Evan Williams

This weekend is Kentucky Derby Day. That means Mint Juleps, parties at and around Churchill Downs, as well as at people's homes across the country.

Bourbon sales spike in late April as people get ready for their parties, just like Champagne sales climb in the two weeks before New Years Eve.

To make a perfect pitcher of Mint Julep, start with 4 cups of Bourbon, 2 bunches of spearmint, one cup of distilled water, one cup of granulated sugar, and some powdered sugar.

Remove about 40 leaves from the spearmint bunch, and cover with 3 oz. of Bourbon. Allow the leaves to soak for 15 minutes. Wring the mint out over the bowl you have put the whiskey in. Dip the mint bundle into the bowl several times more.

To prepare the simple syrup, mix a cup of granulated sugar and once cup of distilled water in a small sauce pan. Heat to dissolve the sugar. Stir constantly so it doesn't burn. Set aside to cool.

To prepare the Mint Julep, pour 3 1/2 cups of Bourbon into a large pitcher. Add one cup of the syrup to the Bourbon.

Now begin adding the mint extract you made one tablespoon at a time to the pitcher. Once that is done, pour the whole mixture into a bottle with a stopper, and chill for 24 hours to marry the flavors.

To serve, fill each glass (or silver Julep cup, over shaved ice and a sprinkle of powdered sugar to the top of the ice. Add a sprig of fresh mint. Choose your horse wisely.

Here are eleven great pours for Derby Day to have straight or use as the basis of your Juleps.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Diane Keaton has relisted her Beverly Hills home for $10.95 million. The seven-bedroom was listed at $12.95 million last year but it was taken off the market. The listing is here.
--Twitter co-founder Evan Williams has sold his penthouse loft in San Francisco for $1.25 million. It was listed at $1.498 million when we checked it out last year. The couple bought a four-bedroom home plus guest house in San Francisco's Noe Valley last year for $2.4 million.

-Philanthropist Carroll Petrie has listed her Palm Beach estate for $10.6 million. The listing for the estate known as Elephant Walk is here.

From the NY Post:
--Flavio Briatore is selling his One Beacon Court penthouse for $18 million. It was listed at $25 million when it was our estate of the day.

--Actress Jennifer Esposito,has sold her one of her two Greenwich Village apartments for $700,000. She had listed both units for $1.435 million but is holding on to one of them.



From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--A Bel-Air estate built in 1932 and designed by architect Gerard Colcord has sold for $10.5 million. The home, which was once owned by actor Bob Newhart and soap star Deidre Hall was previously listed at $12.95 million.
--Actor Dylan McDermott is moving his production company into a 2,200-square-foot loft at Dogtown Station in Venice.
--Former Los Angeles Police Department Chief William Bratton and his wife, Rikki Klieman, have sold their home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles for $1.4 million.
Director-producer Marcos Siega and his wife, Lisa, have listed their Sunset Strip-area home for $1.985 million. The listing is here.
--Actor Robert Conrad and his wife, LaVelda, have sold their equestrian property in Thousand Oaks for $1.955 million.


From the NY Observer:
--Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless has picked up a four-bedroom condo at the Harrison for $4,448,979.
--Weight Watchers International chairman Raymond Debbane paid $5.95 million for a six-room apartment at 515 Park Avenue.

From Newsday's Real LI:
--The Hamptons oceanfront mansion of ad man and restaurateur Jerry Della Femina and his wife, fashion columnist Judy Licht, is on the market for $40 million. The listing for the home is with Susan Breitenbach of The Corcoran Group.
--Real estate developer Andrew Farkas' Southampton compound, Hitwood, is on the market for $9.995 million. The listing is here.

From the Real Estalker:
--The beautiful Paris home of American financier John Gutfreund and his couture-loving wife Susan is on the market. The listing is here.
--Miley Cyrus has bought a home in Toluca Lake, California for $3.4 million.

From the NY Times Big Deal:
--A triplex at the top of 898 Park Avenue is listed for $15 million. The owners are James and Manuela Goren who are looking to sell the four-bedroom apartment and buy a smaller pied-à-terre.
--A modernist home on Shelter Island that belongs to designer and film producer Stuart Parr is listed for $8.95 million.
--Jeanne Moutossamy-Ashe, a photographer and the widow of the tennis player Arthur Ashe, recently sold a three-bedroom duplex on the Upper East Side for $2.125 million.

From Homes and Property UK:
--Singer Eddy Grant has listed Bayleys, his 15-bedroom Barbados plantation house for £19 million (around $35 million). The listing is here.
--Guinness heir Henry Channon has listed his nine-bedroom, Thameside home on Cheyne Walk, shown above, for £25 million. The listing is here.

From the NY Post:
--While in New York City, Jude Law is staying in a downtown penthouse at the Novare building on West Fourth Street. He is renting the three-bedroom 3,500-square-foot unit with 20-foot ceilings and a terrace for an undisclosed price. The apartment is also listed for sale at $7.8 million with Reid Price of Brown Harris Stevens. The listing is here.
--Matt Damon has been spotted in and around the Belnord rental building at West 86th Street and Broadway.
--A five-story Gramercy Park townhouse is back on the market for $12 million. It was listed at $18.5 million price three years ago. The listing is here.

From Shelter Pop:
--A look inside Speidi's (Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt) new love nest courtesy of the Real Estalker.
--Peer inside the loft of Emily Robison, of the Dixie Chicks.


From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--via Curbed, retired tech exec Lawrence Mueller and his wife Mary Kay have dropped the price of their three-bedroom condo at 15 Central Park West. It was listed at $16.5 million and is now at $15.5 million.
--via the NY Times, Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive, founder of Dune Capital, and son of Bob Mnuchin, is looking to unload his duplex apartment at 740 Park. The five-bedroom spread is being shopped around with a $37.5 million asking price.
--via Curbed, the West Village townhouse that was once home to writer/urban activist Jane Jacobs has sold for $3.3 million after four months on the market.
--Whoopi Goldberg has gone into contract to sell her two-bedroom New York City loft.

--The triplex penthouse at 895 Park that belonged to the late movie producer and clothing entrepreneur Charles Evans has finally found a buyer. It was purchased for $15 million by Robert Weisz, the CEO of the commercial real estate company the RPW Group, and his wife Cristina.

--via the NY Observer, Brett Icahn, the son of billionaire Carl Icahn, had paid $2.9 million for a penthouse duplex at the Piano Factory building on West 46th Street.
--via the NY Observer, Italian mogul and former Formula One boss Flavio Briatore is renting out his four-bedroom apartment at the Plaza for around $65,000 per month. The apartment was up for sale for $38 million.

--Amalgamated Bank CEO Derrick Cephas and his wife Donna paid $4.425 million for a five-bedroom apartment at 610 West End Avenue.
--Martha Stewart's daughter Alexis Stewart has put her duplex loft at 27 North Moore Street back on the market again. She tried to sell the apartment for $12.4 million in both 2007 and 2008. It is now listed for $12.95 million.
--via the NY Observer, actor Daniel Radcliffe has paid $5.65 million for a five-bedroom New York City townhouse.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--"Soul Train" creator Don Cornelius has listed a two-bedroom, post-and-beam house in the Beverly Hills, Calif. postal area for $1.95 million. The listing is here. He also paid $1.475 million to purchase a 3,499-square-foot house on a flag-shaped lot in Los Angeles' Beverly Crest area.
--Author and comedian Steve Harvey has his 19-room mansion in Plano, Texas on the market for $3.5 million. The listing is here.


From Fanhouse:
--Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn has listed his home in Avon Lake, Ohio for $775,000. The listing is here.

From Rented Spaces:
--Short on rent? Here are the details on throwing a gold party.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--LAPD Chief Bratton and his wife Rikki Klieman have reduced the price of their Los Feliz home to $1.49 million.
--Dr. Richard Ellenbogen who has starred on 'Dr. 90210' has listed his Sunset Strip home for $3.495 million. The listing is here.
--Rocky Oaks Estate, a 37-acre Malibu estate, has come on the market for $65 million. The listing is here.

From SocketSite:
--Twitter co-founder Evan Williams has purchased a San Francisco home for $2.4 million.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Gisele Bündchen has gone into contract on her penthouse in New York's West Village. The latest listing price of $4.5 million was less than half the original, September 2007 price tag of $10.9 million. She bought the condo in 2002 for nearly $3 million. Her townhouse is still on the market for $13.95 million.
--Eric Clapton is renting out his 45-acre Antigua estate for $50,000 a week.

From CNBC:
--America's most luxurious golf homes.

The Twitter guys are definitely on the move. Earlier this year, Biz Stone listed his Berkeley home for $575,000 and it sold quickly. Now Evan Williams has put his San Francisco penthouse on the market. One thing is for certain these guys like their nests contemporary. William has a two-bedroom loft in the Heublein Building. The sleek modern apartment is one of three penthouse units in the building and it has 11 foot ceilings. The home has a remodeled kitchen with a wine refrigerator and comes with a two-car garage. The interior has a bit of a rough look from exposed concrete and pipes. A private patio offers city views. Williams has listed his home for $1.498 million. Curbed SF says that he's building a modern home, designed by his wife which should be finished next year.

[via On The Block]