Luxist

This might be one of the most beautiful billiard tables ever created. The black walnut billiard table was commissioned for Queen Victoria's Jubileee Exhibition in Manchester in 1887 and created by Orne & Sons Ltd. The cushion friezes are decorated with ribbons of quotations from Shakespeare, Tennyson, Scott and Byron embellished with over fifty species of wild flowers and native British birds. Beneath the friezes are two long and six short panels depicting numerous countries. Between the panels and above each leg are carved portraits including William of Normandy, Henry I, Henry II, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward II, Edward IV, Elizabeth of York, James I and Charles I.

The matching cupboard is shaped like a door carved with seven panels. The upper four coats of arms show Victoria during the most important stages in her reign. The central horizontal section features Victoria and Albert beside Windsor Castle and the lower section depicts the royal residences of Holyrood and Caernavon. The second section slides open to expose a game with stars and colored counters, which can be rotated to form a scoreboard. The set is at Harrod's for £1 million.

When Miles screamed about not drinking any "#$%@ing Merlot" in the movie Sideways, it started a push toward Pinot Noir and the beginning of California Merlot's fight for its reputation. The battle still continues and Producer/Director Rudolf N. McClain has just released the DVD of his film Merlove. On the cover is a quote from Wine Spectator that says simply: "Take this, Miles."

"Merlove is a documentary I wanted to make in response to the movie Sideways," explains McClain. The movie was filmed in the Napa Valley, Washington State and Bordeaux and combines documentary style filmmaking with an animation subplot centered on a bottle of Merlot wine named "Merlove" which must find a way to fill itself with love when aimlessly tossed into the ocean of mediocre Merlot wine. The DVD contains new animated sequences, music, digital mastering and a director's commentary. The movie Merlove premiered on June 27, 2008 and has been screened at film festivals around the world.

McClain will be on hand to sign copies in the tasting room at V. Sattui Winery on November 14 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.. The winery is located at 1111 White Lane off Highway 29 just south of St. Helena. The DVD sells for $24.99. At the event you can show your support for Merlot by indulging in a free tasting of the winery's two Merlots, the 2006 Henry Ranch (Carneros appellation) and 2006 Napa Valley.

Architecture lovers and foodies come together in a new package that combines a private tour of the Philip Johnson Glass House site in New Canaan, Connecticut with a three-course dinner at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York. This exclusive package is available for $400 per person and includes a two-hour tour with access to five Johnson-designed structures – Glass House, Painting Gallery, Sculpture Gallery, Library/Study and Da Monsta - a collection of contemporary art and expansive views of the 47-acre landscape. After the tour guests head to the Four Seasons Restaurant to indulge in a three-course dinner paired with champagne and wines selected by managing partners Alex von Bidder and Julian Niccolini. Guests are responsible for finding their own way there and back.

The restaurant, which first opened in July 1959, is a Modern jewel with furnishings created by Charles Eames, Garth and Ada Louise Huxtable, Eero Saarinen and Mies Van der Rohe and the modern art masterpieces throughout the five dining rooms including works by Roy Lichtenstein, Juan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg and Frank Stella. Eighteen pieces of serviceware along with a selection of furnishings are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The pool room, shown above, was designed by Philip Johnson and Mies van der Rohe.

For more information or to purchase the package, contact Meri Erickson at the Philip Johnson Glass House, 203.594.9884 x5 or meri_erickson@nthp.org. The offer is based on availability, tax and gratuity is inclusive and travel between New Canaan and New York City is not included in the purchase price.

Today's estate is located inside the tranquil Monte Nido community in increasingly celebrity friendly Calabasas, California. The home is on a five acre spread that features waterfalls and streams, a koi-pond; two guest houses and a private meditation room displaying a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains. The main residence is designed in a Tuscan style with walnut wood flooring and antique terracotta tile flooring created from the roof tops of 19th century French stables as well as a variety of exquisitely crafted hand-painted tiles.

The home is over 10,000 square feet spread out over three levels. A grand living room and formal dining area offer plenty of space for entertaining. The home's two-story library has alder shelving complete with map drawers, a fireplace with Italian limestone mantle and a double helix walnut staircase that leads you to the library's second-level. The home's 12 seat movie theater has a custom designed alder bar; fabric panel walls and leather motion seating.

The master bedroom suite offers a private terrace and has designer closets with built-in hampers, jewelry storage, tie racks, and pull out shoe and shirt storage. There are two master baths which include steam showers and a whirlpool tub. There are six bedrooms total. Outside there is a pool and spa, expansive outdoor seating with a fireplace and grill area. This home is listed at $14.9 million.

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Old whisky can be found in some pretty amazing places. I've heard of it stashed in the walls of houses, buried under ground, and discovered in shipwrecks under the ocean. But the trove left by Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton might be the most unusual. Shackelton and his crew left two cases of Scotch whisky stashed under the floorboard of a small wooden shack at Cape Royds.

The whisky was discovered by conservators in January 2006. They were unable to get the crates out but will be trying again in January during the Antarctic summer. It's not known what shape the bottles of Charles Mackinlay & Co. whisky will be in after one hundred years of freeze and thaw. The crates and bottles will remain in Antarctica unless they need to be taken off the continent for conservation reasons.

Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte & Mackay, the company that now owns the Mackinlay label, would like to be able to taste the whisky. He has a 1907 letter from Shackleton along with a photograph of the bottles' label. He tells the Global Post he would like to extract some by sticking a needle through the cork and taking out liquid with a syringe. If the corks remained intact the whisky could taste much like it did in Shackleton's day but if the corks were dislodged and oxygen got in the taste may have been compromised. If a bottle were to make it out of Antarctica and onto the open market it could fetch over $1,00 a bottle not as much for the taste but for the provenance.

NetJets Inc., the fractional ownership and plane leasing company owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has announced major layoffs. Due to a slowdown in business travel and the overall usage of private jets the company is firing 495 pilots.

Bloomberg quotes a statement from David Sokol, NetJets CEO who said that the decision came from looking at current and predicted flight demand. The news comes just around two months after Sokol took over and the company moved back to Columbus, Ohio.

Currently the company owns more planes than it is using. NetJets employs over 3,000 pilots worldwide. The layoffs come after an earlier layoff of 350 non-pilot workers which was announced in September. Some are questioning whether or not the fractional private jet model still has a place in this economy. I think it does but that the scale may be smaller than these companies would like.

If you had asked me earlier this week which suitor I thought would claim Escada as their own I would have guessed M1 Group, the owner of Faconnable. But the new owner of the German fashion house is actually Megha Mittal, daughter-in-law of steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal. Mittal purchased the brand for an undisclosed sum.

Mittal beat out a bunch of fashion insiders including the former head of Gucci and persuaded the German insolvency administrator that she would be the best steward of the brand. She bought Escada through a family trust said to be in in the three-digit million range. The German press has estimated that the deal is worth around 100 million Euros including the debt.

Ms. Mittal is 33 years old and has had a lifelong love of fashion. She is married to Aditya Mittal and has two daughters. She has a degree from Wharton Business School in finance. The Economic Times in India quotes her as saying that her first priority is to preserve the heritage of Escada and help it achieve a successful feature. Mittal's success is also good news for current CEO Bruno Slazer who will likely stay in place during the transition and has wanted to move the brand toward more affordable careerwear and everyday fashion and away from red carpet and couture gowns. Mittal will serve as a board member and brand ambassador for the fashion house.

Celebrity-friendly restaurant Orso Los Angeles becomes the latest restaurant to close. Orso opened in 1989 and its location near Robertson Blvd. and the tree-shrouded smoking-friendly patio have made it a popular film industry haunt. But the NY Times reports that the Italian trattoria serving fare priced at around $25 per entree will close by November 21. Orso restaurants in New York and London will remain open. The NY Times article says that Orso Los Angeles began to falter when the Creative Artists Agency and International Creative Management moved into Century City office towers and when the nearby New Line Cinema once a huge client, began deep job cuts. There's no shortage of other restaurants in the area but its always sad to see a restaurant that has survived 20 years in the fickle world of Los Angeles restaurants close down.

British comedian and actor Russell Brand has been in the news a bit lately. He's been increasing his profile in the United States with more acting roles (he's set to take on the Dudley Moore role in the remake of Arthur) and with his romance with Katy Perry. Perhaps Brand is considering a permanent move to the U.S. because the BrickWork blog reports that Brand's home in the Hampstead area of London is on the market.

The Victorian home has been renovated in a hiply goth style that reminds me of the vintagey creations of Douglas Little. The home has five levels and features dark flocked wallpaper, large televisions and modern furniture. An entire room is given over to Brand's love of yoga and the plush black and silver master bedroom is exactly what you might from this self-confessed sex addict. The home also includes a media room, outdoor hot tub and a top floor bedroom suite which currently serves as an office. It is listed at £2.5 million.

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A little shopping inspiration can be found in New York City when jewelry designer and fashion blogger Wendy Brandes will open a popup store in the West Village for two days this holiday season. The Wendy Brandes popup store will be open on November 20th and 21st from 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at 48 Greenwich Avenue near Perry Street. Wendy will be on hand both days to showcase her detailed handcrafted pieces. Hear straight from Wendy about the rich and witty inspirations for each unique piece. In addition to being a talented designer Brandes has an abiding love of history which manifests in unique pieces like a tiny sarcophagus that opens to reveal a mummy with diamond eyes or her popular poison rings which have secret compartments. Her collections have been inspired by a variety of historical figures including an Anglo-Saxon Queen, an Empress of Rome and the Queen of Scots.

The Wendy Brandes Popup Store will also have styles from her friend Zang Toi's collection available for shoppers interested in clothing to go along with their jewels. Zang Toi established the "House of Toi" collection in New York in 1989, and was awarded the 1990 Mouton Cadet Young Designer of the Year award, which recognizes the top young US designer of the year. Over the years, his design has evolved from the bright and decadent of the 1990s to the timeless yet modern lines of the turn of the country.