want to reject anyone," she admits. "I mean can you imagine some guy went out and spent his money and writes me a tender note. The least I can do is make sure he understands why I can't marry him." Richard and Karen are products of parents who wanted them to be successful, who recognized their talent and encouraged them.

Now they are basking in the luxury of that success and they, too, have only just begun. We Recommend Made to Measure been raised to believe in certain moral standards. Richard admits that he would consider living with a girl before marrying her, but if Karen thought of doing it, well, that would be a totally different story. "I feel kind of protective about Karen," Rich admits. "I know she can take care of herself, but I feel better knowing what is going on.

We're closer than most brothers and sisters. Kar-and I share most everything our thoughts, our interests, our time. The only thing we don't share is my Maserati. My greatest love. I have three other cars, but my 'Mas' is different." "You know, the nicest thing about being famous is not the luxuries," Karen admits.

"It's the fact that Mom and Dad can just relax. Dad handles all our fan mail along with my aunt and it is a full-time job, but we made him retire when we made it." Karen and Richard both feel very strongly about their fan mail. They believe everyone BREMENTOVH MUSICIANS appearing nightly in The President's Lounge from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. holiday inr Restaurant 1250 North Bridge 775-7100 Complete satisfaction From a wide selection of tailored-to-measure styles in refreshing new fabrics and colors.

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