Filed under: Estates

This much rustic will cost you a pretty penny. Today’s home was built in the 1990s but has a classic look with plenty of stone and rough wood. The estate is approximately 289 acres straddling the New York and Connecticut border (150 acres in Connecticut, 239 acres in New York). The beautiful views over rolling mountains and hills seems to stretch for miles. The property is home to a heated Gunite pool and spa, pool house, tennis court, barns, and trout pond. The home itself has five bedrooms, a fantasy-inducing country kitchen, beamed living room, porches and decks to take in the view, and a cozy wood-paneled library with a fireplace to hang out in during the winter months. This property is listed at $13.95 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

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Continue reading Stone Acres, Estate of the Day

Stone Acres, Estate of the Day originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Gadgets

According to Fashion Week Daily, Apple may soon add an iBangle to its army of i-ness — yes, a bangle bracelet that sits on the wrist while your tunes blast through wireless headphones. The aluminum bangle will feature a trackpad so your finger can slide and tap its way through your music.

Worried about fit? An inner air chamber will simply inflate so the bangle remains steady, particularly helpful if you’re taking it on a run or hike. Designed by Gopinath Prasana, the iBangle currently exists in concept only…but hopefully not for long. No word on an ETA or price.

[via Fashion Week Daily]

The iBangle: Accessorizing Tunes originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Apparel, Men’s Style

This holiday season, Ralph Lauren is coming out with luxurious and exorbitantly colorful collection of modern classics, featuring decadent accessories for men, women and the home. One of our favorite items is this vintage-inspired sterling silver flask with an enameled portrait of a 19th-century jockey, priced at $2,495. Other highlights include eye-popping takes on the elegant alligator and crocodile belts Lauren has been doing for decades, in shocking go-to-hell colors like purple and orange. The women’s version features a horseshoe-shaped buckle and costs $1,895.

In addition, there are velvet slippers for men embroidered with a bold equestrian figure in several colors for $950; a pillow made from a silk equestrian-themed scarf backed by luxurious cashmere for $795; cashmere throw blankets in bright tones bordered with contrasting suede for $995; and saddle leather jewelry boxes with brightly-hued alligator lids for $2,895. Lauren was just named the most powerful man in men’s fashion meanwhile by industry bible DNR, beating out Giorgio Armani for the top spot.

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Ralph Lauren’s Luxe Holiday Offerings originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Journeys, Art

Part installation, part hotel, artist Carsten Höller’s Revolving Hotel Room is New York’s latest impossible-to-get reservation. Revolving Hotel Room is part of the Guggenheim Museum’s theanyspacewhatever exhibit, a group of installations by 10 artists who commonly express exhibition space as an important medium.

During the day, visitors to the museum can inspect the four rotating discs upon which Höller has assembled areas to sleep, work and eat.

By night, guests willing to pay the $799 per night rate can sleep over (no word on whether the discs keep rotate while you sleep). Here’s hoping the museum extends the exhibit past its January 6 end date — every night up until then is already sold out.

Sleepover Party at the Guggenheim originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Having a stylish webcam with flash is indeed a great addition to your work space and it even gets better if it flashes all the time. Well, I am talking about the SPEED-LINK Laplace webcam that was lately adorned with 1,350 sparkling crystals. Each…

Diamond and crystal studded mobile phones are not a new thing to us at BornRich, but it’s really good to see Japan’s Softbank Mobile unveiling a line of diamond studded cellphones in the global financial meltdown situation. The Softbank 823SH…

The new garment line U by Ungaro was produced together with the perfumes of the same name. This perfume duet for men and women was created as the result of cooperation of the cosmetic company Avon and the fashion house Emanuel Ungaro.

Tired of using the old-fashioned rectangular remotes? Savant’s Rosie Contemporary remote ups the ante with its innovative round bowl-shaped remote control. The stylish and compact body of the Savant remote fits easily in the palm of your hand….

Filed under: Cosmetics and Fragrance

Is Tom Ford mellowing out? The last few years have seen Ford takes his heavily sexed-up style into a line of dramatic fragrances advertised with semi-nude photos and the promise of easy seduction. But perhaps Ford is calming down (indeed, a recent Sunday Times profile reveals an almost avuncular side of the famous egoist). His website, which used to launch with a rapid fire barrage of sexualized imagery, now has a restrained display of his menswear line.

And then there’s his latest fragrance, White Patchouli. The name doesn’t exactly inspire confidence (when you get right down to it Black Orchid sounds a lot more intriguing than White Patchouli which brings to mind batik prints and sticky bottles of essential oils). But the scent is really intriguing. A soft woodsy floral that balances the patchouli against white flowers, rose absolute and ambrette seed, it manages to gives the exotic intrigue of patchouli without the musty heaviness that has given it such a bad name. The most surprising thing of all is its subtlety. Unlike some of Ford other scents a woman doesn’t feel like she needs to put on stilettos and a push-up bra. Restraint from Tom Ford? What is this world coming to? The 1.7 ounce Eau de Parfum sells for $92.

White Patchouli, The Softer Side Of Tom Ford originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mariah Carey and her husband Nick Cannon celebrate their six-month anniversary with their closest friends at an exclusive Halloween Eve costume party at New York City`s Marquee night club on Friday night, Justjared reports.

With a tiered cake and carved pumpkins, it will certainly get everyone into the Halloween spirit. Specialty cocktails were provided by Ciroc, and costumes were required!

Mariah, 38, and Nick, 28, arrived on the back of a fire truck in firefighter outfits.

Filed under: Art

We first heard of W. Richard West Jr.’s spendy habits last December. The founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian was in trouble then for money spend on first-class transportation and luxury hotels. Now the Washington Post, which was on the story last time reports that according to the Smithsonian inspector general’s report, West submitted $17,621 in expenses without providing sufficient explanation or evidence for the spending. The report found that while West’s spending was “lavish” and “extravagant” most of his expenses followed Smithsonian rules. It seems West liked to eat well, he billed $17,331 for 82 meal vouchers submitted from 2003 to 2007 (which averages out to over $200 a meal). The museum also spend $17,293 on a dinner party to unveil a $48,500 oil portrait West, who retired last year but West’s old law firm, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP paid $15,000 of the expense for the dinner party. There’s no denying West’s significant contributions to the museum as its founding director, and likely given his previous occupation he simply wasn’t accustomed to being held accountable for every last dollar spent. Luxury spending has been seen as part of the cost of doing business when it comes to some museums but those days may be at an end.

Former Smithsonian Director Faces New Controversy Over Old Spending originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Auctions

Last year, a piece of the Eiffel Tower’s original staircase shocked bidders at an auction by going for over $216,000 when it was only estimated to sell for $29,000-$44,000. This year at Sotheby’s sale of 20th Century Decorative Arts & Design in Paris on November 26, another section of the original staircase of the Eiffel Tower is up for sale. This piece, marked as number 15 has remained in the same collection since the sale of the first 20 pieces staged by Ader-Picard-Tajan in Paris in 1983. The 12-foot-high section is estimated at €40,000-60,000 ($52,500-$78,800). Given the general decrease in ebullience over last year, I’d be surprised if this one cracked the $100,000 mark.

Another Eiffel Tower Staircase Up For Auction originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The long list of luxury speakers continues to mount with the entry of limited edition CS2.4SE loudspeaker from the house of U.S.-based high-end loudspeaker manufacturer THIEL Audio. Designed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the firm, the…

Filed under: Auctions, Art

One of Richard Prince’s highly coveted Nurse paintings is up for auction at Christie’s on November 12. Lake Resort Nurse (2003) is estimated to fetch up to $7 million at the Post-war and Contemporary Art sale.

Christie’s calls Prince’s Nurse paintings a “modern embodiment of the Madonna/whore dichotomy,” as he manipulates viewers to recall influences as wide-ranging as pulp romance novels, slasher films, masked heroines and Post-WWII iconography.

And Prince did use romance novels as the basis of his work — scanning in the actual covers and printing them with an ink-jet printer, then layering on suggestive strokes of acrylic paint. (Not surprisingly, the Center for Nursing Advocacy wasn’t thrilled with the arguably misogynistic and regressive message of the series.)

See the gallery for more Nurse paintings, which when first — and last — exhibited at the Barbara Gladstone Gallery in 2004 sold for a reported $45,000-85,000 apiece. The last Nurse painting to be auctioned, Dude Ranch Nurse #2, went for $5.5 million just a week and a half ago.
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Richard Prince’s Lake Resort Nurse to Highlight Christie’s Sale originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Wheels, Auctions

For a while now, classic cars, like other auction markets have been going up, up, up. But has an end been reached. A 1963 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder was expected to be a big seller at the Automobiles of London event held by RM Auctions and comprehensively delineated by my colleague Jared Paul Stern earlier this month.

After all the red beauty is one of the last three short-wheel-base examples of the 250 GT California Spyder built and is was driven by Cameron Diaz in a “Charlie’s Angels” movie. It had a presale estimate of 3 million pounds ($5 million) and as Bloomberg reports it didn’t sell. The sale, which was held in association with Sotheby’s, raised 14.7 million pounds way short of the low estimate of 20 million and also off of the 18 million pounds the sale earned last year.

Right after the “Charlie’s Angels” Spyder failed to sell a silver 1997 McLaren F1 sports car sold for 2.5 million pounds, more than double its 1.1 million-pound low estimate. Overall though the news wasn’t promising and 30 percent of the 129 lots were unsold. The auction house had asked some consignors before the sale to cut the reserve prices on their lots, predicting a poor sale to the economy. Some agreed to make an adjustment. Another item in the sale, a blue 1955 Ford Thunderbird, once owned by Hollywood actor John Travolta, who starred in the 1950s-inspired movie “Grease,” sold for 18,700 pounds against expectations of 20,000 pounds-to-30,000 pounds.

Big Auto Auction Has Disappointing Results originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handbags

Cashmere maker White + Warren has jumped on the handbag bandwagon with two neutral styles. Today we highlight The Hemp Traveler, a weekender bag. This practical bag (except for the color — I see it getting dirty, quickly), has a hemp exterior and genuine pebble leather trim, and is fully lined with protective nylon. Also: detachable interior zip pouch for everyday essentials, five interior compartment pockets, interior and exterior zip pockets, a detachable shoulder strap, metal feet, and a detachable leather id tag/card holder. Although considered a weekender bag, the way handbag styles are headed in my neck of the woods (big, bigger, gigantic), this could just as easily be a city girl’s daytime bag or commuter bag. 22″ x 13″ x 8″, $595.

White + Warren Gets Into the Handbag Business originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Journeys, Green

Green weddings are all the rage and the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai has jumped on the eco bandwagaon with their Sustainable Nuptials Package. What does sustainable mean to the Four Seasons? The Sustainable Nuptials Package costs $10,050 and includes a wedding planner’s “eco-expertise,” choice of outdoor wedding location , carbon credit to offset the wedding’s carbon footprint, teak chair set-up, marriage license appointment (within walking distance), an officiant, solo acoustic musician, the bridal bouquet, groom’s boutenniere, floral leis for 25 guests, a bamboo wedding arch, photography, wedding cake, Champagne and a couples massage. If you are having a hard time finding the green in this one you are not alone, especially since the list of amenities includes 2,000 dendrobium orchids sprinkled at the wedding site. Beautiful? I’m sure. Green? I don’t think so. While I applaud the Four Seasons for its other eco-friendly efforts, trying to sell a destination wedding as a green event seems a bit of a stretch.

Four Seasons Offers “Sustainable Nuptials” In Hawaii originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whac-a-Mole is an arcade redemption machine that is still quite popular all around the globe. Today, we have the Personalized Whac-A-Mole game that can be customized to replace the standard mole heads with molded caricatures using family photos, past…

We have already spotted a range of solar powered outfits and the latest in the line is the iPod Blazer from Park Avenue. The iPod controlling e-textile technology used in this stylish blazer is courtesy of QIO Systems, a firm that specializes in…

When you are having lots of parties, serving beer and wine might be pain, thinking of all the bottles and beer cans. But it’s not a problem anymore, thanks to wine dispensers and beer dispensers. For those who serve a variety of booze, the liquor…