OK, so I actually have to wait 44hrs but I have finally started my upgrade to a level 10 Breeding Den. It took approximately 8 days (including being hit for 150,000 gold over the weekend) to save the 1.805 million to do the upgrade. Of course, being an idiot, I mis-timed the upgrade of a stable yesterday and had to wait 6 hrs while it finished before I could start the breeding den. Fortunately, I collected an extra 100,000 gold during this period as insurance. I would like to thank all the people who donated manors, lender, many many silos, leatherworkers, taverns and the occasional winemaker (got to have cocktail hour) to my incessant raiding in order to make this happen. You generosity is much appreciated. And for those three individuals I ran into with stats close to or above me - thank you for allying with me (though West, I wish you had debated whether to attack me a bit longer - that 150K delayed things a bit). For those of you who are interested - here are some pics. Cheers!!
edit: also, thank you Bea, Tiki, Bronson and spectra for support while I was busy going insane