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.
He's already rumored to be building the most expensive yacht in the world, now The Telegraph reports that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is working on a home that will be the most expensive private residence in Britain. The home in Knightsbridge, London will join two existing townhouses that are currently divided into apartments in Lowndes Square. The two-houses will be combined into one eight-bedroom home with a home theater, indoor swimming pool and steam room on eight stories total. The home is expected to be worth around £150 million when complete which actually makes it less expensive than the planned One Hyde Park Development. Abramovich will be keeping the classical exterior of the homes much the same but plans to rehab the interior in Russian opulence with the latest and greatest that money can buy.
Most expensive homes have extra built-in features that are meant to make the environment more comfortable, but not the $2 million Bioscleave House on Long Island. Husband and wife architectural design team Arakawa and Madeline Gins have made sure the "Lifespan Extending Villa" they created is specifically as uncomfortable and unsettling as possible. At the core of their campaign to defeat mortality is the idea that "comfort is the precursor to death." They believe that they have created an environment that keeps people constantly tentative, which in turns helps them stay young and cheat death.
So what makes it so uncomfortable? The floors are severely uneven and bumpy (you have to sign a waiver before you can enter and there are poles to grab onto in various places in case you lose your balance), all the light switches and electric sockets are placed at weird angles, and it's painted in an array of crazy colors (some walls include as many as 40 different shades).
Interestingly enough the couple doesn't seem interested in living in it themselves, as it's currently sitting empty waiting for occupants. That thing cost $2 million and now they aren't even going to live in it. What, they don't want to defy death after all?
Can't say I blame them. I hope to be nice and comfy in my old age, death precursor or not.
I've mentioned before that the real estate auction market in Florida is heating up as more and more people need to get rid of houses in a hurry. Now some of the biggest newest mansions are hitting the black at reduced prices. Case in point, this 12,000-square-foot home in Jupiter, Florida. This five-bedroom overlooks the Loxahatchee river and has a 125-foot dock with 160 feet of water frontage. The property also includes a three two-car garages, a two-bedroom guesthouse and there is a large pool overlooking the river and a gazebo with an outdoor kitchen and barbecue. Inside it's classic Florida gigantic with a double-height foyer with a massive chandelier and marble staircase with wrought-iron railings. The home has a large gourmet kitchen, octagonal breakfast room, master suite with a private balcony. The home was listed at $6,995,000 but a court order has forced an auction at $4.5 million or lower on April 19.
Louis Kahn only designed 3 major architectural homes in his career and one of them, the Escherick House (named after the woman for whom it was built, Margaret Escherick) is up for auction. Its address is in Philadelphia and according to some it's his best residential creation and has "mature style" and a "warm and human quality" to the interior (and I tend to agree).
So the house will be sold, but unlike most houses its price will not only reflect the local regular real estate market but also the art market. Valued at $2 million only about half of that is unbiased structural and land values -- the rest is all artistic and historical sentiment.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that diamond billionaire Lev Leviev was switching his main residence to London. It looks like he's found a place to call home sweet home and it just happens to be the most expensive new property ever sold in Britain. Leviev's new house in Hampstead, North-West London cost him £35million. The house will be home to Leviev, his wife Olga and two of his nine children. The home's luxurious features include a cinema, a nightclub, hair salon, an armor-plated front door and an indoor pool that turns into a ballroom with the touch of a button. The house was designed by architect William Bertram of Bath and was originally built for property developer Mansour Namaki, who decided to move to Regent's Park instead. The Telegraph has more pictures of the home including the indoor pool and a £750,000 stone staircase.
While browsing through real estate listings searching for an estate of the day I came across a rather familiar home. The McAfee mansion in Woodland Park, Colorado, which sold at auction for $5.72 million back in May, is now back on the market. At the time the mansion and 280-acre estate were expected to sell for $20 million but Jeffrey Patrick Wu, a 29-year-old Chicago commodities trader got himself quite a deal. At the time Wu said he planned to use the mansion as a vacation home. Yet here we are seven months later and the mansion is listed at $8.9 million. It would be a nice return on his investment if he gets that price. Check out the pictures from when it was our estate of the day here.
Today's estate, first found by the Real Estalker, brings us inside the home of infamous stylist Rachel Zoe. The very slim and very tan Ms. Zoe became a tabloid staple for draping young fashionistas like Mischa Barton and Nicole Richie in long dresses cut to hang off angular collarbones. Rumors of Ms. Zoe's thinness agenda are rampant and when she and Nicole Richie famously parted ways, Richie made references to "Raisin Face," a veiled jab at Zoe's prematurely wrinkled countenance.
The home that Rachel Zoe and her investment banker hubby Rodger Berman own in West Hollywood is a bit small and sexy too. Zoe, who recently published her style tome, A to Zoe, must be looking for a bit more space. The home is two bedrooms and just 2,545 square feet (positively dainty by Hollywood standards). The remodeled mid century home has a plunge pool and spa. The pair bought the home in 2001 for $914,090. key features of the home include walnut floors, a large master suite, a covered dining area in the back yard with a fire pit, and an office/den. The kitchen is a bit blah but this probably wasn't a concern of Ms. Zoe's. As the Real Estalker Mama notes this is a starter home, albeit a pretty swanky one at $2,995,000.
What to make of Boldwater, a four-season resort in Brooklin, Maine? The 38 acres is well-situated with 1400 feet of shore frontage on Blue Hill Bay. The land includes a massive 15,084+/- sq.ft. main house and three additional houses. The main house which appears to have been built in 1980 according to the MLS listing seems rather hotel-like. I do not know if it was used as a resort or if it is just the lack of furnishings that make the home seem so massive. There are six-bedrooms total, a restaurant-sized, colorfully tiled kitchen, formal dining room, two living rooms, a family room, billiards room, Jacuzzi room, wine room and more. The home is also bedecked with some rather faded-looking murals. The land also includes three other homes, a pool and a long pier. The home is listed at $7.5 million but it looks like it was at $8.8 million last year. We are looking at some beautiful land here but the home needs a bit of updating so I would guess that the sale price might be a bit lower.
Some may refer to Leona Helmsley as the 'Queen of Mean', but I think her dog would disagree. Helmsley died last week at the age of 87 and on Tuesday her will was made public. In it, she provided quite nicely for her dog Trouble, creating a $12 million trust to ensure that the Maltese lives out the rest of her life in the luxury she is no doubt accustomed to. The trust will be overseen by her brother, Alvin Rosenthal, to whom she left $10 million. When Trouble's days on earth are over, she is to be buried next to her mistress in the $1.4 million mausoleum in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Westchester County, New York. Talk about a pampered pooch.
She was less generous to her late son Jay Panzirer's children, cutting Craig and Meegan Panzire out completely for "reasons which are known to them" and leaving a relatively paltry $5 million each to David and Walter Panzirer. But even that generosity comes with a catch. In order to receive the money, David and Walter must visit their father's grave once a year, "preferably on the anniversary of my said son's death." In order to ensure they abide by that stipulation, she has ordered a guest book installed at the Helmsley Mausoleum.
Lest you think she's all bad, it is important to note that she did leave billions to various unnamed charities.
Bad news for the Hogan family. Hulk Hogan and his family are looking to sell their house in Miami and recently the house was burglarized. Thieves ended up walking off with $100,000 of jewelry including diamond-covered dog tags and a platinum and diamond watch belonging to Hogan's young son Nick. The incident occurred while the Hogans were moving out of the home. The home, which we recently profiled as an estate of the day, is listed for sale at $18.9 million.
Sure you can buy a small vineyard in Sonoma for a few million but if you want to buy into the French wine business it might cost you a bit more. Chateau La Pointe is the largest Pomerol estate to go on the open market for years. The famed estate has been making well regarded wine since the 19th century and represents 3% of the entire area of Pomerol which is famed for its sand, gravel and clay soil. The estate is planted with Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes. Decanter reports that the selling price is currently 32 million euros.
The Hamptons are full of interesting (and often questionable) architecture but perhaps none as fascinating as the Houses at Sagaponac project. The East Hampton Star has an article on this 'starchitecture' development of more than 30 houses set on a hundred acres. The project was originally envisioned by Harry J. Brown II, better known as Coco, who sought to create a development of reasonably sized single-family houses that were ecologically sensitive and artistically interesting. Brown, who died in November 2005, wanted to create an antidote to the massive moneyed Hamptons homes.
The project stalled after Brown's death but known a group of partners have banded together to buy the Houses at Sagaponac from Mr. Brown's estate for an estimated $15 million. Eight houses have been completed over the past three years and they hope to complete four houses each year. The Houses at Sagaponac website has pictures of the houses that have been built, such as the Henry Cobb house shown at right and others yet to be built by architects of varying styles such as Michael Graves and Zaha Hadid. Houses will sell for $3.5 and $6 million.
The word "massive" really has its work cut out when it comes to describing the new house basketball player LeBron James is building himself and plans to move into next summer. In addition to absolutely "massive" living spaces like a two-story walk-in closet off the master suite, and not only a huge "great room" but an even bigger "grand room" as well, James really outdoes himself (and the rest of the neighborhood) with a casino, a bowling alley, and a barbershop included in the over 35,000 sq feet of house plans.
Throw in a Starbucks and a gas station and he can upgrade from "massive home" to "small town."
For the passionate and inspired homeowner, and for the estate that needs the perfect final touch, customized landscape lighting could be that extra "something" that's missing. A company called Artistic Illumination out of California is one company that works to make the most out of beautiful homes and beautiful landscaping from the outside in.
Looking at some of the photos on the website they really are beautiful, and even though it definitely doesn't look like an eco-friendly project (perhaps they use energy efficient bulbs?) I think I'd be finding all kinds of late night errands to run -- just so I could pull up to the house in the dark over and over again to appreciate the scenic ambiance!
Some may refer to Leona Helmsley as the 'Queen of Mean', but I think her dog would disagree. Helmsley died last week at the age of 87 and on Tuesday 
