A few weeks ago, Bleacher Report ran an interesting piece asking if anyone remembered Kevan Barlow. The running back was a college phenom who went into the NFL draft in 2001. He played seven whole NFL seasons including playing for the San Francisco 49ers but hasn't played since 2007. In the Bleacher Report article, the writer speculated that Barlow, who is only 30, might be "laying back in his house." If so, it wouldn't be this one. Sports Star Relocation has a listing for Barlow's one bedroom condo in San Jose, California. The condo in Santana Row was updated with $70,000 in upgrades which include a mahogany/glass divider, remote control window coverings and a stone slate full-size shower with a bench. This condo is listed at $430,000 an ambitious price for a condo anywhere right about now.

Entertainment journalist and Dancing with the Stars co-host Samantha Harris and her husband Mark Hess have listed their home in the Westwood area of Los Angeles, California home for $1.595 million. Records on Property Shark show that they bought the four-bedroom home for $1.6 million in 2007 and so the pair won't make any money on the deal.

The Spanish-style home has wood beamed ceilings, hardwood floors, a freshly remodeled kitchen and a master suite that includes a bathroom with an extra large shower with double shower heads. A pretty pink princess room is decorated for the couple's two-year-old daughter and there is also a multicolored playroom. The home has a private sundeck.

[via Move Trends, via Celebs Digs HQ]

Today's estate is located inside the tranquil Monte Nido community in increasingly celebrity friendly Calabasas, California. The home is on a five acre spread that features waterfalls and streams, a koi-pond; two guest houses and a private meditation room displaying a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains. The main residence is designed in a Tuscan style with walnut wood flooring and antique terracotta tile flooring created from the roof tops of 19th century French stables as well as a variety of exquisitely crafted hand-painted tiles.

The home is over 10,000 square feet spread out over three levels. A grand living room and formal dining area offer plenty of space for entertaining. The home's two-story library has alder shelving complete with map drawers, a fireplace with Italian limestone mantle and a double helix walnut staircase that leads you to the library's second-level. The home's 12 seat movie theater has a custom designed alder bar; fabric panel walls and leather motion seating.

The master bedroom suite offers a private terrace and has designer closets with built-in hampers, jewelry storage, tie racks, and pull out shoe and shirt storage. There are two master baths which include steam showers and a whirlpool tub. There are six bedrooms total. Outside there is a pool and spa, expansive outdoor seating with a fireplace and grill area. This home is listed at $14.9 million.

Think Lenny Dykstra had the poshest pad in the Southern California community of Thousand Oaks? Not hardly. Check out this incredible home on 23 acres. The French formal home has amazing grounds that feature elaborate ornamental flower beds. Large terraces and a fountain lead to an infinity pool with a fountain. The two-level home is over 16,000 square feet of space. Around 3800 square feet of that is taken up by the master suite which includes two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a gymnasium. The gourmet kitchen is large enough to require two islands. Everything in this home is done on an elaborate and grand scale. It's rococo for the modern age, all swags and flourishes and curlicues but with a healthy dose of technology (the huge media room boasts a massive screen and motorized arm chairs). This home is listed at $29.9 million.

We first covered this estate three years ago and since then it's been all around the web and even on Oprah but now the $75 million estate in Corona del Mar, California has disappeared from the market. The listing expired, according to a spokesman from the McGonigle Group, which last had the listing. Unsold, the spokesman said. The oceanfront estate is designed to resemble a nautilus shell, with a large open area at the center and chambers, including eight bedrooms, spanning outward. The home includes a two-story grotto with a pool, two spas, swim-up bar, tunnel slide, poolside lounge room and barbecue area. The entertainment level has a bowling alley, Art Deco theater, automotive museum, cafe and a gym. At approximately 2,000 square feet, the two-bedroom master suite alone is larger than some houses.

In an interview in 2008 in the OC Register the architect, Brion Jeannette, described it the estate as being worth the $75 million price tag. Apparently not a sentiment met with much agreement in today's market.


[Thanks, John]

Today's estate has direct beach access just south of Carmel, California. This home's walls of glass are crowned with curved ceilings of Alaskan cedar topped with titanium. The barrel roofs funnels the attention directly toward the ocean. The home has four bedroom suites, a media room, gym and elevator. The home has been well designed to offer views from a wide variety of vantage points. You can watch the ocean while you chop vegetables in the kitchen, while you wash your face in the bathroom or from your bedroom when you wake up in the morning. This home is listed at $15.95 million.

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Update: Mohamed Hadid, he of Ritz Carlton fame, just slashed the price on his Bel-Air home from $85 million to $72 million. Will it make a difference and generate a few more land barons coming to take a look-see? Coldwell Banker listing agent Joyce Rey, the diva of Beverly Hills high-end real estate, believes so. "At the new price, this home offers a remarkable lifestyle and a great value," she says. The property, with a 48,000-square-foot main house, was featured as a Luxist Estate of the Day on Feb. 23. The home has a 5,000-bottle wine cellar and a ballroom that seats 200-250.

Today's estate is the secluded retreat of Hollywood lawyer Peter Nelson. The LA Times Hot Property column reports that the dealmaker bought the home in 1997 for $2.1 million and spent more than $1 million in improvements. The traditional home sits on nearly 1.75 acres with ocean and city views. The four-bedroom home has a relaxed style that the listing likens to a Hamptons vacation home. Key features include a large family room, brick-accented country kitchen and a formal dining room. This home is listed at $5.995 million.

This home in Tiburon, California is notable for its allegiance to a single aesthetic. The home was designed using principles of 16th century Japanese architecture. It was carefully constructed using invisible mortise and tenon and dovetail wood joinery. Logs of pine and fir and curved beams of incense cedar give the home a natural look and the walls are formed of of lime plaster with soil from the site applied by plasterers from Japan. The five bedroom home has shoji screens, a tatami mat room and a classic soaking tub and a zen sand garden. It is listed at $7.9 million.
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Architect Wallace E. Cunningham has been deemed one of Architectural Digest's Top 100 Designers and today's estate shows why he earned that title. The Razor in La Jolla, California is as perfect a slice of concrete and glass positioned for ideal ocean views. When Architectural Digest published a piece about this property last year the owner, Don Cooksey was quoted as saying :"I'll never have a collection better than that view," says the software designer and entrepreneur. "That's my art. That thing's alive."

The home offers a panorama revealed in a series of curved forms set into the cliffside. The soft angles keep the house from being simply another modern glass box. The 11,000-square-foot home has four bedroom including a master with a large swoop of a fireplace. There is also a two level guest house and features private access to Black's Beach. The home hit the market last July for $39 million but is now listed at $32 million.

UPDATE: As of September 2009 this house is listed at $28 million. Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

The foreclosures are getting bigger and bigger. As Luxist tipster Delta Sierra let us know, the multimillion dollar foreclosures have come to the seaside town of Laguna Beach, California. The Laguna Beach Independent reports that Villa Mar Vista, a home once listed for $28 million was set to be auctioned off at the Santa Ana courthouse on March 11. A listing of the sale revealed that $15,137,411.73 was owed on the home, which appears to be unfinished.

No word yet on if this one sold but there may be more multimillion dollar auctions in the pipeline ahead for this community. I've been spending some time in Laguna Beach recently and I've observed that a lot of homes that are on the market have had for sale signs out for months. With spring buying season ramping up it will be interesting to see how things shake out.

UPDATE: This home is now back on the market for $22.95 million.

They say Los Angeles is a town with no memory but some names seem to stick around and a John Barrymore provenance still has its worth. I've covered homes associated with the acting great before but none have embodied the essence of Barrymore as this estate in Hancock Park even though Barrymore never actually moved in. The Wall Street Journal's Private Properties column reports that he and his wife, silent-film actress Dolores Costello, bought the house in 1938 but divorced soon after. Nevertheless the 6,300 square foot home, which was built in 1918 has a worn-in grandeur that speaks of old Hollywood. It has a grand entry foyer with hand-carved mahogany paneling, a staircase with velvet banister and gilded railings, stained-glass windows, a parlor with incredible coffered ceiling and Batchelder tile floor and a formal mahogany-paneled dining room with antique chandelier. The street facing facades and interior "formal rooms" are virtually identical to when the home was constructed, based upon early photographs and drawings while other spaces have been updated with more modern comforts. This home is listed at $6.495 million.

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Earlier this year, the Kaufmann House, in Palm Springs, California, a classic Richard Neutra home was part of Christie's Spring Contemporary Art Auction. It sold for $16.8 million including commission along with an additional plot of land adjacent to the property for $2.1 million. The Real Estalker reveals that the architectural classic is back on the market because the current owners are divorcing. The home is now listed at $12.9 million and is having a hard time finding buyers, not because of the house, which is exquisite, but because Palm Springs real estate is some of the hardest hit in California's real estate doldrums.

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Rock star kids have some pretty nice homes. We checked out Jade Jagger's home last week, today we are looking at the home of Jakob Dylan, Bob Dylan's son and a musician in his own right. The younger Dylan had a few hits with his band The Wallflowers and also has a solo career. As the LA Times Hot Property column points out Dylan's classic Brentwood Park Spanish estate is a seven-bedroom beauty. It feature gleaming wood floors, beamed ceilings, wrought iron work details and vintage tiles. The property also includes a two-story guesthouse and a second guesthouse that is currently used as a recording studio, a pool and spa. It is listed at $11 million.

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Nob Hill, the site of today's home, is one of San Francisco's most charming neighborhoods. This penthouse in a small full-service building with a 24-hour doorman has beautiful views of Grace Cathedral, the Bay, Russian Hill and Coit Tower. The unit is over over 4000 square feet with a formal dining room and elegant living room with two step-out terraces. The master suite includes a sitting room with a fireplace and dressing room and there are also two additional bedrooms with bathrooms and a media room. The penthouse has large private terrace and it comes with four parking spaces. The overall decor is a bit fussy but the location and views are stellar. It is listed at $9.7 million.
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