NataliePortman

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--Arlene Farkas, the ex-wife of real estate/retail heir Bruce Farkas, has cut the price of her 14-room duplex at the River House, shown above. The five-bedroom apartment was first listed for $15 million in 2008 but is now listed for $11 million.
--Judith Sheindlin, better known as "Judge Judy," has paid $6.75 million for a two-bedroom co-op at the Sherry Netherland on Fifth Avenue. The apartment had been listed for $7.999 million.
--via NY Daily News, Brooke Astor's Westchester estate, Holly Hill, first went on the market for $12.9 million but the property, which has now been emptied of Astor's furniture is listed at $10.5 million.

--via Curbed, architect Frank Gehry's former duplex at 55 Crosby Street has hit the market for $5.8 million. The listing is here.
--Jason Rabin, the apparel mogul who sold his company less than two months ago for $401 million, has now unloaded his duplex at 850 Park Avenue. Ten months after listing the five-bedroom apartment for $9.9 million, Rabin and his wife Nicole have sold it to Martha Stewart Weddings editorial director Darcy Nussbaum and her husband, attorney Andrew Nussbaum for $6.225 million.
--via Curbed, John McColgan and Moya Doherty, the husband-and-wife team behind "Riverdance," have sold their duplex penthouse at 1080 Madison Avenue. It was first for $10.5 million in July 2008 but sold for $5.85 million.
--via the NY Post, Jay McInerney has paid $1.4 million for a two-bedroom Sag Harbor cottage, which he plans to use as a writing space and children's playhouse.
--Michael Kasbar, the Miami, Florida-based chief executive of World Fuel Services, and his wife Mary, have paid $4.275 million for a two-bedroom apartment at 15 Madison Square North.
--via Curbed, a three-bedroom apartment at 15 Union Square West has sold for $7.128 million.
--Susan Berresford, the president of the $11 billion Ford Foundation up until 2008 and one of the nation's foremost experts on philanthropy, has paid $1.855 million for a two-bedroom co-op at 530 East 86th Street. The apartment first went on the market in August 2008 for $2.325 million.
--Nicolas Sayegh, a co-founder of International Delights, a company that supplies baked goods to New York hotels and gourmet stores, has paid $3.65 million for a 26th-floor apartment at the Miraval Living building at 515 East 72nd Street.
--Steven Lax, an executive vice president at the real estate financing firm Duscany Financial Group, has paid $5.25 million for a three-bedroom condo at the Heritage at Trump Place on the Upper West Side.
--The former Dakota residence of the late model/actress Ruth Ford is now on the market for $7.5 million. The listing is here.
--via Curbed, an unidentified couple has reportedly gone into contract to buy two duplex penthouses at 166 Perry Street. The apartments had been listed together for a combined $24 million.
--via New York Daily News, Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz and his wife, Jamie, have paid $1.45 million for a two-story home in Windsor Terrace.
--via the Real Deal, Billy Macklowe, the president of Macklowe Properties (and son of Harry), has sold a home he owned in Long Island's Northwest Harbor for $1.95 million. He bought the place for $1.89 million in 2002.

From the Real Estalker:
--Conservative commentator Glenn Beck has listed a six-bedroom home in New Canaan, Connecticut for $3.99 million, lower than the price he paid for it. The listing is here.
--via Curbed LA, the estate of Julius Shulman has listed his home on Woodrow Wilson Drive in Los Angeles for $2.495 million.


From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Art consultant Allan Schwartzman has closed on the purchase of a 12th-floor apartment at the Jean Nouvel-designed 100 11th Avenue. He paid $3.78 million for the three-bedroom spread.
--Former Vassar College president Frances Daly Fergusson has sold her two-bedroom apartment at 61 Jane Street for $1.6 million.
--Broadway producer Hal Prince and his wife, Judy, have paid $12.5 million for a seven-story townhouse at 48 East 74th Street.

From ShelterPop:
Tiger Woods's Real Estate Portfolio: What's Up for Grabs in a Divorce
Best and Worst Celebrity Real Estate Deals 2009

From the NY Post:
--Madonna is buying Kelly Klein's horse farm in the Hamptons along with an adjacent horse farm but she is also looking at a nearby house which on the market for $4.4 million. The listing is here.
--Natalie Portman wanted to rent a unit at The River Lofts, a two-building condo conversion at 416 Washington St. and 92 Laight St., but the owner of the 1,103-square-foot unit is only interested in selling.
--One of the highest-priced duplexes in architect Jean Nouvel's 23-story building at 100 11th Ave. went into contract and closed on the same day for $22 million.
--Michael Hirtenstein is renting his his 25 Bond St. bachelor pad for $50,000 a month.

From Newsday's Real LI:
--Documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy has sold her Shelter Island home for $2.967 million.
--Former Mets infielder Edgardo Alfonzo has closed on the sale of his house in Little Neck, NY. The home, which had been one-and-off the market for three years, sold for $3.65 million.

Gallery: Edgardo Alfonzo in Little Neck, New York

From the Chicago Tribune's Elite Street:
--Former Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin has rented out his three-bedroom condo in River North for $5,150 per month.
--The faux church Lake Bluff which we profiled when it was priced at $12.5 million has had a price cut down to $10.9 million.

Gallery: This Is Not A Church

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
Dancing With The Stars host Samantha Harris has sold her Westwood home for $1.64 million It was listed at $1.595 million when we checked it out as an estate of the day.

Gallery: Samantha Harris In Westwood

--Celebrity stylist Andrea Lieberman has sold her home in the Hollywood Hills for $1,800,625.
--Salsa singer-actor-politician Rubén Blades has sold his home in the Windsor Square neighborhood of Los Angeles for $2.415 million.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Cher is auctioning off a property she never used at the Four Seasons' Hualalai resort in Hawaii. Concerige Auctions which is running the January 18 sale anticipates bids between $8 million and $12 million. Cher bought the 0.76-acre property in December 2004 for $2.9 million and began building the house last year.
--Also at the Hualalai resort, Kenneth Griffin, a major figure in the hedge-fund world, has paid $11.38 million for two adjacent lots overlooking the ocean.
--Palazzo Tornabuoni, a 15th-century palazzo in Florence that was home to a pope and other members of the Medici family has been converted into 38 apartments now offered for sale. Prices range from €1.06 million ($1.53 million) for a 530-square-foot one-bedroom to €5.1 million for a 1,987-square-foot two-bedroom apartment with a large terrace.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Nicolas Cage has sold a 3,480-square-foot house in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills for $1,375,000.


--Once listed at $12.9 million, the Llenroc estate in Rexford, New York recently sold for $1.87 million.

Gallery: Llenroc Estate

Gorgeous actress Natalie Portman just overpaid for a California-Medieval mini-manor (above) in L.A.'s Los Feliz. The Star Wars stunner paid $3.25 million, or $51,000 above the asking price, for the 4,866-sq.-ft., four-bed, two-bath house built in the 1930s, which was formerly owned by Dermot Mulroney and Catherine Keener, the Real Estalker reports. A brick courtyard at the front of the walled and gated property leads to the entrance of the rough-hewn stone and wood residence. The key feature is a baronial wood-paneled living room with a cathedral ceiling and large fireplace. A wide brick terrace on the garden side overlooks an inground pool, and there are two guesthouses on the property.

From the Real Estalker:
--Celebrity hairstylist Serge Normant has put his New York penthouse on West 16th Street, shown above, on the market for $4.49 million. The listing is here.
--John McCain's former home in Phoenix, Arizona will now be sold at auction on October 25. It was our estate of the day back in July.
--Teen actress Vanessa Hudgens has picked up a home in Studio City for $2.75 million. The home has six bedrooms and over 5,000 square feet.
--Rumor has it that Kimora Lee Simmons has bought herself new house in Beverly Hills.
--Will and Grace co-creator Max Mutchnick and his partner Erik Hyman have sold their Manhattan apartment for $4.1 million.
--The Harvey Mudd estate in Beverly Hills is for sale. It is our estate of the day later today.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Natali Portman has gone to contract to sell her apartment in Richard Meier's tower at 165 Charles St. The condo last had an asking price of $6.55 million.
--The price of Dunnellen Hall, Leona Helmsley's Greenwich, Connecticut home, has been lowered by $30 million to a still astounding $95 million. Check out the pictures from when it was our estate of the day back in June.
--The listing of the "Astor Suite" at the Plaza for $55 million was pulled after one day and other listings have disappeared without buyers but 26 apartments are still listed.
--The $70 million listing at the Pierre Hotel has been pulled from the Brown Harris Stevens website.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
-- Screenwriter, crime novelist and political blogger Roger L. Simon has listed his home in the Hollywood Hills for sale at $2.625 million. The listing is here.
--A Beverly Hills home built in the 1920s for Errol Flynn and now owned by composer Lee Holdridge is listed at $3.2 million. The listing is here.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Lehman Brothers Holdings' former chief financial officer, Erin Callan, is in contract to sell her two-bedroom condominium in New York's 15 Central Park West which had been listed at $12 million. Callan paid $6.48 million around three years ago.
--Ronald Tutor, chairman and chief executive of building contractor Perini Corp., paid $36.7 million for a massive, not-yet-completed house in the Beverly Park gated community which had been listed at $49 million.
--The widow of Steven T. Florio, the former CEO of Condé Nast Publications, has listed their waterfront Key Largo, Fla., vacation home on the market. We'll check this one out on Monday.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--via the Chicago Tribune, Ty Warner, founder of the Beanie Babie empire, reportedly has gone to contract to purchase the Chicago Spire's penthouse unit, which had been on the market for $40 million.
--Vivica A. Fox has her put her home in the Granada Hills area on the market for $1.45 million. Records show that the bought in 2002 for $825,500. The virtual tour is here.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Lehman's ousted president and chief operating officer Joseph M. Gregory has already his home on Park Avenue. He bought the two-bedroom apartment for $2.85 million back in 2004 and sold it earlier this month for $4.4 million. His Hamptons estate was previously our estate of the day and is on the market for $32.5 million.
--Mark Goldstein, a veteran Bear Stearns leveraged finance banker who became the co-head of its European investment banking last year has listed his apartment on Park Avenue for $12 million. He spent $5,275,000 in 2006 to buy two apartments which have now been combined. The listing is here.
--Hairstylist Guido Palau spent $1.9 million on a Chelsea brownstone duplex on West 22nd Street, according to city records
-- Democratic Party fund-raising stars Carl Spielvogel and Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel are in contract to sell their seventh-floor apartment at 720 Park Avenue for around $37 million, though they paid only $20 million just two years ago.
--Last week, while the Fed was agreeing to bailout A.I.G., recently retired AIG executive vice president Robert M. Sandler bought a $3.45 million apartment at the Hampshire House on Central Park South. He and his wife, Annette, paid in cash.

From Newsday's Real LI:
--Interior designer Lorraine Kirke has lowered the price of her East Hampton mansion to $11.5 million, the latest stop on a slide down from $14.5 million last year. The listing is here (no interior pics).

From the Daily Mail:
--The Candy brothers want to convert the US Embassy site in Grosvenor Square into luxury flats after the American Ambassador announced it was moving to south London. These could become some of the most expensive units in the world.

From the Dallas Morning News:
--An interesting piece on Terrell Owens real estate investments. T.O. owns six townhouses and condos in the city, valued at more than $2.5 million based on tax records.

Has someone finally picked up Villa Versailles? The over-the-top Malibu mansion which we featured as an estate of the day back in May, is now listed as having gone to contract.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Two Trees Farm, the site of the Bridgehampton Polo Club has gone on the market for a whopping $95 million. The land is 115 acres, which has preliminary approval for 18 "estate parcels," as well as two houses, an eight-unit apartment building, three barns, two indoor riding arenas, two polo fields, a pool and a tennis court.
--Natalie Portman has put her apartment, shown above, in Richard Meier's transparent West Village tower at 165 Charles St. for $6.55 million. The listing for the three-bedroom pad is here.
--Mel B. (aka Melanie Brown or Scary Spice) is in negotiations to buy a two-bedroom apartment with a $2 million price tag at Platinum, the nearly completed Midtown condominium complex on Eighth Avenue and 46th Street.
--Heather Mills has just closed on a full-floor condo at the Richard Meier-designed 173 Perry St.
--Sports broadcaster Bob Costas has sold his Time Warner Center apartment in the south tower for $8.5 million.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
-- Mark Peel, executive chef and owner of Campanile, has bought a classic Mediterranean in Hancock Park that was listed for $3.1 million. Peel's wife, comedian Daphne Brogdon, is host of TV Guide Channel's weekly series "The Fashion Team." She is creator of CoolMom.com.
--Fashion designer Christian Audigier has bought a just-restored Spanish-style hacienda that had been listed for $2.15 million.
--Actress Luciana Paluzzi and Michael Solomon,former president of Warner Bros. International and co-founder of Telepictures Corp. have llisted their Beverly Hills home for $19.995 million. The 13,638-square-foot Spanish-style house was built in 1988. The property website is here.

From the Real Estalker:
--Perez Hilton recently showed off his apartment on MTV Cribs.
--Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard have put their home in Stillwater, Minnesota on the market for $1.95 million. It's our estate of the day later today.
--Film and television composer Graeme Revell has listed his Malibu estate for $27.5 million. He and his wife Brenda purchased the five acre estate in May of 2004 for $12 million. The listing is here.
--Rumor has it that Ed McMahon may have finally unloaded his home.
--via TMZ, real estate agent Josh Flagg who stars on Bravo's Million-Dollar Listing TV show has been arrested for stealing valuable paintings from listed houses.
--Pete Wentz has put his Hollywood Hills home on the market for $1.799 million. The property website is here

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Grateful Dead bassist PhilLesh and his wife, Jillspeth, paid $1,775,000 earlier this month for a condo on Prince Street near Broadway.
--Three new expensive rentals have hit the marketing charging $75,000 per month (nearly $1 million per year). At the Plaza, the founder of European operations for the clothing company Esprit, Jürgen Friedrich, put the building's largest original apartment, the Astor Suite, up for rent (he also recently put a Southampton home on the market for $67.5 million). The apartment listing is here. A duplex penthouse at 25 West Houston also went on the market for $75,000 a month, the listing is here. And there is also a $75,000 per month listing at the Waldorf Towers on East 50th Street (the listing agent Margaret H. Bay also has $95,000, $130,000 and $140,000 per month listings). The listing for the $75,000 apartment is here. The king of expensive rentals, is still the penthouse duplex at Trump Park Avenue that is being offered for $200,000 per month.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Actor Johnny Knoxville has listed his three-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills for $1.695 million. The listing is here.
-Music producer DJ Lethal has listed his two-bedroom contemporary-style house in the Hollywood Hills for $1.35 million. He purchased the home from actor Ivan Sergei's Lankershim Blvd Trust back in 2005 for the exact same amount. The listing is here.
--Once again rumors are swirling that Dr. Phil McGraw has placed his Beverly Hills mansion on the market for $18 million in a pocket listing, which means it is private and we can't show you a listing.
--Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen's official sale price for their house in Malibu was $15.5 million.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Cher's Malibu mansion has hit the market for $45 million. As Big Time Listings points out, the 14,000 square foot home was on the market in early 2007 for $25 million. The listing is here.
--Artist Jennifer Bartlett has sold her Manhattan townhouse, which includes a pool and her studio, for $17 million. It was previously our estate of the day back in July of last year.
--Shaquille O'Neal has dropped the price on his Miami home from $32 million to $29 million. I'll be taking a closer look at this one on Monday as our estate of the day.

The annual Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge will kick off at the JetOne Jets Field at the Bridgehampton Polo Club on Saturday, July 19 this year. This season's partners include Coca-Cola, Fiji Water, T-Mobile, Pernod Ricard, Ralph Lauren, Hpnotiq and Zino Platinum Cigars, and the MVP Player Award will be presented by Westin Rinehart. The matches, which will run for six consecutive Saturdays through August 23 this year, are the social mainstay of the Hamptons season and feature some of the world's best polo players competing for one of the sport's most treasured prizes. Anyone can watch from the stands, but the invitation-only V.I.P. tent is the real scene. Celebs in attendance in years previous have included Anne Hathaway, Elizabeth Hurley, Heather Graham, Howard Stern, Jared Leto, Jay Z, Jessica Alba, Mischa Barton, Natalie Portman and Prince Albert of Monaco, to name a few. All proceeds will go to a good cause, the South Fork Breast Health Coalition.

Givenchy dresses have been worn by notably sophisticated ladies for decades, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and the Duchess of Windsor are among the memorable women who've made Givenchy the fashion legend it is today. Recently joining the list is the always stunning and stylish Natalie Portman who had heads turning when she showed up at a Cannes soiree in this elegant and refreshing Givenchy gown. Easily the best dress seen all week, I think she blew it with the shoes but c'est la vie! If you have any high class events coming up, browse the Givenchy 2008 Collection, it features some fabulous designs that will have people dying to know who "dressed" you!

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Developer Harry Macklowe bought up around $60 million worth of apartments in the Plaza that he plans to combine into one huge residence. There's just one problem, a $4 million apartment is in the way and so Macklowe may need to pay double the original list price for the apartment in order to complete his dream home. It's unclear if Macklowe is the mystery $50 million man who we first talked about buying in at the Plaza. Given the blockbuster prices in the building there may be more than one.
--Natalie Portman has put her home in Sea Cliff, Long Island, shown above, on the market for $2.2 million. The listing for the three-bedroom shingled home is here and the virtual tour is here.
--Park Avenue's grandest-looking mansion has gone back on the market after a gut renovation. It is now listed for $35 million.
--Leonardo DiCaprio has signed a rental agreement for a three-bedroom duplex on Walker Street with a $35,000-a-month asking price.

Also from the Post:
--Billy Joel is in contract to buy Roy Schieder's Sagaponack home. The home was most recently listed at $18.75 million.

From the Real Estalker:
--A look at the Steel House, a mid-century modern owned by James Valentine of Maroon 5.
--Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Foner (parents of Jake Gyllenhaal) are offering a three-bedroom home on Mulholland Drive for rent for $20,000 per month.
--You can rent the house on Mulholland Drive in Beverly Hills that was used to film "The Apprentice" last season for $45,000 per month.
--Aaron Kamin of the band The Calling has listed his West Hollywood home for $2.3 million.
--Actress Joely Fisher has listed her four-bedroom house in Encino for $4.75 million. It's out estate of the day later today.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Tommy Tune has paid $1.29 million for a tower apartment at 400 East 52nd Street, called the Southgate. The one-bedroom, 750-square-foot apartment has a wrap terrace and cracked walls.
--170 East End Avenue, a soon-to-open condo designed by Madison Avenue Armani boutique veteran Peter Marino, has three deep-pocketed buyers. Contemporary art dealer Dominique Lévy has paid about $12 million for a combined-unit duplex on the eighth floor. Developer Eric Hadar bought a mirror-image 5,000-square-foot duplex for around the same amount. Vornado Realty Trust president Michael Fascitelli spent $16 million on a 7,000-square-foot space with a two-hoop basketball court.
--Adam Sender, a hedge-fund man with an absurdly gorgeous art collection, has bought a 36th-floor duplex in Downtown by Philippe Starck for $8.1 million.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Four-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist Lenny Krayzelburg has paid $2,610,000 to purchase a 3,454-square-foot house in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills.
--Director M. Night Shyamalan has listed his mansion in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania for $7.999 million. The four-level mansion has seven bedrooms. Shyamalan hasn't gone Hollywood, he still has a nearly 123-acre estate in Williston Township that he bought in 2004 for $17.9 million.
--Actress Anita Barone who is in the Fox sitcom "The War at Home," and her actor husband Matthew Glave have sold their three-bedroom house in the Hollywood Hills to actor and comedy writer Paul Soter for $1.11 million and have paid $1.678 million for a five-bedroom house in Los Angeles' Encino area.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Josh Duhamel has sold his home in Brentwood for close to the asking price of $2.4 million.
--Steve Lavin, former UCLA head basketball coach turned ESPN and ABC college basketball analyst, has listed his Newport Beach home at $3.995 million. The listing is here.
--Kristine Lefebvre and her husband, chef Ludovic Lefebvre have sold their four-bedroom, 3 1/2 -bath room Studio City home for about $1.5 million.
--The Zubin Mehta Malibu estate has been sold for $14 million.
--Del Shores, playwright and gay pop-culture icon, and his partner, actor-producer Jason Dottley, have listed their 1929 Laurel Canyon, Spanish-style home at $1.65 million. The listing is here.