Jackie Kennedy

Armani Beats Gates and Abramovich to Buy $190 Million Greek Island

Legendary Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has reportedly become the proud owner of one of the world's most beautiful and expensive private islands – Skorpios (above). In closing the deal, said to be worth about $190 million according to reports in the European press, the designer faced stiff competition from rival bidders including Bill Gates, Roman Abramovich and Madonna. Located in the Ionian Sea off the western coast of Greece, the island formerly belonged to famed Greek shipping billionaire Aristotle Onassis and was the site of his wedding to Jackie Kennedy in 1968. It was sold to Armani by his granddaughter and heiress, Athina Onassis Roussel. There is a lavish villa on the island known as the Pink House which Onassis built for Jackie, along with tennis courts and plush gardens, though most of the island remains undeveloped and pristinely beautiful.

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Tags: Aristotle Onassis, Athina Onassis Roussel, Bill Gates, billionaires, designer, fashion designer, Giorgio Armani, Greece, heiress, island, Jackie Kennedy, Jackie O, jaqueline kennedy, Madonna, private island, Roman Abramovich, wealth

The Beatles' Piano and Jackie O's Jewels at Auction

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Auctions, Celebrity Shopping

A Challen upright piano from London's famed Abbey Road studios used by The Beatles to record some of their best-known tracks and items of Jackie Kennedy Onassis's jewelry are among the starring attractions at Bonhams' Pioneers of Popular Culture sale on August 15th at the UK's inaugural Goodwood Vintage Festival celebrating five decades of British Cool. The piano, which features on several Beatles songs including Paperback Writer and Tomorrow Never Knows was located in Studio Three at Abbey Road until it the 1980s, and it was also used by Pink Floyd on a number of recordings including the Wish You Were Here and Dark Side of the Moon albums.The pre-sale estimate for the piano is £100,000–£150,000. Among the items of Jackie's jewelry on offer is a three-strand simulated pearl necklace which she wore during the early 1960s, estimated at £25,000–£35,000.

Tags: Bonhams, celebrity, Goodwood Vintage Festival, Jackie Kennedy, jewelry, London, music, pearls, piano, Pink Floyd, pop culture, The Beatles, UK

The Classicist: Sandy Lane's Multimillion $ Makeover

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, The Classicist

Since it first opened in 1961, Barbados' luxurious Sandy Lane has played host to a never-ending stream of royalty, socialites and movie stars. Arguably the Caribbean's plushest resort, Aristotle Onassis and Maria Callas, David Niven, Jackie Kennedy, Frank Sinatra and Queen Elizabeth all took sojourns there in years past, while the list of current habitués is no less impressive, including Tiger Woods who tied the knot there in 2004.

The ne plus ultra in exclusivity, luxury, privacy and white glove service is embodied by the palatial neo-Palladian-style main building of cream coral stone set in a grove of mahogany trees on a beautiful stretch of beach in the middle of Barbados' "platinum coast." A chauffered limousine (a Bentley for high-rollers) picks you up at the airport and you're greeted at the front desk with cold towels and fruit punch, a preview of coming attractions, so to speak.

Sandy Lane was rebuilt in 2001, and it's currently in the midst of a multimillion dollar makeover including upgrades to rooms, the spa, restaurants and public spaces. When it re-opens on October 3, in addition to 16,000-sq.-ft. of new marble, one of the biggest improvements will be an open plan, multi-cultural, all-day dining facility featuring a residential-style kitchen in the manner of a Caribbean Palladian conservatory, with a wine store, beach bar, sushi bar, lobster and live seafood tank, a fresh herb garden and a wood burning oven.

Gallery: Sandy Lane Luxe

The resort's 112 rooms average 900 square feet and feature marble floors and bathrooms, mahogany plantation furniture, private verandahs, plasma TVs and all the bells and whistles. The property features two Tom Fazio-designed 18-hole golf courses, nine championship tennis courts, a 47,000 square foot spa, a John Frieda salon, shops galore (Joan Collins still owes money in one of them) and seven bars and restaurants to choose from. On the beach, attendants will fetch you drinks, clean your sunglasses and even spritz you with Evian water should you so desire.

In addition to the main accommodations, there's also a five bedroom villa that sleeps 14 with a private pool, butler, housekeeper, chef and 24-hr. security guard for $25,000 a night during the holiday season. But if you have to ask, you probably can't afford it.

Tags: Barbados, Bentley, caribbean, Jackie Kennedy, JackieKennedy, Queen Elizabeth, QueenElizabeth, Resort, Sandy Lane, SandyLane, Tiger Woods, TigerWoods, Tom Fazio, TomFazio

Christie's $400 Million Contemporary Art Auction

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

On May 13, Christie's New York will stage an incredible Post-War and Contemporary Art sale that could realize close to $400 million. Several museum-quality works are on offer among the 57 lots, and Christie's expects several records to be set. Highlights include Francis Bacon's 1976 Three Studies for Self -Portrait, estimated at $25 - $35 million; a morbidly obese Lucian Freud nude, billed as the most important Freud painting ever offered at auction, also est. $25 - $35 million; Willem De Kooning's 1975 Untitled IV, est. $10 - $15 million; several major works by Andy Warhol including his 1962 Campbell's Soup Can (Pepper Pot), est. $6 - $8 million, and his 1986 Self-Portrait, pictured here, est. $2.5 - $3.5 million; Jean-Michel Basquiat's 1987 Victor 25448, est. $4.5 million - $6.5 million; and many more. Some story-hungry members of the press may be rooting for an art market crash, but we're not buying it.

Gallery: Christie's Contemporary Art Auction

Tags: Andy Warhol, AndyWarhol, Christies, contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, Damian Hirst, DamianHirst, Francis Bacon, FrancisBacon, Jackie Kennedy, JackieKennedy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jean-michelBasquiat, Lucian Freud, LucianFreud, Willem De Kooning, WillemDeKooning

Hunt Country Style

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Books

Life in the aristocratic Piedmont region of rural Virginia from Middleburg to Charlottesville, known as "Hunt Country," is of course mainly centered around equestrian pursuits. However, the preservation both of open land and historic architecture are of equal importance. Foxhunting has been popular in the area since the late 1740s, when the young George Washington rode to hounds, later establishing his own pack at Mount Vernon.

In a beautiful new book called Hunt Country Style, Kathryn Masson escorts us through some of the prettiest purlieus, including the seat of the Orange County Hunt, with which Jackie Kennedy often rode. While these days (as in any other desirable locale) there's been an influx of new money, for the most part the emphasis is still more on tradition than ostentation.

Click on the gallery below to take a tour of Hunt Country. Tally-ho!

Gallery: Hunt Country Style