It's not exactly ski season but today's estate in Vail, Colorado is probably fun in the summer time too. The five-bedroom mountain home has a contemporary style that combines the rustic and the modern to great effect. It is on 1.2 acres of land and includes a large four-bedroom guest house which brings the total bedrooms on the property to nine. The main house has views of the Gore Range Mountains and surrounding aspen forest from large floor to ceiling picture windows. In addition to large living, dining and kitchen spaces there is also a family and recreation room, Jacuzzi and dry sauna. The home has ski-in access and walking distance to ski slopes and town. The home is zoned duplex so the main house and guest house could be sold off separately, there is also the chance to add approximately 4,000 square feet to the home in case 4,360 square feet is too small for you. This home is listed at $10.95 million.
Another tremendously expensive property has gone on the market in the Hamptons. Braden Keil's Gimme Shelter column in the NY Post reported on today's estate, a 12-bedroom home that is nearly 18,000 square feet. The property is owned by Juergen Friedrich, who ran the European division of Esprit sportswear and has spent a great deal of money updating the home, which was built in 1902 and designed by Grosvenor Atterbury. The country home sits on 9.11 acres that include old trees, flowering shrubs, evergreen perimeters, rose gardens. indoor pool, outdoor pool with pavilion, tennis court, paddle court, gymnasium, carriage house and a four-car garage. At nearly 3,000 square feet, the master bedroom suite is larger than many homes. What may hurt it on the real estate market is that it is not on the water. But if you can live without that, it's a pretty impressive property. It is listed at $67.5 million.
Today's home in the Shadyside area of Houston, Texas is the type of place I would love to be invited to for a cocktail party. Not only is it a beautiful classic home, a vintage Harrie Lindeberg and John Staub design built in the early 1920s (and on the National Register of Historic Places), but the current owners have created an inviting abode full of a variety of art to ogle and shelves of books to browse through. This eight-bedroom home is on 1.7 beautifully landscaped acres with formal gardens and a greenhouse. The home includes a dramatic entrance hall with a floating staircase,large living room, library, garden/media room, dining room, gourmet kitchen w/morning room and wine cellar. A new pool and pool house were constructed in 2002. There is also a carriage house with staff quarters. This home is listed at $11.3 million. The AOL home value tool estimates it at just $2,307,393.
Today's home is in the small town of Garrison, New York in upstate New York. The four-bedroom home won me over with the living room that has a 30-foot ceiling and a fireplace with a tall wood surround. There are plenty of fireplaces in this home including one in the formal dining room, one in the mahogany-paneled library and one in the master suite. The home has four bedrooms total and the herringbone wood floors give this home a cozy feel. It sits on over two acres with gardens and landscaping, an in-ground pool and a stream with a tiny bridge. It is listed at $2.25 million.
Today's home in Teton Pines, Wyoming isn't the most expensive or largest in the region but it has a great open style. I love the homes that take the Jackson Hole style of making log cabins on steroids and turn it into something lavish but also modern and intimate. The home sits on the fourth hole of the Teton Pines Golf Course. It measures 6512 square feet and has four bedrooms. The open floor plan features high pitched ceilings and a juxtaposition of stone walls and light wood for an airy feel. I'm not sure what the upholstered chairs are doing in the kitchen, it looks a little like an office but overall the use of white oak and and big windows facing the mountain views have me sold on this home. Also worthy of note is the master suite which features a fireplace, a dry sauna and a steam shower. This home is listed at $4.95 million.
Overall the condo market is still struggling but there are pockets of exuberant planning. In the Nashville neighborhood of Belle Meade, Tennessee there are three projects planned that offer luxury housing for empty nesters. Belle Meade is already home to a wide variety of large luxury homes but now developers are betting some of these homeowners might be looking for something a little smaller and less time consuming.
Belle Meade Court offers both condos and townhomes and at prices from $400,000 to $750,000 is the least expensive. It is the only one currently under construction. The Manning at Belle Meade, shown above, which is planning construction by the end of the year, offers two bedrooms under 2,000 square feet up to penthouses over 5,000 square feet. Community amenities include an entertaining salon and dining room, catering kitchen, guest suite, private wine storage, a library, fitness center, business center, pool and croquet lawn. Prices range from $950,000 to $5 million. The third project, 112 Harding Place, is in limbo until the market heats up again but is located near the Belle Meade Country Club and offers units from just under 3,000 square feet to over 5,000 square feet and are expected to be priced from $1.3 million to nearly $2.8 million.
Given the current real estate market it does seem likely that at least one of these projects probably won't make it to completion. Their success hinges on the interest of retiring baby boomers willing to invest in condo life.
When faced with a property with an impossibly hefty price tag we have to ask the question is it worth it? This one seems pretty promising. It's a 25-room red brick residence with 100ft of frontage along Park Avenue and situated between 64th and 65th Street in one of New York City's prime neighborhoods.The home was built in 1920 but has been renovated with new heating and air conditioning, a mechanical elevator, security and electrical systems. The home has southern and western exposures and views onto Park Avenue. There is a sunny yellow chef's kitchen and pantry, five large bedrooms, large formal rooms for entertaining, many staff rooms, a laundry, a wine room, a play room and space for a lavish home theater. Older touches of charm include the wood burning fireplaces, a marble staircase and hardwood plank floors. At $35 million, it's among the ranks of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the city.
Wisteria Hill in New Canaan, Connecticut is a 1910 estate drenched in genteel charm. The large home sits on 8.66 acres that include landscaping that appears straight out of a garden magazine. The home is out of the pages of Architectural Digest. A particularly charming detail is the white and blue tile fireplace surround in the breakfast room. Often window treatments give me the vapors, but in this case, the vibrant window shades offer a nice pop of color in this very elegant home. There is a two-bedroom guest house over the large garage. This home is listed at $11.2 million.
Today's home in St. Louis, Missouri is a vintage treasure. The home was designed by architect George W. Hellmuth and constructed in 1902. It was commissioned by aviation pioneer Albert Bond Lambert, one of the financial backers of Charles Lindbergh's historic transatlantic flight. The home has 23 rooms with six bedrooms and has been lovingly updated without losing the vintage charm. The home has been restored with historically correct wood paneling, replacement windows, ceiling fixtures and art glass windows. You don't get much land here, just a small garden but for $3 million for a historical mansion you can't have everything.
Today's home won't appeal to everyone. Unless you enjoy Moroccan style this isn't the place for you. If you like it though, welcome to Casa Blanca, a dramatic home located on the Carpinteria coast next to Montecito, California. This estate which was finished in 1996 has a history that reaches back to the 1920s. Upon entering the iron gates of the home, you are welcomed into a courtyard with a water fountain. Once inside, there is a a lighted dome with skylight above the entry The six-bedroom home has some dramatic features including a living room with 19-foot ceilings and sliding glass doors that disappear into the sides of the walls. The dining room has hidden built-in cabinets and a Murano glass chandelier. The master bedroom suite has coffered ceilings, fireplaces and a terrace. The master bath opens to a secluded patio with a tiled spa. Every bedroom has a deck or a terrace. The back of the house has 180 degree views of the ocean, islands and coast line with direct beach access. The exterior of the house is very beautiful and evocative but the home's rather bland interior doesn't deliver on the exotic promise of the exterior facade, at least in the pictures I've seen.
The home is one of eight in a gated enclave. The property shares a tennis court and pool pavilion with kitchen. The best shared amenities is the Natatorium which was designed by famed local George Washington Smith and has historical significance. This pool house has a pool room, game room and men's and women's separate showers done in a Moorish style with painted arches, marble fireplace, tiled walls and floors. The most interesting feature is a sumptuous indoor pool area with elaborate mosaic tile work that is capped by a large retractable skylight. This home is listed at $12.9 million.
Model, designer and professional diva, Kimora Lee Simmons has put her home in the Beverly Hills Post Office area on the market less than a year after buying it. Last June, the former wife of rap mogul Russell Simmons paid the $5.9 million asking price on the home. The "country English" style home has five bedrooms and a casually luxe feel even if the exterior is a bit blah (it was built in 1974). The overall style is tasteful if a bit heavy on the rattan furniture. I also appreciate Ms. Simmons's taste in paintings, she appears to have a couple of Basquiats tucked in there.
Ms. Simmons also has Jessica Simpson as a next-door neighbor. Will Kimora get her $7.75 million asking price? It's a cheeky move in this market but as the Real Estalker notes, properties in this area do move pretty quickly. She may have better luck with this one than the one in Saddle River, New Jersey that she and her ex-husband have been trying to move for a while now. it was listed at $23.888 million but now sits at $19.888 million.
Today's home has an admirable spot in Santa Barbara, California along Channel Drive. It overlooks Butterfly Beach with views to the Channel Islands and up along the sweep of the coast. It is located in a great neighborhood with easy beach access. The home itself is a bit of a question mark. Built in 1951, it's got a modernist style but it seems a bit dated. The home has three bedrooms which are positioned for ocean views. There are cool details here, the gated property is entered through a large courtyard containing a two-car garageand the approach to the house is via wide pebbled stairs that appear to float above a reflecting pool lined with blue mosaic tiles, and bordered by plantings. The living and dining areas offer floor-to-ceiling glass windows wrapped around two sides of the building with clerestory windows for added light. The entire site has been arranged for maximum privacy so there is no need for window shades. The living room is linked to a sunken dining area with a large black circular chimney hood descending from the ceiling and hanging above a circular raised fire pit. The home sits on less than a half and acre and is listed at $35 million. Even for this area that's a lot for a house that I suspect might end up being a teardown. What say you, update and expand or scrap it and start over?
Today's home is classic Bel Air. This ritzy area of Los Angeles is home to monster homes on their own private hills offering views of the city below. The last time we were in Bel Air, it was to check out a $40 million home. Today's place will cost you a bit less money but is in the same echelon. This fabulous home has been renovated to luxury hotel standards and offers six bedrooms including an expansive master suite and a separate kids wing. This home is suited for a titan of industry with its two-story library, plush home theater and large dining and living rooms for entertaining. The property includes a pool and spa, tennis and gym facilities and a not-a-blade-out-of-place lush green yard. This home is listed for $24.995 million and was recently offered for rent for the astronomical price of $100,000 per month (which is actually less than the estimated mortgage payment would be).
Adamsleigh is one of the largest and most famous homes in Greensboro, North Carolina. Designed by Winston-Salem based Luther Lashmit. Adamsleigh, was built for High Point textile baron John Hampton Adams and is on 13.5 acres. Italian artisans were commissioned to create the molded plaster ceiling details, hand-carved woodwork, tilework and murals. The four-story staircase is said to be forged from one large piece of wrought iron. The den has wood-paneled walls with a secret entrance to a spiral staircase. The home has 22 rooms including 10 bedrooms. It's a beautiful home and one obviously in need of a lot of work but I hope whoever buys it manages to save those delicious Art Deco bathrooms and doesn't just plop in giant jacuzzi tubs. At $4.8 million it's the most expensive listing in the area.
This isn't my first Terra Bella estate of the day and might not be my favorite (the California Terra Bella from last year has my heart) but it's still rather charming. This Terra Bella is located in the gated community of Indian River Shores in Vero Beach, FLorida. It has approximately 125 ft. ocean frontage on 1.25 acres. The six-bedroom home is your standard Florida Mediterranean but it has a lot more grace than some of the newer homes I've seen in the area. The use of dark wood, tile and arches gives it more of a classic Californian look and I'm always a sucker for a house with circular space. The property includes a separate guest quarters with a living room, circular dining room, kitchenette, and balcony over the three car garage which has mahogany garage doors, cobblestone pavers in the auto court and an adjacent circular wine room with a computerized inventory control system. The outdoor space includes a pool surrounded by grass and tiles which doesn't offer much space to lounge around but perhaps that's what the nearby ocean is for. This home is listed at $8.75 million.
