Every man's home is his castle, but some are more majestic than others.


The newly refurbished home of James Norris, the current director of the United States Agency for International Development, is an expansive, elegant seven-room apartment complete with a splashy price tag paid by American taxpayers. The renovation alone, according to sources close to the project, cost at least $200,000.


The Ulitsa Myasnitskaya apartment, located in a quiet, unremarkable building near Chistiye Prudy metro station, has raised considerable speculation among the city's diplomatic and foreign aid communities. Tales of a palatial 27-room spread, priceless antique furniture and a living room the size of a hotel lobby have bent ears throughout Moscow and exacerbated the unflattering reputation that many foreign aid organizations have for lavish personal spending.


A source familiar with the project said the renovation work cost "over $200,000." USAID officials showed some confusion over the actual cost of the apartment, saying that although they were unsure of the figure, they were certain it fell within State Department guidelines.


Brent Schaeffer, USAID's executive officer, dismissed the $200,000 claim.


"I don't know how much the renovations were, but that sum seems greatly exaggerated," he said. "The landlord may have done some extra work on the apartment before we located it." According to Norris's wife, Catherine, a USAID agricultural adviser, the space was previously a communal apartment, and may have housed dozens of Russians. Several of the building's apartments, all of which were designed by turn-of-the-century architect Fyodor Shekhtel, still house four Russian families or more.


A USAID official denied requests to see the apartment.


"It's the most beautiful apartment I've ever seen in Moscow," said an American aid representative who asked that his name not be used. "It's on a level with a typical Park Avenue apartment. I personally thought it was a little more opulent than it needed to be."


A USAID spokesman, who declined to be named, was more reserved, describing the apartment as simply "attractive" and "larger than average."


Some visitors to the apartment have compared its elegance with Spasso House, the residence of the U.S. ambassador.


But the spokesman disagreed, saying: "It's a quantum leap from Spasso House. You can't compare the two. There's a residence at Spasso House, but it doesn't feel like a residence. With the director's home, you know you're in an apartment." The spokesman, while saying he too was not aware of how much the fix-up job had cost, implied that the $200,000 figure bandied about would not be surprising by Moscow standards.


"Moscow is the second most expensive capital city in the world," he said. "Given that fact, renovations are likely to be very expensive."


But Gregory Krasovsky, director of Claremont Group, a Moscow-based American renovation firm, said the figure seemed extravagant.


"For $200,000 we could build a very nice house from the ground up," he said. "That figure is in the stratosphere." The costliest estimate Claremont has ever given in Moscow -- for a no-holds-barred revamp of a five-room apartment that included ripping up floors and installing a jacuzzi -- was $55,000, he added.


The Norris's renovation work, which included a major kitchen overhaul and the removal of partitions built during the apartment's communal days, was carried out by two or possibly three different contractors, Catherine Norris said.


According to the spokesman, both the size of the apartment and the amount of money spent on renovations fall within U.S. State Department guidelines for government employees who, like Norris, maintain so-called "representational responsibilities" as part of their job. He did not spell out how much the guidelines allow.


Norris is expected to entertain frequently in his home, hosting diplomats, local officials and high-level representatives from various financial and political organizations.


According to the USAID spokesman, the apartment's dining room and double living room are considered representational space, commensurate with the director's job requirements and rank. The remaining sitting room and three bedrooms are living space for the Norrises. The apartment has only one bathroom, and no balconies. The kitchen is large and equipped for dinners of up to 40 people.


"The apartment is not modest, but it's suitable for the type of work that is expected of this mission's director," the spokesman said.


Norris, a career government employee, has been living in Moscow since 1992, when USAID's Moscow mission was established. Along with Ambassador Thomas Pickering and Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Miles, Norris is one of Moscow's most senior U.S. government officials, and generally respected as hard-working and modest.


"There are a lot of discussions in the Russian press about how much money these organizations spend on themselves," said Alexei Portansky, a political commentator for Izvestia who follows foreign aid programs.


"They do useful things here," said Portansky, "but they have a bad reputation when it comes to how they spend their money -- $200,000 is much too high a sum for just a remont."