Today’s home in Chicago was custom built for its current owners who created a lovely urban luxury home. Modern features that will delight the homeowner include a four-car heated garage, a Crestron smart home system, wine cellar and a large media room. The great room overlooks the patio which includes a built in barbecue. The home has six bedrooms. There are four stories total and a garage roofdeck and penthouse deck that offer amazing views and substantial outdoor entertaining space. This home is listed at $4.495 million with Koenig & Strey.
The home and personal belongings of Civil War writer Shelby Foote are part of a sale going on in this weekend in Memphis, Tennessee. Foote, who died back in 2005 was a novelist and historian of the Civil War. He came to national attention after appearing in Ken Burns’s PBS documentary The Civil War in 1990.
Foote was a collector of Civil War-era guns and swords as well as other items dating back from that era. The home itself is an English cottage style home built in 1927. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that the sale includes an estimated $200,000 worth of the personal effects of Foote. Estate broker Ken Robison told the Commercial Appeal that the sale features items from other estates as well and that he expects around 3,000 people to show up at the Foote home over the weekend for the sale.
The house was appraised at $427,600 in 2010 and is being re-appraised this week to set a listing price for the sale. The home includes a small octagonally shaped “secret room” above an upstairs bedroom and accessible through a trap door in the ceiling above the bedroom closet. Check out the Robison-Finch estate sale website for more details.
Dreaming of a second home in the Caribbean? This one isn’t a mega estate but it offers a private and tranquil retreat for those in need of warm weather and turquoise seas. This home in the Turks & Caicos islands is located on a desirable area of the canal with easy access to open water from the private dock. The home sits on an acre of land and has flowering trees and a large back lawn. Driving in you are greeted by a circular drive and center palm garden.
The house is approx. 2,800 sq. ft., with attached covered terrace and separate two-car garage. Tile floors, beamed white ceilings and fans add a lovely island touch. The home is designed for entertaining and a covered patio offers welcome shade and views of the pool and spa. It could be a second home or dream retirement home. The listing states that the home is in move-in condition but could also be updated. It is priced at $995,000.
For additional information, please contact Grace Lappin, Avalon Partners, Ltd., (212) 717-5477 or email at info@avalonpartnersltd.com, www.avalonpartnersltd.com.
Last month we mentioned that Le Reve, the once $50 million estate for sale in Forsyth County, Georgia was in foreclosure. It has now had yet another price cut down to a new low of $16.75 million. Real estate agent Troy Stowe put it bluntly in a piece on WSOC-TV, saying “now, our new strategy is, the house needs to go.” The new listing trumpets the fact that the home has been reduced by $32 million as well as indicating that the home is now bank owned.
La Reve was the home of Hubert and Norma Humphrey who designed their lavish seven-bedroom home with a private bowling alley, its own golf course, a massage room and a huge movie theater that is a replica of Atlanta’s Fox Theatre. There is also a train room that is a replica of the old Central Georgia Railroad from Atlanta to Macon to Savannah that Hubert Humphrey worked on for 17 years as a train conductor. This incredible edifice has 82 rooms, two elevators and 62 televisions. The grounds include a heated swimming pool, pool house, spa, private playground, stables, tennis court, formal gardens and a guest house. The home, which is approximately 47,000 square feet on 72 acres was listed at a stunning $45 million in 2008 just two years after it was completed for a price of nearly $50 million total.
Today’s home is a designer aerie at Manhattan House on New York’s Upper East Side. The one-bedroom, 1.5 bath corner penthouse residence was given the glam treatment by the ever-stylish Rita Konig who created a cozy home with luxury touches. The 1,151-square-foot residence located at the Upper East Side iconic, landmarked condominium has a formal entry gallery, wood-burning fireplace and a 368-square-foot landscaped wraparound terrace with northern and eastern views of the Manhattan skyline. The same lovely views also add interest in the dining and sitting rooms.
The windowed kitchen is outfitted with Viking Professional Series stainless steel appliances with wine cooler, terrazzo floor tiles, Caesarstone Lagos Blue countertops, Ann Sacks glass tile backsplash, and custom wood cabinetry. The master bathroom has Waterworks glass tiles, polished chrome fixtures and radiant floor heating. The home also features a powder room with mosaic tile.
The Manhattan House offers a variety of amenities including the residents-only rooftop level with Manhattan Club and exhale(R) spa, a Roto Studio-designed children’s playroom, exhale fitness center, full-time doormen, five-star concierge services, private porte-cochère entrances, and on-site parking with available valet services. This home is listed at $2.1 million with Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.
Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, owner of the eye-popping $300 million megayacht ‘A’ (above) designed by Philippe Starck, has splashed out $12.2 million on a penthousepied-à-terre in Central Park. It’s the first New York property for Melnichenko, at 38 one of the world’s youngest billionaires, and his model wife Aleksandra, the Wall St. Journal reports, added to a real estate portfolio that includes apartments and estates in Moscow, France and the U.K. The 2,800-sq.-ft., two-bedroom duplex has two balconies, a terrace facing Central Park, and an entrance gallery with 24-foot ceilings. As we reported back in January Melnichenko, who amassed a $4.4 billion fortune in fertilizer and banking, entertained Martha Stewart, Demi Moore and Aston Kutcher on his yacht in St. Barth’s over New Year’s during Roman Abramovich’s bash.
Imagine life inside this high floor corner apartment in the tower of the legendary newly restored five star Pierre Hotel. By day, light fills the rooms as you gaze out on city and Central Park views. At night, the city sparkles below. Welcome your guests in to a foyer which leads to a gallery with elegantly sleek lacquer finish walls. The long corner living room offers views over the entire Park in two directions: north all the way up through the Park past the Metropolitan Museum to the George Washington Bridge and west across the Park to the Hudson River, seen through the shimmering Time Warner Towers and also encompassing all of Central Park South and Central Park West. In the living room walls of textured finish with aluminum leaf and patina are anchored with important moldings.
Restrained luxury takes over in the master bedroom which is upholstered in pale silk and has a large dressing closet and a flannel grey and white zebrino marble bath with an oversized glass stall shower. The second bedroom is currently in use as a library and has hidden pocket doors with floor to ceiling custom bookcases on either side, walls of pale cerused oak, a dressing area and a soft brown toned afromosia marble bath ensuite.
The home has a high-tech sound system and lighting which is activated by a one touch control system. Custom designed hardware, beautiful hardwood floors in all rooms and custom shutters which disappear into the window casements in both bedrooms are all part of the charm.
Your apartment also comes with a lifestyle. Apartment owners in the hotel have full access to all hotel services, 24 hour concierge service, twice daily maid service, once monthly heavy cleaning service, valet parking and 24 hour room service. The world famous Le Caprice restaurant from London is located in the hotel and there is also a fitness center and a hair salon. Pets are allowed and corporate ownership permitted. This home is listed at $12.5 million with Martha Kramer of Brown Harris Stevens.
Today’s home is the largest mansion for sale in Lexington, Kentucky. This massive property was inspired by a 17th century English country home. It sits on 11 acres with award-winning formal gardens and bronze statuary (some perched in odd places including two scampering up the home’s gate). The five-bedroom home has over 24,000 square feet of space. The listing pictures give just a hint of the grand scale of this place. There are massive fireplaces, large staircases, a dining room with a table so long it requires two chandeliers and a wood-paneled library. This home is listed at $6.5 million.
From the Wall Street Journal’s Private Properties:
–Jigsaw Ranch, a 90-acre Aspen, Colorado estate owned by George I. Rosenthal and Mark A. Rosenthal, the father and son behind Rosenthal Estate Wines and other businesses, has listed for $48.5 million.
–A waterfront Kauai estate that has been in the same family since 1915 has hit the market for $24.5 million. The Faye House, shown above, is listed with Neal Norman of Koa Properties Land & Homes.
–Venture capitalist Fred Adler and his wife, Catherine, are asking $24 million for their ocean-to-intracoastal home in Palm Beach. The listing is here.
From the NY Post:
–New Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is searching for a downtown rental in the $30,000-a-month range. Potential new homes include 158 Mercer St., the same building where Jon Bon Jovi lives and SoHo Mews at 311 West Broadway where Justin Timberlake has a place. Fellow Knick Amar’e Stoudemire is renting a West Village condo for $37,500 a month.
–Princess Khaliya Aga Khan, the wife of Prince Hussain Aga Khan and daughter-in-law of Shia Ismaili Muslim leader Aga Khan IV, just rented an apartment in the Richard Meier-designed condo building at 165 Charles St. for $19,500 a month.
–Actor Dean Winters, best known for HBO’s “Oz,” recently checked out a $25,000-a-month rental a couple floors up from the princess.
–A mystery Russian buyer has signed a contract to buy Al and Patsy Kahn’s five-bedroom, 62nd-floor apartment at the Time Warner Center for about $20 million. It was originally listed for $33.6 million last year. Last year the couple, which is splitting up, bought Bernie Madoff’s penthouse at 133 E. 64th St. for $8 million.
–Former Yankee pitcher and five-time World Series winner David Cone is buying a condo in the $4 million range at the Lucida. The shiny eco-friendly building at 151 E. 85th St. includes a La Palestra fitness center.
–DailyCandy founder Dany Levy is renting a three-bedroom unit at 33 Fifth Ave. in the $13,000-a-month range.
From Greenwich Mean Time:
–Rumor has it that Billy Joel was ther puchased of Leona Helmsley’s estate, Dunnellen Hall in Greenwich. We heard it sold last fall for $35 million after being on the market for as much as $125 million.
Today’s home is a piece of literary history in Southern California. The Upton Sinclair House is located in the inland community of Monrovia. This home was built in 1923 and is on the National Register of Historic Places and is eligible for Mills Act property tax benefits. Sinclair is one of America’s most famous novelists focusing on social criticism. His book “The Jungle” published in the early 1900s revealed the underside of the Chicago meatpacking industry and turned the stomach of a nation. He later wrote a series of 11 novels featuring a central character named Lanny Budd and won a Pulitzer Prize for one in the series, “Dragon’s Teeth,” in 1942.
His four-bedroom home is an example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style and has a facade of high arched windows. Other original features include Mission Revival parapet tops and an ornate arched and bracketed doorway. There is a living room with a fireplace and a formal dining room with French doors opening to a covered side patio. The kitchen has been remodeled but the fixtures throughout the home are original and both bathrooms are overlaid with highly prized Batchelder Tile. A grand staircase leads to a wide hallway and three bedrooms which all overlook the California -style landscaped yards below. There is also a small guest house in the backyard as well as a patio and fountain. This home is listed at $1.5 million.
Actress Ashley Jensen, who was on “Ugly Betty” and her husband, actor Terence Beesley, have listed their three-bedroom home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. Fans of 20th century modern design will enjoy this one which is located on a knoll behind gates and has great city views. The two-story mid-century modern home is entered through a tranquil Zen garden. It has been remodeled and the current owners added an infinity pool. The kitchen with stainless steel appliances flows into the dining room and the light-filled living room and master bedroom open up to the pool and patio. The gardens wind around the property. The couple bought the home in 2007 for $1.65 million and have listed it for $1.999 million. They are on the hunt for a more child-friendly home. The listing is with Jacqueline Gowers of Sotheby’s International Realty, Los Feliz.
We last mentioned Pine Creek Sporting Club near Okeechobee, Florida back in 2009. The club is designed for shooting enthusiasts. The community is about an hour from West Palm Beach, and founding members include Tullio Fabbri (world renowned shotgun maker), Jack Nicklaus, Nick Price, and Tucker Frederickson (a former NFL #1 draft pick). The gun-friendly development boasts over 1000 acres of quail fields, guided hunting, a members lodge, aviary, dog kennel, a sporting clay course, a rifle and pistol range and a simulated quail flush course. Non-shooting related amenities include concierge service, helipad, a treehouse restaurant, bocce courts, swimming pool and horse stables. The community includes smaller cabin properties and larger ranch properties.
The club has luxury amenities include the recently completed fitness center and pool area. The 4,127 sq. foot Fitness Center and pool area was designed by Palm Beach architect Roger Janseen and interior designer Marc-Michaels. Pine Creek Sporting Club also has a new six-horse equestrian program.
This cabin is a modified version of a floorplan called the .20 gauge. There are a total of only 23 custom cabins on a tranquil lake, surrounded by live oaks, cypress, and majestic pines. The Cabins at Pine Creek also back up to a unique preserve area bustling with an abundance of wildlife and foliage. The Cabins range in size from 2,329 to 3,472 sq. feet, with two and three-bedroom options available. All cabins include two bathrooms, a fireplace and a spacious porch. This one is three-bedrooms with two bathrooms and a sleeping loft with two built-in beds. Architect Denio Maderia designed an open floor plan invites people to spend their time together in the expansive central area while the decor by Giana Allen Interior Design is rustic but chic eschewing the easy country cliches. This property sells for $1.2 million furnished.
The words “indoor waterfall” immediately brought my attention to this townhouse at 170th East 80 Street in Manhattan. After all, those aren’t words you hear too often in New York real estate. This 19 century townhouse has been reinvented over the last three years into a modern mansion by Kate Shin, president of WEmi:t LLC. “We have spared no expense to renovate this classic townhouse into a modern home with impeccable design sensibility and unsurpassed amenities,” stated Shin. “Over the past three years, we have poured our heart and soul into this project.
The one-of-a-kind 20-foot wide and 22-foot high indoor cascading waterfall, pond and sculpture garden add a calming note to the home which also has an art gallery on the first floor that can be put to private or commercial use (the walls are reinforced and pre-lit to handle art installations). An indulgent 2,300-square-foot private spa lounge pampers with a jacuzzi, spa, sauna, massage room and a 1,000-bottle wine cellar.
The 13,000-square-foot home designed by Toshiko Mori Architects spans five levels. The parlor entertaining level has a grand living room, kitchen, pantry and dining room with a wall of Bendheim glass overlooking the waterfall and reflecting pool below. The third floor master suite includes a powder room, full bath, Dornbracht steam shower, Kohler “tea for two” bathtub, a large library or office in front and a serene bedroom space in the rear. Off the master suite is a grand terrace with planted grass, wood decking, and a skylight looking down onto the waterfall. Floors four, five, and six offer four bedrooms and the roof garden is a planted, green space. This incredible property is listed for $35 million through exclusive broker Paula Del Nunzio of Brown Harris Stevens. All images shown here are renderings.
A Beaver Creek, Colorado home that belonged to the late President Gerald Ford is back on the market. We first mentioned this home back in 2009 when the real estate investor who bought the home dropped the price from $14.9 million to $12.95 million. Now it’s back with an even lower price.
The Orange County Register reports that the home, owned by a Newport Beach real estate investor and his family, is now listed at $10.995 million. The seven-bedroom home is a luxury ski-in/ski-out residence that includes a separate building with a swimming pool, spa and exercise room, a home theater, a dedicated massage room and a 600-bottle refrigerated wine room.
Lovely blonde actress Kaley Cuoco has a hit on her hands with her role in “The Big Bang Theory.” Perhaps that’s why she’s decided to move on and leave her home in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles behind. The LA Times reports that Cuoco has put her three-bedroom home on the market for $995,000 listed with Stephanie Vitacco of Coldwell Banker.
The gated Spanish-style house was built in 1937 and listing pictures show that Cuoco has already decamped. The home has distressed hardwood floors and recessed lights. French doors that open to a covered patio and the home has a separate dining room. The kitchen is updated with a breakfast area and stainless steel appliances. The master suite has a walk-in closet and a bathroom with an oversized shower. There is not pool but the listing describes the home’s grounds as “parklike.” Records on PropertyShark.com show that Cuoco bought the home in 2005 for $1.355 million.
The blogosphere was abuzz today with the news that country singer and actress LeAnn Rimes has dropped the price on her custom-built home in Franklin, Tennessee. Rimes and her husband, backup dancer Dean Sheremet, bought a 5.21 acre hunk of property in the gated Avalon community in 2006. The couple then built a 13,380 square foot mansion which they put on the market in 2009 for $7.45 million. The home has had few price cuts and is now listed at $6.249 million.
The home has four bedrooms and includes public rooms on a grand scale including formal living and dining rooms, an expansive kitchen, large den, home theater and a second kitchen with a stone back wall which is shown in the listing pictures. Although the outside of the house has a faux English country look, the inside is modern and urban. The master suite is done in gray and white tones with a dark hardwood floor and the master bathroom features marble floors and a glass shower that looks out over the property. We don’t have too many pictures but the home is also said to have a yoga room and wiring to allow a music studio to be installed.
But the bigger story to my real-estate-loving eyes is the biggest property on the market in Franklin. Eagle’s Nest Farm was listed at $33 million when it was our estate of the day in 2008 but it was later discounted to $29.5 million and now sits at a cool $27.5 million.
This Sagaponack barn is the home, studio and gallery of artist Sydney Butchkes. Newsday’s Real LI reported that Butchkes bought this property back in the 1960s for just $15,000. Butchkes creates abstract art and sculptures which have appeared in shows and on album covers and book jackets.
The two-bedroom, two-bathroom property was built in the 1840s and retains its rustic charm with wide-plank floors but also now has radiant heat for comfort. The second-story loft has peaked ceilings with exposed beams and double doors. It’s currently decorated in an artsy, bohemian style. Much of Butchkes’ art can be seen in the home. The home is on 3.4 acres and is listed for $5.5 million with Beate Moore of Sotheby’s Realty.
Today’s home isn’t just a house, it’s a whole village. Curbed led us to the listing for Henderson Village and Farms in Perry, Georgia. As the story on the Henderson Village website goes, Bernhard Schneider, who hails from Munich, Germany, bought Henderson Village, then a 3,500 acre farm, in 1979. Over the years he picked up other homes. He opened Henderson Village as a resort in 1998 with several separate buildings, including six old tenant cottages and four homes. ABS Farms is the owner of Henderson Village which has been designed to be a country resort with the charm of a bygone era.The rooms at Henderson Village include guest rooms and suites with antique furnishings, claw-footed tubs, fireplaces and featherbeds. The property has hosted plenty of weddings and business conferences and also offers bird and game hunting. There is a large owner’s home with a pool, tennis court and guest house. It’s all yours for $36 million and is listed with Sister Hood of Harry Norman Realtors.
Foreclosure lawyer David Stern is putting his luxury assets worth tens of millions up for sale according to a comprehensive piece by the Orlando Sun-Sentinel. The newspaper tracked down the many possessions of the lawyer who built Florida’s largest foreclosure legal practice. Stern took a $58.5 million payout last year and his company DJSP Enterprises which provide paperwork services to his law firm is traded on the Nadaq stock exchange.
The company has faltered in recent months and around 1,000 DJSP employees have been laid off since last fall. Stern’s firm was once one of the largest foreclosure firms in Florida but there have been claims of fraudulent court documents being filed in foreclosure cases. It is now one of seven foreclosure law firms being investigated by the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
Stern has listed two properties on South Florida’s Hillsboro Beach and the Sun-Sentinel article says that what is believed to be his Italian-built superyacht, the 130-foot yacht, Misunderstood, is listed for sale for $18 million at The Yacht & Brokerage Show on Miami Beach. Together two properties on Hillsboro Beach which have enviable ocean-to-intracoastal lots are listed for a total of nearly $20 million. A Vail ski house belonging to Stern’s wife is also on the market for around $6 million.
Even if he sells those properties he still has a $15 million mansion in Fort Lauderdale and a penthouse condo in the Ritz Carlton on Fort Lauderdale Beach.
The Hamptons are full of lavish real estate and so it takes a lot to turn heads but this one in Water Mill, New York definitely does. Newsday reported last year that the home belongs to real estate principal and chef Andrew Borrok. According to that article, the kitchen alone with a a prep-kitchen, walk-in refrigeration, bakery and a finishing kitchen upstairs cost $3 million.
The home dazzles from the get-go with a a foyer that has a double staircase in cast bronze with silver and gold-leaf details and crowned by an early 19th-century, stained glass skylight. The home was built in 2005 and has a custom-designed copper roof and eight bedrooms. The four-acre property fronts has a heated gunite pool with a waterfall edge as well as a tennis court, a koi pond and a four-car garage. Property records show that he bought the property in 2003 for $3,687,500. It is listed at $58.5 million with Harald Grant of Sotheby’s Realty.
North Clinton, Estate of the Day originally appeared on Luxist on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
A Beaver Creek, Colorado home that belonged to the late President Gerald Ford is back on the market. We first mentioned this home 
The blogosphere was abuzz today with the news that country singer and actress LeAnn Rimes 
