Frank Islam IT Entrepreneur has achieved the America dream, he has completely forgotten who he is and has even purchased White Wife

By ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON

Suburban Washington boasts some of the wealthiest counties in the nation and the houses to match. WSJ's Elizabeth Williamson tours Norton Manor, the lavish home of IT entrepreneur Frank Islam and his wife, Debbie Driesman. Photo: Lexey Swall.

POTOMAC, Md.—On a bright spring morning, Debbie Driesman and her interior decorator surveyed progress on Norton Manor, the 40,000 square-foot house she's building with her husband, information-technology entrepreneur Frank Islam. To make way for the French chateau-style manse, the family bought two houses on adjacent 4-acre lots and invited the local fire department to destroy them. For practice.

The manor, in suburban Washington, features a reflecting pool (just as the Capitol does), east and west wings (like the White House) and is configured for easy Secret Service coverage when VIP guests attend the couple's Democratic Party fundraisers. Decorator Skip Sroka scoured the globe for Norton Manor's marble fireplaces, hand-loomed carpets and several tons of gilded and Venetian chandeliers. The gardens are modeled, in part, after those of Henry VIII's Hampton Court palace.