Today's home is located in a prime area off Dupont Circle in Washington D.C. This home was built in 1890 and is a stately townhome on Massachusetts Avenue next to many other similar homes which are embassies, cultural institutions, foundations, associations and private residences. The first floor of the home is given over to grand public rooms for entertaining including double formal parlors and a large dining room with a fireplace. There is also a catering kitchen and a custom wine cellar . The second through fourth floors are the family space including a family kitchen, living room and five bedrooms. The home is done in a luxurious and formal style that would befit the family of a senator or dignitary. It is listed at $17.5 million.
Today's home comes front the land down under. This penthouse in the heart of Sydney, Australia has views over Sydney's Botanical Gardens. The three story unit is located in the northern half of the Macquarie Apartments building designed by Renzo Piano. The modern glass and terracotta building lends itself to contemporary interior design. This apartment has an open floor plan and big windows and a terrace to enjoy the view. There is also a private roof terrace with gardens and a whirlpool tub.
I saw this apartment listed in the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties column and liked it so much I decided to make it an estate of the day. This condo on Water Street in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. overlooks the Potomac River. The current owners combined three units into one to create a six-bedroom expanse decorated in a modern style. The building also has a rooftop pool, gym and 24-hour staff. The Wall Street Journal reports that the city's condo record is thought to be a Georgetown sale for $6.25 million which means that even if this one sells pretty far below the listing price of $10.6 million it will still likely set a record.
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.
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.
The New York Times periodically picks a price and then does a "What You Get for ... $xxx,xxx" piece in its Real Estate section, comparing homes in three cities. I've never seen a "What You Get for ... $35,000,000," article so here it is, at least in one city: This estate in Montauk (no direct link, so go here, and enter Web ID H34007) is set on 35.5 acres between the Atlantic Ocean, a freshwater pond and fields and meadows, with 400 feet of ocean frontage. The house is 7,000 square feet and has a tiled roof, plus there's 50% more living space than the house itself, thanks to the 3,500 square feet of mahogany decking. Built in 1994, there are three levels, comprising five bedrooms, five baths, living and dining rooms with 16-foot ceilings and walls of glass that overlook the ocean and grounds. For cooking (or, more likely, where your staff will be doing the cooking), there's a chef's kitchen. Also: a breakfast room, an office, a screening room with a state-of-the-art JBL system, and a garage. A path leads through private gates to the beach.
Paul Michael Glaser is best known for playing Detective Starsky in the 1970s cop show Starsky and Hutch and has gone on to have a career as a television director. Glaser has separated from his second wife, Tracy Barone. His first wife Elizabeth, who died from AIDS and contracted HIV through a blood transfusion during childbirth, founded the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The home that Glaser and Tracy Barone Glaser shared in the town of Agoura is five bedrooms and includes a gourmet kitchen, walnut wide-plank floors and tasteful and casual decor designed for a family. The grounds include a dressage arena with lights and corrals, a pool and spa, gazebo, and a study/loft with views over the grounds. This home is listed at $2.424 million.
I've been hearing stories of Ted Koppel slashing the prices on his Potomac, Maryland home for a while and have wondered how bad it could possibly be. Finally with the news from the NY Post that the former "Nightline" host cut the price again I had to check it out. Koppel first put the home on the market in 2005 for $4.1 million and has now cut the price by over half. What's so bad about it? Let's investigate. The six-bedroom contemporary home has nearly 9,000 square feet and includes an indoor pool, a sauna, and maid's quarters. Sounds great right? The home was built in 1968 and seems to be showing its age. There's nothing particularly wrong with the home, it just seems dated from the brick fireplaces to the track lighting. Ted's home has potential though and I think some more modern furnishings could make this into a showplace. At $1.79 million, it's a lot of space for your money.
I first mentioned this estate in Washington state way back in 2005. Three years later and it's for sale for the same price. The property is located on the beautifully scenic Orcas Island, the largest of the San Juan Islands in Washington. This estate spans 161 acres and includes six separate tax parcels with six houses, six drilled wells, three cabins, a cookhouse, shops, garages, barns and other outbuildings. The land has a total of e approximately 3,200' of shoreline and comes with a deepwater, drive-on pier, a float and two boathouses with a workshop. The island can be reached by private boat, ferry or plane. $20 million will get you your own island retreat.
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.
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.
I first mentioned back in February that Leona Helmsley's Greenwich estate, Dunnellen Hall had hit the market for $125 million but at that time I hadn't found the listing. But it turns out that David Oglivy has the listing and some pictures giving a good look at this huge mansion. Like many other homes in Greenwich, it's a traditional brick mansion, it's just incredibly large and lavish. The entrance features iron gates and a long driveway culminating in a courtyard with a 70-foot marble reflecting pool with a three-tier fountain. Once inside there is a huge entrance hall with a cove ceiling and a cross arched center hall with a travertine marble floor, and limestone walls running the 86 foot length and a double-height plaster tracery ceiling. And then there's that stairway, a decadent marble, red-carpeted expanse crowned by a crystal chandelier. At 1,125 square feet the living room is larger than some homes.
The home is approximately 23,0000 square feet with seven upstairs bedroom suites, a galss-walled music room, a wood- paneled library with a 15th century fireplace mantel, formal dining room, family room with a bar and much more. The kitchen and pantry include plenty of storage, serving and cooking areas and there is a separate staff dining and sitting area. The back wing is home to the staff area which has six bedrooms. The indoor pool has four exposures and includes areas for sitting and changing. There is also a 75-foot outdoor pool with a terrace and a cabana with a kitchen. There are also brick cottages with an additional six bedrooms total.
The Helmsleys bought Dunnellen Hall in 1983 for $9 million (paying an extra $2 million for the furniture) and later picked up another 14 acres bringing the total to 40 acres. It's one of the grandest homes in the area but $125 million would stretch the budget even in a town famous for its lavish homes. After all, Mel Gibson's Old Mill Farm is only $39.5 million and that's been sitting on the market for nearly a year.
This might be the most beautiful house in Boulder, Colorado, it's definitely one of the most expensive. The glass home sits on 1.24 acres and backs to the historic Chautauqua Park with views of Boulder, Denver and beyond. The two things that make this five-bedroom home so extraordinary are the ample use of glass walls, and the way that the property's large stone features have been incorporated into the home. The office is particularly striking with a wraparound glass table with wrought iron legs. The property includes a large guest house, patios, sculpture, a small gazebo in the back yard and professional landscaping that includes a stone pathway and viewing vistas. It is listed at $21.9 million.
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.
Another high-end home is being auctioned off in Arizona. This 5,100-square-foot home was built by Chicago architect Jack Moses and was the market at $2 million but is now being auctioned off by Sheldon Good. The home has two master suites, mahogany floors and a rooftop observatory. The home is located in the gated community of Mountain Cove Estates in Tucson and is on 1.13 acres. The home is 5,370 square feet of living space with five bedrooms plus study and four and a half baths and a natural wood burning with gas connection fireplace is located in the living room. To buy this home show up at on June 19th at the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador at 6pm with a certified or cashier's check for $85,000. The minimum bid is $1.399 million.
