Former NBA player and popular sports analyst Charles Barkley might want to steer clear of the gambling tables for a while. Barkley has spoken of his love of gambling before, in a 2006 interview he estimated that he's lost $10 million. Now his love of games of chance has landed him in hot water, Wynn Las Vegas filed a lawsuit in District Court on Wednesday saying Barkley owes $400,000 in gambling chits from last year. The casino has asked the Clark County district attorney's bad check unit to open a criminal investigation. Barkley will be given the chance to make restitution and avoid being charged with a felony. The lawsuit shows that the four $100,000 gambling markers date back to October.
The big wow from Sotheby's contemporary art sale on Wednesday, was the record price set for a Francis Bacon. His "Triptych, 1976" sold for $86.281 million setting a record for postwar art and topping the estimate of around $70 million. Sotheby's had their best night in their nearly 300-year history bringing in a total of $362 million, which bested the $348.2 million haul from Christie's just the night before. While at the Christie's sale a Mark Rothko painting went for over $50 million, at this sale a similar painting went unsold. Seventeen other artists also set record including Robert Rauschenberg, who died this week. His "Overdrive" sold for $14.6 million. Takashi Murakami's amusing sculpture "My Lonesome Cowboy" went for $15.16 million which is rather amazing considering his previous record for $2.7 million. At the sale 87 percent of the 83 lots were sold and the sale exceeded the high presale estimate of $357 million. Fine art spending is alive and well, if there's a fall coming, well, inevitably there will be one, it seems it won't be for a while yet.
I would have taken bets that Donald Trump wouldn't get his $100 million price for the home he's been trying to sell in Palm Beach, Florida for two years but I would have lost. The Palm Beach Post reports that Trump has sold the property he bought in 2004 from Abe Gosman for his desired price. Trump bought the home for $41.35 million and spent another $25 million in a renovation headed by Kendra Todd, winner of the third season of The Apprentice. He first put it on the market for $125 million which made it the most expensive home for sale in the U.S. but even Trump knew that price was optimistic and predicted three years ago that it would go for $100 million.
The home has nine bedrooms, a ballroom and a conservatory as party of its 62,000 square foot expanse. It also has a 48-car garage. Believe it or not, the unnamed buyer might tear down the huge mansion and subdivide. The waterfront property has been a prized piece of land for over 100 years and has the current house, Maison de L'Amitié, was only built in 1990. The property is appraised at $58 million by the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office, meaning the 2007 tax bill at $980,033, is higher than the price of many homes in America. Trump's sale comes after a rash of big home sales in Palm Beach including Jones Apparel Group founder Sidney Kimmel who recently sold his home in the area for its $81.5 million list price.
I don't have great pictures or a lot of details on this one but it's special enough to cover based on size alone. This is the home of the Craven family, who owns Craven Original, a company that creates fine home gardening products and pottery. The home is an Italian-style villa on a whopping 1,410 acres at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in a small town north of Atlanta, Georgia. There are currently seven homes on the property. It took the Craven family 28 years to collect the property which is also home to 850 cows, 450 of which have calves. There are 20 barns and sheds for hay storage. The property includes miles of fencing and gates spread out over three counties. The land also includes five ponds and three miles of Chandler Creek that could maintain a 250 acre lake to produce power and water for municipalities. The land itself is zoned for 2400 plus homes, golf course, retail center or can be left as a horse and cattle ranch.
The main home is 18,000 square feet and is built on a grand scale with 16 to 32 foot ceilings and 317 arches and a 540,000 artistically laid brick, tile roof, two eight-foot by 16-foot chandeliers in the great hall. All the architectural details such as cupolas, balustrades, fountains and statues were sculpted and cast by Craven Original. Much of it such as the ironwork was manufactured by members of the Craven family. I'm told that the property is appraised at $49 million, but is available for $31 million.
This Arizona auciton isn't as lavish as the one of million dollar homes I covered a few weeks back but it's another real estate discount. Trammell Crow Residential has announced the auction of the Quarter Condominium Residences at Westgate City Center in Glendale, Arizona. Up for purchase are 35 two and three-bedroom townhouses. The Quarter at Westgate City Center has two resort-style swimming pools and heated spas, shaded ramadas with natural gas grills and a fitness center. A clubhouse for residents includes a kitchen, custom-designed indoor/outdoor fireplace, WiFi access, and a four-panel flat-screen TV wall.
The townhouses are part of the $1.5 billion Westgate City Center which will have 6.5 million square feet of commercial, retail, hotel and residential space including access to NFL and NHL games at two arenas, an AMC Westgate 20 Theatre, and restaurants like Bar Louie and Fox Sports Grill. The auction will take place on Sat., June 7 at 1:00 p.m. at the JW Marriott at Desert Ridge, located at 5350 East Marriott Dr., Phoenix, Arizona. Minimum bids for the townhouses available at auction will start at $195,000, which is approximately 35 percent below the highest previous asking price Two-bedroom townhomes had previous asking prices of up to $485,321, and three-bedroom townhomes had previous asking prices of up to $552,520.
The economy may be slumping but you wouldn't know that from the numbers being racked up at Christie's. The auction house rang in strong numbers on Tuesday night for their spring Contemporary Art Auction which my colleague, Jared Paul Stern mentioned earlier this month. The NY Times reports that there were often only a couple of bidders on each piece but the total haul of $348.2 million falls neatly between the low estimate of $282 million and the high of $398.6 million. The majority of the buyers were American but the Russians were also out in force. The top lot was Rothko's No. 15 which sold for $50.4 million. A similar Rothko is set to be auctioned off tonight at Sotheby's. Lucian Freud's painting Benefits Supervisor Sleeping brought in $33.6 million setting a new record for a Freud sold at auction and giving him back the record of being the living artist with the most expensive work sold at auction (Jeff Koons claimed the title last November).
Perhaps the most interesting lot was the one you can live in. The Kaufmann House, in Palm Springs, Calif., a classic Richard Neutra home sold for $16.8 million including commission. The mystery buyer also purchased a plot of land adjacent to the property for $2.1 million.
Little kids have Build-A-Bear stores but where can older girls go to create something distinctive? This summer in Beverly Hills, two Hollywood wives, Elizabeth Wiatt and Jamie Tisch are launching Fashionology LA, an interactive clothing store for girls age 7-14. Using touchscreen displays, girls can pick different themes such as Juku, Pop, Rock, Malibu, and Peace, each of which have their own images, and then customize a T-shirt or dress or pants adding on charms and pins for a one-of-a-kind garment. Once the piece is finished the girl steps on to a stage where she models the creation for a camera. The image will be shown in the store on a 70" LCD screen and will be emailed to her. The first store will open in June and there are plans for nationwide expansion. Seems like a natural spot to have tween birthday parties.
If you want a lot of space for your dollar the Midwest is often the best place to be. Check out today's home in Hartland, Wisconsin. This mansion has 18,000 square feet of space including a home theater, seven bedrooms and heated floors that include marble, bamboo and slate. The home is wired for the latest in state-of-the art technology and also has a 17th Century wood panel fireplace from England that flows into the gourmet kitchen with granite counters. Outside there is a sports court, a nine-car garagae, indoor and outdoor pools and fountains. It is listed at $6.75 million.
Great food always benefits from great scenery, so I can only imagine how dinner is at L'Andana, Chef Alain Ducasse's Inn in the Maremma region of Tuscany, Italy. The property is located in Tuscany's hills and groves and has 33 guest rooms, a Michelin-starred restaurant Trattoria Toscana, a 6,000 square foot ESPA spa, three pools, tennis court, /opportunities for yachting excursions, horseback riding and other jaunts through the scenic countryside. When it opened in 2004, the inn was named to Travel + Leisure's list of hot new places to stay. Even the reviewers at Trip Advisor have found little to complain about.
What goes perfectly with Tuscan food and Tuscan scenery? Tuscan wine of course. This year they are offering the Super Tuscan experience (ranging from €3.052 – 3.658, low to high season) which includes three nights (with buffet breakfast each morning), and two days visit and wine tasting in the famous Tuscan Omellaia, Sassicaia, Michele Saita with Mercedes transfer and Tognoni in the small medieval village of Bolgheri as well as dinner for two at Trattoria Toscana. Due to the current exchange rate the inn has implemented a guaranteed dollar rate program, meaning regardless of the weakness of the dollar at the time of your vacation, L'Andana will honor the rate at 1.45.
Forget the winery fantasy for a moment, let's return to the bed and breakfast fantasy. Imagine owning this piece of real estate and being the owner of a small inn in Key West, Florida. The Southernmost Point Guest House is located on Duval Street in the heart of Key West's tourist area near the official southernmost point of the Continental United States. The historic mansion is on a corner lot with gardens leading to the pool, parking, trellised patio and a wide porch that wraps around the building. There are 10 bedrooms and eight bathrooms and seven spacious apartment units in two buildings. According to the Southernmost Point Guest House website, some of the apartment condos are for sale for $650.000. This beautiful spot is listed at $4.25 million.
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Spottswoode wine dinner held at Chinois on Main, Wolfgang Puck's restaurant in Santa Monica. With an entire food empire to tend to you wouldn't think that Wolfgang Puck would still get in the kitchen but last night he cooked beside chef Rene Mata. The restaurant has been open since 1983, making this year the 25th anniversary of this California landmark.
Spottswoode wine has an even longer history. Spottswoode is a family-owned historic vineyard and winery which was established in 1882 by George Schonewald. The estate features a Victorian home which is shown on the Spottswoode label. The Spottswoode name comes from Mrs. Albert Spotts, who owned the property from 1910 until 1972 (the "woode" part of the name was added for fancy effect). In 1972, Mary Weber Novak and her husband Dr. Jack Novak purchased the winery, moving their family from San Diego to St. Helena. The vineyards were planted with a variety of grapes but were then replanted with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Shortly after this Dr. Novak died and Mrs. Novak continued to sell the grapes to other producers. Finally in 1982, the first Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon was produced. Today, two of Mary's daughters, Beth and Lindy, work for the family winery which currently produced around 3,000 cases a year of Spottswoode Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. They also produce the Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc, which is made from grapes purchased elsewhere and the Lyndenhurst Cabernet Sauvignon, which is the estate's second label. The estate also produces a limited amount of olive oil. The winery has been certified organic since 1990 and is committed to environmentally sensitive practices.
The dinner at Chinois was definitely not for vegetarians but the rich food was well complemented by the various Spottswoode vintages served. The 2001 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon is particularly noteworthy and well worth finding if you can get your hands on it. The wines are pricey, the 2005 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon is $130 and the 2005 Lyndenhurst Cabernet Sauvignon is $60 but the wines are everything you'd expect from a Napa Cab, rich with cherry flavors that straddle the line between being fruity enough to appeal to the nose but spicy and layered enough to tempt the tongue. The 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, which sells for $32 is a great summer wine. It doesn't have the grassy and mineral flavors of some Sauvignon Blancs. Instead it has tastes of pineapple and citrus and is a crisp white that would be a great wine for drinking on its own or with light food.
The gallery below shows each course and the wines served for this very special meal.
Usually we find the European style grand homes on the East Coast but Stonebrook Court is located in Los Altos Hills, CA. The home was built in 1914 and restored by its owner during the last seven years. This mansion is approximately 30,000 square feet and is on 7.5 acres. The English English Tudor and Jacobean revival style exterior is bisected by a porte cochere separating the living quarters and a grand ballroom. The interior is done in modernized Renaissance Italian style with 12-foot wood ceilings, a an antique carved marble fireplace, a ballroom with 16th Century gilded Venetian ceiling paintings said to be from the Palazzo Grimani. The library has mahogany bookcases and a secret room with wet bar and beer taps and the breakfast room features new Gothic arch windows. The main residences has seven bedrooms and there is also a gym, garden building, a caretaker's house, and a 3 car garage.
The home is now wired for state-of-the-art security, audio, phone, internet and all other modern features including a heating system covering 16 zones. The garden which includes follies, rolling lawns, knot garden, boxwood parterres and long perennial borders filled with roses. The pool features a stone fountain/spa surmounted by an antique bronze statue of Neptune. No wonder this has mansion has been host to many weddings.
A 2005 article in the Los Altos Crier reveals more details on this home including that it was formerly known as Morgan Manor (it was the home of Percy and Daisy Morgan) and has serves as both a popular brothel and an elite day school at different times in its past. It took a team that numbered in the thousands and a lot of money from owners Kelly and Christina Porter to restore the home back to its former glory. It is simply one of the most stunning homes available on the West Coast. It is listed at $45 million.
When it comes to recycling most people don't think of the wine cork. Usually people either save them as mementos, turn them into trivets, bulletin boards or in one rare case a suit, or the simply place them back into the wine bottle and toss the bottle in the recycling bin. FOr personal consumption it's perhaps not that big an issue but when you are talking about restaurants and wine tasting rooms, that can be a lot of corks. ReCork America is a new recycling program sponsored by Amorim, a Portuguese cork manufacturer. The project began as a pilot program in Oregon is in place in many San Francisco businesses and restaurants and is spreading into Napa Valley, the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena recently came onboard. The plan is to eventually take cork recycling nationwide. Used corks can be recycled and remade into floor tiles, insulation, gardening products and more. According to an article in the Napa Valley Register, the biggest problem is logistics, if it takes more energy to pick up the corks than it negates the worth of the recycling. So far, this has been a grassroots program with people getting the word out and working to gather corks to deliver to collection centers as well as starting to brainstorm new uses for the recycled cork. For more information, visit the ReCork America website.
This contemporary villa located in the European playground of St Jean Cap Ferrat was created by designers Lazzarini Pickering and is a stunning contemporary residence which has beautiful ocean views. The home is located on the exclusive Avenue de Rothschild in this Mediterranean resort of the wealthy. There is a large main villa with views along the French Riviera and living areas on three floors. The main villa can be purchased separately or with two smaller three bedroom guest houses and a staff apartment. The property also includes gardens, a terrace, swimming pool, wine cellar and parking for two cars. This home is listed at $23.5 million.
I'm far too lazy to have my own winery but I love stories of small family-owned wineries. Foursight Wines is a new Anderson Valley family owned and operated winery producing just a few hundred cases of cool-climate Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc each year. Foursight Wines is a collaboration between two generations of the Charles family: Bill and Nancy - local winegrowers - their daughter, Kristy (the executive director of the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association), and her fiancé, Joe Webb (a Sonoma State Wine Business graduate, currently working with Londer Vineyards). That's Kristy and Joe hard at work in the picture on the right. The name refers to the four people behind the wine as well as to four generations that have lived and worked on the same land which has in the past been a timber mill, farmland, grazing land for livestock, and now a winery.
The 2006 Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir was hand-harvested from the family vineyard and sells for $46 (425 cases produced). The 2007 Anderson Valley Sauvignon Blanc came from the Ferrington Vineyard and was made in 100% stainless steel and sells for $20, (189 cases produced). All vineyard work is done by the family, with help only during pruning and harvest. A tasting room is in the works and should be open in fall 2008, for now the wines can be ordered at the winery website.
Former NBA player and popular sports analyst Charles Barkley might want to steer clear of the gambling tables for a while. Barkley has spoken of his love of gambling before, in a 2006 interview he estimated that he's lost $10 million. Now his love of games of chance has landed him in hot water, Wynn Las Vegas filed a lawsuit in District Court on Wednesday saying Barkley owes $400,000 in gambling chits from last year. The casino has asked the Clark County district attorney's bad check unit to open a criminal investigation. Barkley will be given the chance to make restitution and avoid being charged with a felony. The lawsuit shows that the four $100,000 gambling markers date back to October.
