Philippe Starck has been pretty busy designing stuff lately, considering just a few months ago he was proclaiming that "design is dead" and announcing his retirement. I guess the most creative minds have the most persuasive demons, and it seems Starck is trying to learn from his: after proclaiming that "everything he had ever designed was useless" he's now on to designing something truly useful and trendy: a mini-turbine designed for people to use at home to generate their own wind power.

The mini-turbine is made of clear polycarbonate (the lack of color is apparently a statement about there being so much materiality in the world) and is capable of providing 20-60% of the power needs for the average home. It will be available this coming September with a price tag around $600.

Across various sectors of the luxury market the story seem to be the same, the mid-range is suffering while the high end remains strong. Reuters reports that Italian jeweler Buccellati has seen a drop in less expensive jewelry in the United States. Maria Cristina Buccellati, head of communication for the company, says that they've only just started to feel affects of the faltering economy in the U.S. Bucellati's concerns follow those expressed by Buglari and Richemont. For Buccellati sales of jewelry priced between 10,000 euros ($15,880) and 30,000 euros ($47,152) had slowed in the United States but jewelry items priced above 100,000 euros ($157,175) are still having strong sales.

Buccellati is fairly protective of their brand and are not as well known as other high-end jewelers, partially because they are one of the only high-end jewelers who does not routinely lend jewelry for actresses to trot out on the red carpet. They also don't aim for the masstige market, Buccellati makes only about 3,000 jewelry pieces a year and around 500 of those are one-of-a-kind pieces.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood have picked up a home on the Malibu beachfront that had been listed at $5.45 million. Big Time Listings found the property website which is here.
--Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer has listed his Laguna Beach, California home. It's our estate of the day later today.
--Michael D. Kunce, the president of Armstrong Garden Centers and his wife, Marianne, have listed their palatial Claremont home, Villa Di Fiori, for $3 million. The listing is here.
--Stuntman-turned-director Scott Gillen has listed his midcentury modern in Malibu at $5.475 million. The property website is here.


From Big Time Listings:
--Teri Garr has sold her two-bedroom house in Brentwood. It was listed for $3,995,000.
--Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman have sold their two-bedroom condo unit in Encino after it had been on the market for $750,000.
--Andrew Alexander, who co-owns the Second City improvisational comedy troupe in Chicago has paid $1.395 million for a house in the Beverly Hills Post Office area.

From the Real Estalker:
--Denise Richards has put her Hidden Hills home on the market for $4.25 million. The listing is here.
--Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly's Brooklyn home has gone to contract. It was our estate of the day in May.
--Brett Butler has sold her home for $2 million.
--Producer Mark Brazill is still trying to unload the 1920s home in Los Feliz he bought from Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. He paid $4.795 million for the home, relisted for $4.885 million and has now cut the price all the way down to $3.995 million which means he will take a huge loss on the home. The listing is here.
----Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance seem to have finally sold their Hancock Park home. The home which was originally listed at $5.999 million went all the way down to $3.9 million and is now listed as "looking for backup."
--CSI: Miami actress Khandi Alexander's home is back on the market for $2.995 million. The listing is here.
--Real estate agent Joe Babajian has put a home in Westwood on the market for $1.95 million. The listing is here.
---Ellen Degeneres and gal pal Portia Di Rossi have picked up a third property on Cabrillo Drive which will allow them to request permission from the city of Beverly Hills to gate the entire street. It is rumored that Ellen may have spent around $40 million total to create a new massive compound.
--Candy Spelling is selling a pair of condos in Century Woods, a small gated community in Century City. Both condos have five bedrooms but the one with over 8,000 square feet is listed at $7.895 million and the one that is a bit under 5,000 square feet is listed at $4.795 million.
--Musician Beck and Marissa Ribisi have put their Hancock Park home on the market for $9 million. The pair bought for $6.75 million a little over a year ago. The six-bedroom home also comes with a professional recording studio and rehearsal room in the guest house. The listing is here.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Ralph Fiennes has paid $2 million for a one-bedroom condo loft on West 13th Street.
--Veronica Hearst sold her Upper East Side co-op (two apartments) at 4 E. 66th St. for $36.5 million.
--Diana Ross is planning to renovate her Sherry-Netherland hotel apartment and raise its price from $9 million to $11 million sometime after Labor Day.

From the NY Observer:
----Another huge listing in New York City. This time a Fifth Avenue duplex, shown above, belonging to Karen Fleiss, who founded the hedge fund KMF Partners, and her husband, David, a Fifth Avenue orthopedic surgeon has been put on the market for $47.5 million. The listing is here.
--Exiting Metropolitan Museum of Art director Philippe de Montebello and his wife, Edith, director of financial aid at the Trinity School, sold their two-bedroom co-op at 25 East 86th Street this month for $2.195 million. The buyer is graphic designer Holly Okner, whose father is the investor Peter A. Aron, the chairman of the South Street Seaport Museum from 1987 to 2000. De Montebello has moved to another apartment nearby.
--The founder of Rag & Bone David Neville and his wife, celebrity makeup artist Gucci Westman just bought a duplex penthouse loft at the Spears Building, a former warehouse on West 22nd Street for $4.426 million.
----Charmaine Ho, a 22-year-old handbag designer and freelance fashion write bought a 25-foot-wide Greek Revival townhouse on West Ninth Street earlier this year for $8.1 million. Her parents, who live in Hong Kong, are paying for the bulk of the mortgage and will pay around $200,000 to renovate the floor-through apartment that she will live in. A three-bedroom apartment downstairs and the one-bedroom place upstairs are being rented out.

Atlanta's condo market may be slowing down but that doesn't stop people from building and planning. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution profiles Taz Anderson, a local entrepreneur who is behind a new luxury residential tower in Vinings. Anderson and his son Geoff, president of Taz Anderson Realty Co., are working on a condo project called The Aberdeen, an upscale residential development in Vinings with 55 units, some up to 4,000 square feet.

The 12-story tower will have views of downtown Atlanta and Buckhead. The project takes its Scottish name seriously and the units all have names of Scottish origin. A penthouse is listed at $2.9 million. Eleven buyers have reportedly signed contracts thus far. A healthy number but a little shy of what is generally considered enough sales to build. Given the precarious state of several other Atlanta projects it seems to be a bit of a dice roll.

What a happy, flirty evening bag this Hydrangea Roxie is by Julie Feldman. All of Julie's bags are handmade, and in the case of this one a pile of silk hydrangea petals are nestled decoratively on top of a black satin flowerbox-shaped evening bag. The Hydrangea Collection includes bags in white, baby pink, periwinkle, dusty pink, and purple, and each one features front magnetic snap closure and an attached shoulder strap that can be hidden inside when not in use. 4 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 8", $225.

Luxury showers should induce mood-altering effects, relieve the stress of your day, caress your skin and rejuvenate your spirit. Steaming, bathing, inhaling aromatherapy scents that soothe your mind and body all seem worthy features of a truly rich shower experience. Di Vapor's Victoria Shower has brought that package together with a practical addition -- built-in shelving separated by a sliding glass door in the shower space that allows for storage of fluffy towels, aprés-shower products, and music to conclude your time spent refreshing yourself. With an eight-inch rainfall shower head above, eight different massaging shower heads surrounding your body, a touch-sensitive digital control panel, and of course steam settings to suit your preference, its no wonder why this all-in-one design is worth the £2495.

Marcel Wanders is at it again with a playful creation with Droog Design. The seat of this swing can be filled with soil and seeds planted inside. It is designed so that vines will grow up the ropes. The swing is made of polyethylene with a nylon rope and comes in white, black or green. It can be used indoors or outside but will cost you more than a rope and a board, it sells for $550.

Azimuth is a relatively new watch company, founded in 2003, but they already have created a variety of intriguing designs. Their designs span the watchmaking spectrum from their Militare - 1 collection which are inspired by the pilot watches from World War II, to their angular and quirky Gauge Mecha-1 BMF designs. My favorite has to be the SP-1 Mechanique concept watch. The so-called spaceship watch has a rendition of Earth as seen from space which rotates every sixty seconds. It has a jumping hour display powered by a Unitas 6497 movement. It has a rotating disc which is at the base of a minute hand. The dial is decorated with small dots to resemble stars and the 45mm stainless steel case is capped by a domed sapphire crystal.

Beach house season is upon us and Figure Eight Island is one lovely place to spend your summer. The private island in North Carolina has around 450 homes and is reached by a guarded causeway bridge.Today's home on the island is a new build. It has a reverse floor plan with the main living level on top floor. The home has four bedrooms including a large master suite that includes a steam shower in the master bath. The home has large porches and decks and is built for entertaining with a chef's kitchen, wine cellar, family room with a wet bar and an elevator to all three levels. This home is listed at $4.595 million.

For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions.

The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts group has planned a "Super Vintage" wine auction weekend at the incredible Frank Gehry-designed Hotel Marqués de Riscal in Rioja, Spain in October. To celebrate 150 years of the region's famed wines, the culinary-themed weekend will culminate in a gala dinner and charity auction of local vintages conducted by Christie's - including the Riscal Superlot, a single lot consisting of 131 bottles dating back to 1862, proceeds from which will go to UNICEF. Details on the once-in-a-lifetime event, which will take place from Oct. 24-26, can be found here.

Most of the companies that offer charms shaped like pets offer just the most popular breeds but Meche goes the extra mile. Their dog charms cover all current AKC breeds and they have begun working on the cats, starting with the most popular. The pieces are three dimensional and free standing. They can be ordered in 14K white or yellow gold and customized with diamond collars and eyes and finished with custom colors.

We Are Together is a film about children living in the Agape orphanage in Africa. It chronicles their lives, individual personalities, and incredible journeys through life. They are also all part of a choir and have recorded an album that coincides with the film (absolutely beautiful music!), with profits from the both the film and CD going to benefit children in South Africa.

There are lots of ways to support the cause, including joining their email list (which includes getting a free music track download), donating money, or simply by purchasing the CD and watching the film (coming soon to HBO).

The cool design and home blog Apartment Therapy (AT) always has a fresh idea. I've been reading it periodically for a few years, and every time I do, I vow to completely redo my space. Anyway ... The site recently featured a summertime-appropriate post on the Disk Chair, designed by Karim Rashid and made by Ferlea to look like a "spoon folded." AT noted it would be great for poolside or patio, as it's made of fiberglass over a steel frame, but AT commenters had a good point: seems like a sweatfest waiting to happen on a hot day. I think it looks fun and comfortable, albeit maybe with a cushier seat or a towel. Available in black, yellow or white; includes a single foam and polyester cushion. Owo Italia has it for a bit more than $2,000 (European pricing).

There are few places more idyllic to be on a summer holiday weekend than Nantucket, the beautiful island of the coast of Cape Cod. Now there is a new way to experience the Nantucket getaway without owning property or staying in a one of the island's inns. Harborview is a string of 10 intown, waterfront, urban-chic cottages with concierge service. There are one-, two- or three-bedroom units available. The units are available in one-eighth shares ( six weeks ownership) and prices range from $550,000 to $950,000. Potential buyers who want to own an entire unit will be paying $2.4 to $4.6 million depending on unit size.

Happy Fourth of July! What better way to accent your outfit and show off your patriotic spirit this Independence Day than with a stylish new handbag. Designed by Julie Feldman and described as an "Americana tootsie roll handbag" (now I'm craving candy) this classic and simple bag is made of distressed leather with two rolled leather handles and zip closure at the top. I love the earthy and worn looking stars and stripes because they're so much less obnoxious than the brightly colored versions, and make the bag that much easier keep using all summer. $490