AliciaKeys

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--The Bel-Air home of director and artist Stephen Verona is for sale $4.395 million. The red tile-roofed villa, shown above, includes gardens and a gazebo. The property website is here.
--Television writer Daniel Freudenberger has listed his historic Cheviot Hills home for $3.695 million. The listing is with Ben Lee Properties.


From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has paid $19.5 million for a Tuscan-style home in the Hollywood Hills.
--George Stephanopoulos, co-host of ABC's "Good Morning America" show and a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, has bought a home in East Hampton, N.Y., for $3.5 million.
--Interior designer Cindy Rinfret, whose clients other local residents Tommy Hilfiger and television personality Regis Philbin, has put her Greenwich, Connecticut home on the market for $14.5 million.



From the NY Post:
--Katie Lee, the cookbook author and ex-wife of Billy Joel is said to be selling her 23 Perry Street that she and Joel once shared and that she bought from Joel for $3 million after their split last year. It is expected to be listed with Dolly Lenz for $12.9 million.
--Jeffrey Loria, the art-dealing owner of the Florida Marlins, has picked up part of the Howard Gittis' Southampton estate on Ox Pasture Lane. The estate was divided into three portions and sold for a combined $38.5 million to Loria and designer Tory Burch.
--Someone wants in at the Trump International Hotel and Tower. A Russian family walked away from a deal to buy an $18.5 million, 5,500-square-foot penthouse at the tower but it was auctioned off for more than $31 million. It is reportedly gutted and a renovation could cost $10 million.
--Julianne Moore was spotted checking out the Soho Mews development looking at two townhouse units priced around $5 million to $5.5 million. Her townhouse remains on the market for $11.995 million.


From the Real Estalker:
--Billionaire Jerry Perenchio has added to his huge Bel Air estate by picking up a $9.2 million property across the street from his home.
--The seven-bedroom home that Michael Jackson rented in las Vegas for around six months has sold for $3.1 million. The home in Las Vegas he was interested in buying remains on the market at $16.5 million.


From Zillow Blog:
--Sean Penn and Robin Wright have sold their Marin County home. The price was not revealed but the home was first listed their home for sale in August 2008 for $15 million.

From the Chicago Tribune's Elite Street:
--Charlotte Bobcats and former Chicago Bulls center Tyson Chandler has listed his six-bedroom mansion for $3.395 million. He bought the home for $4 million and in the past he tried to sell it for as much as $4.9 million. The listing is here.

--Former Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman has sold his 36th-floor condominium in Chicago's Trump International Hotel & Tower for $2 million.
--Chicago sportscaster Steve Kashul has sold his three-bedroom, ranch-style house in Naperville, complete with a basement bowling alley, for $475,000.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Ronald Tutor, president and chief executive of construction giant Tutor-Saliba, has listed his Hidden Hills compound for $18.9 million. The listing is here.
--Actor Bradley Cooper has purchased a town house in the 35-unit Dogtown Station in Venice. He will use the town house, which had been on the market for $1.25 million as office space for his Indiana & 22nd production company.
--Home designer Marc Canadell has sold his house, his latest creation in the Bird Streets area of the Hollywood Hills, for $14 million. He bought the home for $2.725 million in 2006 and took it down to the foundation. The house was first put on the market last year for $17.995 million.
--Lions Gate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer has purchased a Holmby Hills estate bordering the Los Angeles Country Club for $9,812,500.
--Actress Joely Fisher has sold her Encino compound for $2.4 million. We first checked this house out in 2007 when it was listed at $4.75 million. Fisher bought the home in 2005 for $3.35 million.

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--Theodore Friedman, a former negligence lawyer who was disbarred in 1994, and his wife, former New York Surrogate's Court judge Eve Preminger, have sold their three-bedroom penthouse at 25 Central Park West for $10.05 million.
--via the NY Post, Alicia Keys and boyfriend Swizz Beatz have been house hunting in New York City and may be planning to buy a duplex penthouse at 170 East End Avenue.
--Michael and Marlys Bromberg, who co-founded the Capitol Health Group in 2007, have bought a three-bedroom apartment at the Normandy for $2.275 million.
--via the NY Post, Arianna Huffington is reportedly searching for a pied-à-terre near her company's SoHo offices.
--Chris Noth and his girlfriend Tara Wilson have visited a two-bedroom apartment at 239 Central Park West that is currently on the market for $1.85 million.
--via Josh Barbanel, Publishing heir Robert Ziff has closed on the sale of his three-bedroom condo at the Trump International. The 41st-floor apartment had been on the market for $11.5 million when it went into contract last month. It sold for $10 million to Barbara Stiefel, a Democratic fundraiser from Florida.
--Anna Bulgari sold her apartment on East 79th Street last week and has paid $3.995 million for a three-bedroom apartment at 1040 Madison Avenue.
-- via the NY Post, the mystery buyer who paid $12.95 million for Gisele Bundchen's Barrow Street townhouse is reportedly R. Jerry Parker Jr., the founder of Chesapeake Capital Corp. [NYP]
--via Newsday, Former New York Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde has finally sold his Oyster Bay Cove, New York home. It was first listed for $6.995 million in October 2007 but sold for just $3.1 million.

--Movie producer Vittorio Cecchi Gori's 52nd-floor apartment at the Trump International is back on the market for $28.5 million.
--via the NY Observer, Eve Weinstein has finally closed on the sale of her four-bedroom apartment at 1133 Fifth Avenue. It was been sold to Chelsea Piers co-founder Tom Bernstein and his wife Andrea for $10.4 million.
--via the NY Observer, the former Park Avenue apartment of novelist Ira Levin has sold to philanthropist Dorothy Tananbaum for $2.05 million.
-- via the NY Post, the townhouse once occupied by literary agent Luke Janklow and his restaurateur wife Julie has finally found a buyer. The divorcing couple put it on the market nearly a year ago for $24.975 million and now real estate developer Ara Hovnanian and his wife Rachel have made a deal to purchase the home.
--Disgraced art gallery owner Larry Salander just can't seem to sell his townhouse at 63 East 82nd Street. It was once listed as high as $25 million but is now listed for just $14.995 million.

--Retired Pfizer exec Gary Jortner and his wife Cindy have gone into contract to sell their condo at 15 Central Park West. The one-bedroom apartment had been listed for $3.195 million since first hitting the market in September.
--Broadway producer Andrew Asnes and his wife, actress Anastasia Barzee, have paid $2.575 million for an apartment at 37 Riverside Drive.
--via the NY Observer, Eve Weinstein has finally closed on the sale of her four-bedroom apartment at 1133 Fifth Avenue. It was been sold to Chelsea Piers co-founder Tom Bernstein and his wife Andrea for $10.4 million.
--via the Real Deal, Ivana Trump's former home in Palm Beach has sold for $3.975 million.

From the NY Post:
--Two neighboring units at the Time Warner Center are on the market for a combined $57.5 million. Psychic Readers Network founder Steven Feder is selling his four-bedroom, 75th-floor apartment on the market for $34.95 million and his downstairs neighbor, venture capitalist Doug Von Allmen is selling his duplex for $18.45 million. They can be purchased separately or together. To buy both listings the buyer must pay a $4.1 million premium.
--Shania Twain has been spotted checking out a four-bedroom, $3.285 million condo conversion 254 Park Avenue South.
--Matthew and Henry Pincus, sons of the late Lionel Pincus, have put their father's former home at 733 Park Ave. on the market for $12.5 million.

From the Chicago Tribune's Elite Street:
--Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould has sold his two-story house in north suburban Gurnee for $336,500. He bought a home in Kildeer in early 2009 for $1.2 million. The house in Gurnee sold for almost $100,000 less than the $430,000 he paid in 2006.
--The longtime home of the late Rosemont Mayor Donald Stephens, who led the village for 51 years until his death in 2007 at age 79, has been sold to his grandson, Christopher Stephens, for $720,000.
--WLS-Ch. 7 anchor and reporter Kevin Roy has taken a big loss on his 2,943-square-foot house in Andersonville, selling it for $825,000. He bought the home in 2007 for $950,000.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen have paid $3,110,000 to purchase a four-bedroom house in Los Angeles' Brentwood neighborhood.
--via the Chicago Tribune, Chicago television legend Walter Jacobson has sold his five-bedroom, vintage mansion in Lincoln Park for $1.975 million.
--A game of what celebrity's house is this looks at a home in Studio City which sold in October for $2 million.

From the Real Estalker:
--The Real Estalker Mama takes a look at New York City's Carhart Mansion
--Rumor has it that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are picking up a new larger home in Pacific Palisades from producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy.
--Kenny Chesney has picked up a five-bedroom home in Franklin, Tennessee for a reported $9.2 million.
--Peter and Tara Guber have listed a home in the Bel-Air area for $16.25 million. The home is one of three adjacent properties the Gubers own. The listing doesn't include any pictures of the three-bedroom home on the 5.38 acre property.


From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--The new owner of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's Bel-Air home is hedge-fund manager Mark Spitznagel.
The four-bedroom, five-bath house was originally listed for $8.5 million in 2008 but sold for $7.5 million. The couple is also in contract to buy a three-acre estate in the Hidden Hills area that has a $10 million asking price.
--Daniel Mudd, who lost his job as chief executive of Fannie Mae in 2008, has bought a 15,000-square-foot home in Greenwich, Conn., for $6.45 million. Mudd will be commuting to NYC, he works for the Manhattan private-equity and hedge-fund firm Fortress Investment Group.

We've written about Alicia Keys's charity work with Keep A Child Alive before so its no surprise that one of the core pieces in her new jewelry line is devoted to the cause. Keys is launching a new jewelry line, The Barber's Daughters, with jeweler Gisèle Theriault. The collection will be displayed at a pop-up shop at the Collette Blanchard Gallery in New York City on November 23 and 24. The inspirational jewelry line features precious metals inscribed with poetry, prayers and other words.

The special design for Keep A Child Alive is a sterling silver double tablet necklace on an oxidized rope chain features the Gandhi quote which says: "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." The design is inspired by ancient Inukshuk rock sculptures used to alert others they were on the right path. The necklace sells for $295 and Keep A Child Alive receives $100 from each one.

The "Key of Life" might not open any doors, but it will certainly catch a lot of eyes! What you see above is actually an 18ct white gold charm weighing 18 grams, handset with 2 carats of brilliant cut VS G color diamonds. It is intended to be worn on a chain as a necklace or, if you're very fancy, your finest charm bracelet.

But it's more than just a pretty key. Each $5,000 Key of Life provides 18 patients with HIV/AIDS care for one year in a Keep a Child Alive treatment center in Africa. And yes, your $5,000 purchase is thusly tax deductible.

The limited edition Key of Life charms by Alexander Amosu are available exclusively through Keep a Child Alive. Only 100 keys were made, and the first was presented to KCA Co-Founder and Global Ambassador Alicia Keys.

(who else?)

AIDS is officially 25 years old and sadly in many ways it's as strong and as deadly as ever. In certain parts of South Africa as much as 41% of the population is afflicted with AIDS, and worldwide 90% of the people who have it don't know it. Ignorance is one of the biggest hurdles in treating and controlling the spread of AIDS, and Keep a Child Alive is an organization focused on helping with both education, treatment, and prevention of this devastating disease -- not to mention support of the children left in its wake.

To date over 15 million children have lost one or both parents to the AIDS pandemic, and for just $1 a day you can buy the drugs needed to keep a child alive.

Alicia Keys is getting ready for her upcoming As I Am world tour, and among other things I'm sure she has been trying to decide what to wear. That decision is a lot easier now, though, as Giorgio Armani has designed an entire bespoke wardrobe just for the singer. She'll wear looks tailored for her but inspired by 3 different looks from Armani's collections, including a crocodile-embossed leather vest accented with Swarovski crystal buckles, Armani's new lacquered Alicia jeans, a sequined tunic with crystal-beaded fringing, and a tiered silk taffeta top with more Swarovski crystals. She's gonna look great.