Beach house season is upon us and Figure Eight Island is one lovely place to spend your summer. The private island in North Carolina has around 450 homes and is reached by a guarded causeway bridge.Today's home on the island is a new build. It has a reverse floor plan with the main living level on top floor. The home has four bedrooms including a large master suite that includes a steam shower in the master bath. The home has large porches and decks and is built for entertaining with a chef's kitchen, wine cellar, family room with a wet bar and an elevator to all three levels. This home is listed at $4.595 million.
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.
Another tremendously expensive property has gone on the market in the Hamptons. Braden Keil's Gimme Shelter column in the NY Post reported on today's estate, a 12-bedroom home that is nearly 18,000 square feet. The property is owned by Juergen Friedrich, who ran the European division of Esprit sportswear and has spent a great deal of money updating the home, which was built in 1902 and designed by Grosvenor Atterbury. The country home sits on 9.11 acres that include old trees, flowering shrubs, evergreen perimeters, rose gardens. indoor pool, outdoor pool with pavilion, tennis court, paddle court, gymnasium, carriage house and a four-car garage. At nearly 3,000 square feet, the master bedroom suite is larger than many homes. What may hurt it on the real estate market is that it is not on the water. But if you can live without that, it's a pretty impressive property. It is listed at $67.5 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.
Today's home is in the small town of Garrison, New York in upstate New York. The four-bedroom home won me over with the living room that has a 30-foot ceiling and a fireplace with a tall wood surround. There are plenty of fireplaces in this home including one in the formal dining room, one in the mahogany-paneled library and one in the master suite. The home has four bedrooms total and the herringbone wood floors give this home a cozy feel. It sits on over two acres with gardens and landscaping, an in-ground pool and a stream with a tiny bridge. It is listed at $2.25 million.
Overall the condo market is still struggling but there are pockets of exuberant planning. In the Nashville neighborhood of Belle Meade, Tennessee there are three projects planned that offer luxury housing for empty nesters. Belle Meade is already home to a wide variety of large luxury homes but now developers are betting some of these homeowners might be looking for something a little smaller and less time consuming.
Belle Meade Court offers both condos and townhomes and at prices from $400,000 to $750,000 is the least expensive. It is the only one currently under construction. The Manning at Belle Meade, shown above, which is planning construction by the end of the year, offers two bedrooms under 2,000 square feet up to penthouses over 5,000 square feet. Community amenities include an entertaining salon and dining room, catering kitchen, guest suite, private wine storage, a library, fitness center, business center, pool and croquet lawn. Prices range from $950,000 to $5 million. The third project, 112 Harding Place, is in limbo until the market heats up again but is located near the Belle Meade Country Club and offers units from just under 3,000 square feet to over 5,000 square feet and are expected to be priced from $1.3 million to nearly $2.8 million.
Given the current real estate market it does seem likely that at least one of these projects probably won't make it to completion. Their success hinges on the interest of retiring baby boomers willing to invest in condo life.
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.
Today's home has an admirable spot in Santa Barbara, California along Channel Drive. It overlooks Butterfly Beach with views to the Channel Islands and up along the sweep of the coast. It is located in a great neighborhood with easy beach access. The home itself is a bit of a question mark. Built in 1951, it's got a modernist style but it seems a bit dated. The home has three bedrooms which are positioned for ocean views. There are cool details here, the gated property is entered through a large courtyard containing a two-car garageand the approach to the house is via wide pebbled stairs that appear to float above a reflecting pool lined with blue mosaic tiles, and bordered by plantings. The living and dining areas offer floor-to-ceiling glass windows wrapped around two sides of the building with clerestory windows for added light. The entire site has been arranged for maximum privacy so there is no need for window shades. The living room is linked to a sunken dining area with a large black circular chimney hood descending from the ceiling and hanging above a circular raised fire pit. The home sits on less than a half and acre and is listed at $35 million. Even for this area that's a lot for a house that I suspect might end up being a teardown. What say you, update and expand or scrap it and start over?
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.
This isn't my first Terra Bella estate of the day and might not be my favorite (the California Terra Bella from last year has my heart) but it's still rather charming. This Terra Bella is located in the gated community of Indian River Shores in Vero Beach, FLorida. It has approximately 125 ft. ocean frontage on 1.25 acres. The six-bedroom home is your standard Florida Mediterranean but it has a lot more grace than some of the newer homes I've seen in the area. The use of dark wood, tile and arches gives it more of a classic Californian look and I'm always a sucker for a house with circular space. The property includes a separate guest quarters with a living room, circular dining room, kitchenette, and balcony over the three car garage which has mahogany garage doors, cobblestone pavers in the auto court and an adjacent circular wine room with a computerized inventory control system. The outdoor space includes a pool surrounded by grass and tiles which doesn't offer much space to lounge around but perhaps that's what the nearby ocean is for. This home is listed at $8.75 million.
I've covered the work of Xorin Balbes before this designer does some of the coolest interior design around Southern California rehabbing older homes into showplaces. He collaborated with architect Paul Ashley on this Palm Springs dream home, a four-bedroom contemporary built in 1974. The home has a maser suite with mountain and pool views plus a gorgeous bath complete with steam shower. There are three more suites each with a custom bath. The home is completely walled and gated which gives you privacy in your glass palace. It's modern design heaven with soaring ceilings, high-end finishes of bleached wood, concrete, marble and glass. The outdoor space includes covered patios and a large pool area. The whole place is as flawless as a movie set and the perfect pad for entertaining. This home is listed at $3.75 million.
We don't have any interior pictures on this one but you won't be spending millions of dollars for a 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom home anyway. With Upper Mesa Ranch, located in the San Juan National Forest in Archuleta County, Colorado, the worth is the land. The property is 340 acres with water rights and it includes a two-acre, trout-stocked pond, ample horse property, trails for riding, hiking and cross-country skiing and a wide variety of wildlife that includes elk, eagles, turkey and bears. It is located 30 minutes from the town of Pagosa Springs.
The house is knotless-cedar custom home with a 500-square-foot loft, three-car garage and covered deck for taking in the views over the unspoiled landscape. The property also includes a horse barn with three stalls, tack room, porch and outdoor corral and a gazebo. It is listed at $8,000,000.
South Carolina's Hilton Head is home to many newer houses and overall they seem to have a higher taste quotient than other newer homes in hot areas. Today's example takes the traditional plantation style and luxes it up in a style that is elegant but also casual. The home is 7,200 square feet with a great room, living room, gourmet kitchen and a large veranda. There are five bedrooms including a master suite with his and hers baths, dual offices, a dressing room, exercise room and two balconies. The waterfront property also includes a lap pool with a waterfall spa. It is listed at $8.25 million.
Writer Ryan Murphy created two shows which take a slant look at the focus on appearance, the plastic surgery drama "Nip/Tuck" and the underrated high school dark comedy "Popular" as well as writing the screenplay and directing the 2006 movie "Running With Scissors." This talented man has some lovely taste in real estate. The Real Estalker Mama reports that he bought the home in the hills above West Hollywood in 2001 which has been restored into a modern beauty. The home is tucked in a woodsy lot with plenty of privacy. The home, which was designed by modernist architect Carl Maston has big glass walls, concrete floors, and gleaming wood.
At 3,210 square feet the home might be a little small by Los Angeles mansion standards and some of the smaller rooms seem a little dark but overall it's a rather perfectly decorated with furniture that fits the era of the home. Like the Real Estalker Mama, I don't love the use of a urinal in a home bathroom and the kitchen seems like a tough place to cook dinner with more than one person. Small quibbles on a truly charming residence. It is listed at $4.195 million.
