Berg Properties Big Time Listings mentioned a couple of weeks ago that investor and record label owner Cody Leibel had put a home in the Beverly Hills Post Office Area up for sale for $16.5 million but now that it seems that it's getting some celebrity attention perhaps it's time to give this one a closer look. The Real Estalker reports that Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban may have made an offer on the home although it appears that it hasn't gone to contract yet so a deal may not have been made. Leibel, who is still in his 20s, is also business partners with Sam Nazarian, who has a home listed for $18.95 million. Leibel paid $9.205 million for the property in 2007. It is on five acres and includes an infinity pool and a motor court for 20 cars. The home was originally built in 1959 but has been rehabbed and expanded into a modern home aimed at attracting a deep-pocketed buyer. It has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and an eat-in kitchen.

Last month Britain's Prince Harry made his first official visit to the U.S. and kicked our asses at polo. Now his brother Prince William is reportedly house shopping in Malibu. Looks like we're in for another invasion of British royals.

The dashing Prince and his girlfriend, party favor heiress Kate Middleton, toured a privately-sited $8 million 4-bed, 4.5-bath compound with a detached guest house, 4-car garage and beautiful ocean view.

As it turns out, that house had been sold (to someone else) but no doubt the broker, Malibu's Bentzen Levin Real Estate, had plenty of other equally luxe listings to tempt his royal highness; there are several in the $6 - $16 million range.

The internet is rife with reports of wealthy motorists – evidently possessing more money than driving skill – completely wrecking their six- or seven-figure exotic sportscars. But this one's a special case. What you're looking at here is the burnt-out husk of a McLaren F1, one of only 100 ever made and even fewer imported by the grey market to the United States. Its owner reportedly likes taking his prized possession on long journeys, but evidently hadn't started it up in a while – six months, according to reports – before taking a drive through Santa Rosa, California, where the engine burst out in flames last week on Airport Boulevard. Ordinarily that kind of damage would be cause for an insurance write-off, but considering that the car is said to be worth $2-2.5 million and is insured for $3 million, and that the repairs surely wouldn't come anywhere near that amount, the insurance actuaries decided to pack it up and send the vehicle back to England where it was made to be repaired.

I've always thought the story of San Jose, California's Winchester Mystery House would make a horror film and Andrew Trapani who was behind "The Haunting in Connecticut" seems to agree. He is producing a new movie starring the haunted house. The Winchester Mystery House was under construction for 38 years. Sarah L. Winchester, the heiress to the WInchester rifle fortune, obsessively designed the byzantine home keeping construction going 24 hours a day for 32 years until her death in 1922. Legend says that she kept building the home, which has 160 rooms including around 40 bedrooms, because she believed she was pursued by the ghosts of people killed by Winchester rifles. She wanted to outrun the spirits and home, which has doors that open onto nowhere and stairs that led up to ceilings, had many places to hide. The house's website says that there were no blueprints but Winchester sketched out original rooms on paper and even tablecloths.

Trapani told the Mercury News that he is currently working on a plot which combines a modern story about the house with flashes back into the past to try and probe why Winchester did what she did. The movie will be the first feature film granted permission to shoot on location at the home and filming is slated to begin by the end of the year. Tickets for the grand tour of the house sell for $31 each for adults.

Europe – the same corner of Europe, actually – claims the first three spots in Mercer Consulting's annual Quality of Living Survey. Vienna, Austria and Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland lead the list, followed by Vancouver, Canada and Auckland, New Zealand in a tie for fourth.

Little has changed for the top half of the top 10. Last year, Zurich nabbed the top spot, and Vienna and Geneva shared the #2 spot. Vancouver is unchanged year-over-year, and Auckland's #5 finish last year is roughly the same as its tie for fourth in 2009.

Not only are the top places to live ostensibly enjoyable, you're more likely to be there for a while. Life expectancies in these cities start at 79 years. It's better than living a nice long life in a dump, I guess.

The United States doesn't appear until the bottom of the top 30, with Honolulu and San Francisco. From Asia, only Singapore picks up a spot in the world's 30 best places to live. South America and Africa are not represented at all. It's strange, I half-expected to see Mogadishu on this list.

Of the 215 places listed, Baghdad has the distinction of finishing last. Sometimes, common sense prevails.

It looks like Mariah Carey was only dreaming when she reportedly made an offer on Fleur de Lys, the $125 million Beverly Hills mansion once ranked as the world's most expensive estate (that title is now held by the $150 million Spelling mansion). According to the Real Estalker, the pop star just purchased this somewhat more modest mansion in Bel Air (above) that once belonged to Farrah Fawcett for about $7 million. The private gated estate on 3 acres designed in the Hamptons style and originally built in 1950 is about 10,000-sq.-ft. with 6 bedrooms and 7 baths.

The property features incredible 360-degree views and the renovated house has an "Aspen-style" great room, seven fireplaces, formal living and dining rooms, a library, media room, office, an eat in gourmet kitchen. The grounds boast three gated entrances, two motor courts, a huge rectangular swimming pool with a poolside pavilion, a large brick terrace, several lush lawns areas, a gazebo, and an Indoor racquetball court. The closing price is about $2.5 million less than the sellers were originally asking.

In a recent Classicist column on magnates and their mansions we discussed the famed Hearst Castle at San Simeon, one of the most lavish private residences ever constructed. Now in a beautiful new book due out May 1, Victoria Kastner focuses on the equally impressive estate itself, which encompasses 120 acres of luxuriant gardens and 450 square miles of pristine coastland, that belonged to William Randolph Hearst.

In Hearst's San Simeon: The Gardens and the Land, Kastner, Hearst Castle's historian, draws on many anecdotes from famous visitors - Hollywood celebrities, literary figures, and politicians flocked there - and examines the varied artistic influences contributing to San Simeon's design and the recent efforts that preserved its surrounding land from commercial development. It features Victoria Garagliano's stunning color photographs, plus historic images and original drawings.

The book (above) is available for pre-order on Amazon.

Soap opera actor Ingo Rademacher has played sexy businessman Jasper Jacks on "General Hospital" for over a decade but his real-life home is more charming than a soap opera set. The LA TImes Hot Property column reports that Rademacher has a cute mini-compound in Venice, California. Rademacher's property includes a four-bedroom main home and two rental units, a two bedroom unit and a one-bedroom apartment.

The main house was built in 2004 and is a modern Mediterranean with high ceilings, a great room and green features, including solar panels, a tankless water heater and radiant heat in the floors. A courtyard offers a place to enjoy warm nights with a barbecue and a hot tub. The master suite includes a Spanish tiled steam shower, bath and infrared sauna and French doors open to rooftop courtyard with a fireplace. The lower level has an open recreation room with wet bar, bedroom and bath with a separate entrance. No pool but it is in walking distance to the beach. This home is listed at $2.599 million. (still at $2.895 million on Realtor.com).

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Today's loft-like house in Venice, California is almost too chilly. The listing refers to it as being Zen-like and it is definitely spare, bare and suited for entertaining if not so much for living. The home's ground floor is open space which could be an office or business. The five-bedroom home has a large open area with a kitchen, dining area and a massive sunken sectional couch facing a huge projection screen. Outside there is a small rooftop pool and a barbecue area. While the main entertaining area is gorgeous, the listing pic of a bedroom looks a bit like a college dorm room. This home is listed at $5.495 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Classic rocker David Crosby of Crosby, Stills & Nash fame has put his beloved wooden sailing yacht on the market after 40 years. Crosby is asking $1 million for the classic 59-ft. Alden 356-B Centerboard Schooner, named Mayan. Crosby, who had an affluent upbringing in California and learned to sail at age 11, composed several songs aboard the yacht which he lived on for long spells. The Mayan is pictured on the cover of the 1977 Crosby, Stills & Nash album CSN, and references to her can be found in songs such as "Wooden Ships," "The Lee Shore" and "Through My Sails."

Crosby originally purchased the yacht in 1968 and spent over $600,000 on a refit in 2005, including new electronics, and she has been upgraded annually. The Mayan, which is located in Santa Barbara, is described as "a very powerful design that takes the weather very well." The cabin layout is very traditional but easily sleeps eight in three staterooms plus a large saloon double berth. Stars like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have sailed on her. Click here to see a photo gallery of the yacht.

More and more multi-million dollar house listings are using a car to sweeten the deal. We saw a home with a free Bentley back in January, now a home in Tiburon, California comes with a Ferrari F430 Spider courtesy of the owner. The three bedroom home has beautiful views of San Francisco and the grounds include lawns, gardens, patios and a spa with full water views. The home has a wood paneled office, custom sound system and a marble master bath with a large shower with ten shower heads. The chef's kitchen has an eat in area and a large adjoining family room leads to the flagstone patio with built in barbecue and outdoor fireplace. There is a two-car garage with room for the car which is valued at $250,000. The home is listed at $3.6 million. SF Gate's On the Block column, which has a picture of the car, quotes the real estate agent Bill Smith as saying that the " idea was to get attention" because the market is so slow.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

One of Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpieces is on the market. La Miniatura is the first residence to utilize Wright's textile block building system. As Curbed reported last year, the home was bought in 2000 for $1.3 million and underwent a massive renovation that may have cost as much as the purchase price. The listing calls it one of the most romantic, and creative living spaces anywhere and it certainly does offer the experience of living in a work of art. The unique textile blocks give the home an almost temple-like feel. It sits on nearly an acre of gardens in Pasadena, California. The residence and separate studio include four bedrooms, two kitchens, a living room and formal dining room. As you might expect, the Millard House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is listed at $7.733 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Actress Julie Bowen has had a busy television career over the past few years showing up on some of the most popular shows like Weeds, Boston Legal, Lost and Ed. The LA Times Hot Property column reports that she and her husband, real estate investor, Scott Phillips have put their four-bedroom home in the hills of Studio City, California on the market. The property also includes a pool and a two-story guesthouse with a bedroom and a gym. The main home has high-beamed ceilings and walls of glass which showcase canyon views. The mid-century modern home has a large central living area, a smaller family room and a gourmet kitchen. It is listed at $2.695 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

It seems that the real estate market isn't done falling yet. Fortune magazine has released their list of the 10 worst real estate markets for 2009 and it's bad news for California. A full eight of the 10 on the list are in California starting with Los Angeles in the top slot. The 2008 median house price in Los Angeles was $375,340 but a slide of nearly 25% is predicted for next year followed by another 5% dip in 2010. The next two spots are ones which have already been slammed with foreclosures, Stockton and Riverside, California. In the fourth slot is Miami, Florida which could see another nearly 23% drop in an already plummeting market. Sacramento, Anaheim, Fresno, San Diego and Bakersfield round out the rest of the California areas in trouble. In the tenth spot is Washington D.C. which could have a drop of almost 20%. I wonder if that number takes the Obama bounce into account.

If you have $20,000 a night to spend on a hotel room you can bunk at the newly renamed Sé San Diego (formerly The Setai) in their ultra-luxurious suite which is said to be the biggest penthouse on the West Coast. The Grand Penthouse spreads over three floors and has a large kitchen, six flat-screen televisions and a rooftop patio. The hotel also offers rooms for an average of $500 a night. Sé has 184 rooms and a sumptuous exotic decor that includes Brazilian walnut flooring, stingray skin and bronze doors. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the hotel went through a name change after a legal battle with the Setai hoteliers in Miami Beach and New York.

The $150 million resort has a long list of amenities that include a concierge, European-style breakfast, a personal chef for the penthouses, a lobby bar, fitness center, infinity edge pool, spa, business center, twice-daily housekeeping and transportation in a luxury SUV with a five mile radius of the hotel.

It's not the ideal time to open a hotel, especially in San Diego where the crowded luxury hotel market is already struggling. As a nod to the economy Sé is offering lower introductory rates starting at $229.