LennyKravitz

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 Chicago Breaking News:
A 26-room, 27,000-square-foot mansion in Winnetka has hit the market for $28 million, making it the top listing in the Chicago area. Le Grand Reve (the big dream) is owned by commercial real estate executive Sherwin Jarol and his wife, Deborah and was designed by architect Richard Landry. The six-bedroom home includes a two-story rotunda and Tiffany dome. To check out images see Landry's portfolio on the home.

From the Washington Post:
--Ethel Kennedy's Hickory Hill estate in McLean, Virginia has finally sold after a whopping seven years on the market. It was first listed at $25 million but sold for just $8.25 million.

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--Lenny Kravitz might finally be unloading his Crosby Street loft after more than six years on-and-off the market. The five-bedroom duplex went into contract late last week. It was most recently listed at $14.995 million.

--Andrew Guff, a managing director at the private equity firm Siguler, Guff & Company, and his wife Jessica Stedman Guff, the executive producer of ABC News Now, have sold their five-bedroom apartment at 333 West End Avenue for $5.27 million.
-- via bigdeal_nyc, Ryan Pedlow, a managing director at Ziff Brothers Investments, has paid $5.2 million for a 6th-floor apartment at 166 Perry Street.
--via the NY Post, real estate developer Louis Cappelli has sold his 13-room duplex at 515 Park Avenue to Swedish lingerie manufacturer Eric Ryd for $24 million.
--via the NY Observer, art dealer Christophe Van de Weghe has sold his loft at 77 Mercer Street for $2.8 million, or $1.2 million more than what he paid for it back in 2004.
--via the NY Mag, Real Deal, an eight-bedroom "Nantucket-style cottage" in Sag Harbor, New York sold for $14 million setting a new record in the community. The buyers may be hedge funder Charles Ray Langston and his wife Casey.
--Shire Realty CEO Rena Shulsky has cut $1 million off the price of her penthouse co-op at 812 Fifth Avenue. It is now listed for $10.75 million.
--via Newsday, James Seuss, the former CEO of Cole Haan who is set to become the chief executive at Tourneau in March, has sold his house on Shelter Island for $985,000.
--via the Real Deal, filmmaker Danny Boyle is the new owner of an apartment in Chelsea. He paid $1.7 million for a tri-level co-op at 334 West 19th Street for the apartment for his youngest daughter who is attending Parsons.
--Personal injury lawyer Eleanor P. Vale has dropped the price of her penthouse at Hampshire House. It is now listed for $9.9 million.
--via the NY Observer, author Caitlin Macy and her husband Jeremy Barnum, an executive at JPMorgan Chase, have paid $3.5 million for a duplex apartment at 1 Lexington Avenue. It's not their first time in the building.
--via Curbed, New York City's narrowest townhouse has to an unidentified buyer for $2.175 million.
--via the NY Observer, Philip Galanes, author, attorney, decorator, and Sunday Times etiquette columnist and his partner, architect Michael Haverland, have paid $2 million for a duplex apartment at 29 East 9th Street. The seller was Charles Gandee, a former editor at Vogue.
--via Curbed, Britney Spears' former penthouse at 14 East 4th Street has had another price cut. The three-bedroom apartment which Spears sold in 2006, is up for sale for $4.999 million, down from the $6.595 million it was listed at when it hit the market in 2008.
--via Curbed, the Greenwich Village townhouse that belonged to late party planner Robert Isabell is up for sale again. Four months it was purchased for $2.1 million, the building at 16 Minetta Lane is now back on the market with a $3.5 million price tag. The listing is here.
-- Barry Liben, the CEO of Travel Leaders Group, has paid $4.806 million for an apartment at 235 West 71st Street.
--via Curbed, the home of late abstract painter Judith Rothschild which was listed for rent for $18,000 a month has gone into foreclosure and will be auctioned off in February.

From the NY Post:
--Paul Greenwood, the former New York Islanders co-owner who has been accused of securities fraud,has listed his estate in North Salem, New York. The three properties are listed for $10 million and sit on just under 16 acres. The main house, is listed for $8 million and sits on 9.1 acres. It includes a spiral staircase that leads to a collector's display case where Greenwood showcased his collection of antique Teddy bears.
--Alvin Rosenthal, the late Leona Helmsley's brother, is selling his home on East 83rd Street. The one-bedroom co-op o went for just under $600,000. He and his wife are moving into a $1.9 million two-bedroom co-op with a balcony at 1025 Fifth Ave.
--Technology entrepreneur/investor Yigal Lichtman has closed on a $10 million unit at One Madison Park.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--Reinout Oerlemans, the former Dutch soap star who founded the Eyeworks television production company, has listed a Beverly Hills contemporary for $14.9 million.
--An equestrian property in Brentwood's Sullivan Canyon that was once the home of actress and activist Maxine Cooper Gomberg has sold for $4.4 million.
--from The Envelope, the latest celebrity spotted checking out apartments at The Carlyle on Wilshire in Los Angeles is rapper Akon. Larry King and Bruce Willis own units in the building.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Joss Whedon, who created TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has sold his four-bedroom, 4,064-square-foot house in Los Angeles' Brentwood area. It was once listed as high at $3.695 million but was most recently on the market for $2.47 million.

--Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have increased the size of their Los Feliz compound, paying $1.1 million to buy a property that his accumulated estate mostly had surrounded.

From the Real Estalker:
--Jared Followill of the bank Kings of Leon has picked up a home in Nashville, Tennessee for $1.825 million.
--Vidal and Rhonda Sassoon have listed another mid-century modern house in Beverly Hills for $17.5 million.
--Susan and Robert Downey, Jr. have picked up a rustic home in Malibu for $13,334,800. They've also bought a modern three-story live-work residence in Venice beach for $5.6 million. The building was recently used to film the reality television series Chef Academy.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Papa John's pizza-chain founder John Schnatter has bought three units in a new condominium-and-residence complex in the St. Regis Deer Crest Resort in Utah for about $23 million. He bought two penthouse residences with five bedrooms each plus a unit on the floor below with four bedrooms.
--The 780-acre Yale Farm in Norfolk and North Canaan, Connecticut is on the market for $24 million. The listing is here.
--The River Stone estate, a 1,500-acre riverfront property that is one of the largest private estates in Pennsylvania, is on the market with an asking price of $24 million. The listing is here.
--from the Home Front section, Detroit Pistons owner Karen Davidson is selling her estate in Snowmass Village, Colorado for $47 million. The property is ten acres and has multiple structures offering a total of 16,000 square feet of living space.



From ShelterPop:
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A Pillow That Fights Wrinkles?

Milan's Most Fashionable Bed?

Are JLo and Marc Anthony Heading for the Hills?

Tavern on the Green Auctions Treasures for the Home

Kardashian Sisters Launch Home Fragrance Line

Lenny Kravitz isn't just a slow seller, he's positively glacial. Kravitz has had his apartment at 30 Crosby Street in New York City on and off the market since we started this blog nearly five years ago. Curbed breaks down the history of the pad which actually began in 2002 when he put the five-bedroom penthouse up for sale for $17 million. Back then Kravitz's home reflected a more urban sex palace vibe but now it's been renovated to appeal to a more general audience. The rock star vibe has been replaced by white, bright, posh and generic. One of Curbed's commenters aptly likened it to an Apple store.

The 6000 square foot loft also has 3000 square feet of outdoor space. The home includes a living room with a marble fireplace, a terrace with a wood-burning fireplace, media room, suspended glass staircase, master bedroom with a huge master bath and a second glass staircase which leads to a huge roof deck with a barbecue. Often a renovation jacks up the price of a listing but this one is listed at $14.95 million the same price it was listed at before it was pulled off the market six months ago.

So-hip-it-hurts rock star Lenny Kravitz has just listed his waterfront Miami Beach mansion with an asking price of $2.85 million. The 5,717-sq.-ft. three-bed, three-bath built in 1954 was transformed into a rock star haven decorated in Kravitz's signature retro-futuristic style which has been termed "Bordello Modern". The louche pad (above), which features its own recording studio, was done up as a "sleek, throbbing James Bond-esque den of seduction" according to W magazine, complete with four-inch-thick red shag carpeting, black patent-leather walls, a metal-grill catwalk lit from below, a mirrored white-fur tunnel, red glass doors, red lacquered floors, and a white handstitched padded patent-leather bar. We hear that Kravitz may have revamped some of the more extreme features prior to listing the property for sale.

Kravitz's interior designer Michael Czysz originally spent over $1 million on the décor, and even picked out a silver Ferrari to match the house and designed a special chrome Flying V guitar for the recording studio. Located on guard gated Biscayne Point, the 12,000-sq.-ft. lot features unparalleled open bay vistas. A custom wall of glass opens the massive living area to incredible water views, while the "resort-like" backyard features a pool, spa and boat dock. Kravitz paid $725,000 for the house back in 1996. While Czysz's décor is undeniably over-the-top, hopefully it hasn't been completely dismembered. Meanwhile his lavish NYC apartment, which has been listed as high as $19.5 million, is still on the market, reduced to $14.995 million.

I've heard that Ann Brenoff who writes the LA Times Hot Property column will be winding up work in April and striking off on new adventures. I'll miss her column and hope that the LA Times finds an equally talented writer to take her place.
From the LA Times Hot Property:
Dr. Robert Rey, the plastic surgeon who stars on "Dr. 90210" has listed his Beverly Hills home, shown above, at $5.295 million. The five-bedroom home includes a large pool and spa and a pro sports gym. The listing is here.
--Author James Arthur Ray has bought the Beverly Hills home Rodney Peete and Holly Robinson Peete. It was listed at $4.25 million and sold for $4 million.
--Professional golfer Fred Couples has listed his Montecito home for $12.5 million. The listing for the nine-bedroom home with ocean views is here.
--Producer Jon Peters put up a 6.5 acre chunk of land in Beverly Hills up for sale last year for $39.5 million. It didn't sell and is now back on the market for $19.995 million complete with the architect Richard Landry's dream home plans for the property. There is already a 14-car underground garage on the property. The listing is here.

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--Model/actress Milla Jovovich has dropped the price on her townhouse at 100 Greenwich Avenue. It's been on and off the market for nearly a year and was once listed at $8.75 million but now sits at $7 million. The listing is here.
--via the NY Post, artist Jeff Koons has closed on the purchase of a six-story townhouse at 11 East 67th Street for $12 million, two years after he first went into contract.
--Hedge funder Scott Bommer and his wife Donya have lowered the price of their apartment at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South. They bought the four-bedroom unit for $28.5 million last July and put it on the market for $35 million in November. It's now listed at $29.75 million. The listing is here.
--Ivan Kaufman, the CEO of Arbor Realty Trust, and his wife Lisa, are paying $9.26 million for a four-bedroom apartment at 823 Park Avenue.
--Ira Resnick, the founder of the Motion Picture Arts Gallery, paid $10.1 million for a 37th-floor condo at the Millennium Tower on West 67th Street.
--It was once on the market for $50 million but now Lionel Pincus's 14-room duplex at the Pierre can be yours for just $35 million. The listing is here.
--Raymond Weil president Benny Shabtai really wants to sell at 870 Park Avenue. So much so that he has cut more than $13 million off the price. The 13-room contemporary Robert A.M. Stern-designed mansion has been on-and-off the market since 2004 and was once as high as $33 million. It is now listed for $19.95 million. The listing is here.
Soap opera actors Catherine Hickland and Michael Knight have sold their 12th-floor co-op at 255 West 84th Street for $2.3 million.
--The 24th-floor Trump International apartment once occupied by Rand Skolnick, the former CEO of Solgar Vitamins who died last year, has been discounted by $1 million after just a month on the market and now sits at $7.75 million. Check out the views at the listing here.
--Frederick Hill, director of Berry-Hill Galleries, has sold his two-bedroom penthouse at 43 West 64th Street for $2.55 million.
-- Karen and David Fleiss originally listed their duplex at 1030 Fifth Avenue for $47.5 million last June. They then lowered their price twice and tried selling off just the bottom floor for $15 million Then they tried selling the entire eight-bedroom unit to $25 million. Now they've re-listed the bottom floor once again for $12 million. The listing is here.
--Real estate heir Richard Mack has cut the price on his seven-floor townhouse on East 94th Street. He originally put the home up for sale for $59 million last summer but it is now listed at $42 million. The listing is here.

From the Real Estalker:
--Spice Girl Melanie Brown has put her Los Angeles home on the market. It's our estate of the day later today.
--There are rumors that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes could buy David and Victoria Beckham's home in Beverly Hills.
--Did guitar god Slash buy the home in the Mulholland Estates area of Beverly Hills belonging to Colleen Maloof? The home was listed at $8.95 million.
--Rhianna has been spotted house shopping in various locations around Los Angeles.
--Phil Maloof's Beverly Hills house has been reduced from $16.995 million to $10.865 million. The listing is here.
--Joe Maloof's Brentwood home has been reduced from $4.995 million to $4.2 million. The listing is here.
--The Bel Air mansion belonging to Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony has been reduced from $8.5 million to $7.9 million. The listing is here.
--The Harvey Mudd Estate, which was our estate of the day in October 2008 has had another price reduction. It was originally listed at $11.495 million but now sits at $7.995 million.
--Singer Lenny Kravtiz has listed at three-bedroom home in Miami Beach, Florida. The listing is here. His NYC apartment at 30 Crosby also remains on the market for $14.995 million. The listing is here.
--Designer James Perse can get you to pay over $100 for a t-shirt but can he get you to pay $4.995 million for a one-bedroom home in Los Angeles? The listing is here.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Aaron Spelling's widow Candy Spelling has put her home on the market for $150 million.
--Radio host Don Imus has listed his home in Westport, Connecticut for $30 million. The listing is here.

From ONTD:
--The Malibu home used as the exterior for the Hannah Montana television show is available for $15 million.

From the Austin Statesman:
--One of my favorite estate of the day properties, a four-floor modern townhouse in Austin is back on the market for %6.5 million. It was listed for $7.5 million when it was our estate of the day in 2007.

There was at least one glaring omission in the Wealth Bulletin's list of the world's top 10 most expensive hotel suites, which we reported on last month: the penthouse at The Setai in South Beach, Miami. With 6,500 square feet of interior space and 3,000 square feet of terraces and balconies, the pad's $30,000-per-night pricetag makes it the 3rd most expensive hotel room in the world when inserted in its proper place on the list.

The Setai penthouse is designed with an haute-Asian aesthetic employing exotic woods and other luxe finishes, and features a double living room that extends across the entire eastern end of the 40 story glass tower. The living room boasts unlimited views of the northern, southern, eastern and western horizons. There are two master suites with soaking tubs, private balconies and beach views.

State of the art LCD touch panel screens, installed throughout the penthouse, offer total control over the lighting, audio-visual and building systems. A sunken infinity edge stainless steel pool (above) complete with waterfall and raised coral stone-encased hot tub highlight the massive terrace. The Setai also recently opened a recording studio designed by Lenny Kravitz. See the gallery for more.