We've been to Spring Island, South Carolina before to check out Bank of America chief exec Ken Lewis's getaway home (still on the market and the price keeps dropping). Today's estate is in the same area and belongs to former Proctor and Gamble executive Tom Laco. The property consists of two separate lots, the 3.48 acre lot the house is on and a 3.13 acre lot directly across the pond from the house which provides privacy and serves as an ample nesting area for local birds.

The five-bedroom home sits high above Rice Gate Pond and offers a panoramic view of the pond and a thousand acres of Spring Island marshes. The home's master bedroom is on the main floor of the residence and two guest rooms are located in a separate wing with two additional bedrooms on the upper level of this bi-level home. The living room, study, dining room, sunroom, office and three bedrooms all have views of the pond and salt water marsh. The three car garage is currently configured to accommodate two automobiles, a golf cart and a work shop. The home has over 1,600 square feet of porches and terraces and there is a freestanding greenhouse and a rose garden. This home is listed at $2.75 million.

Today's estate is an idyllic retreat in the Turks and Caicos Islands. This home is on 2.5 acres with an additional .68 acre available. It is located less than two miles from the Grace Bay Beach area which offers access to restaurants, golf, casinos, resorts, shops and more. This home is gated and has its own private road and waterway access.

The property includes a spectacular main house with a glass bottom pool, commercial restaurant quality kitchen facilities, three master bedrooms with en-suite baths, library, sitting room, living room, screening room, secret stairway, cigar/wine room, servants' quarters and an elevator. There are two additional guest homes with private reflection pools. The estate is being sold fully furnished, including art, goods, and equipment. The property can stay as a private estate or be developed a resort.

The asking price is $15.75 million for the main estate property and $1 million for the additional .68 acre. It is listed with Grace Lappin of Avalon Partners.

Today's home is a slice of swinging London. Penthouse West is located in the Regents Park area. The penthouse apartment is over 4,200 square feet in a portered building in a prime location featuring panoramic south facing views over Regent's Park and the London skyline. The contemporary apartment has a Bulthaup (B3 system) kitchen, Vola taps and shower fittings, Kaldewei oversized baths, bespoke vanity tops and stone work in all bathrooms. The hardwood terrace offers a firepit and views of the skyline in the distance. In the main living area a gas fireplaces divides the kitchen from the dining and living areas and adds a dash of sexy glamour. This home has a guide price of £8,750,000.

The last time that I checked out the website of real estate agent Jason Soprovich it was to check out a home used in a movie and that's what brings me there today as well. Today's estate has made the rounds on a variety of websites in anticipation of the latest installment of the Twilight saga, New Moon, which is about to hit theaters. The modern Vancouver home plays home to the Cullen family on the big screen and is featured in a scene in the movie in which Edward Cullen's adopted brother Jasper attempts to attack Bella Swan.

The five-bedroom home in West Vancouver was designed by Arthur Erickson and was totally renovated in 2001. It has a great room with 20-foot ceilings, massive picture windows and lots of blonde wood. The modern kitchen has a curved fireplace and gleaming countertops. The master suite includes a bathroom with a soaking tub and glass cabinet shower. For warmer weather there is a pool outdoors. This home is listed at $3,298,000.

[Thanks, John!]

Today's home is another reader submission, a beautiful vacation retreat in Vail, Colorado. The home was completed in 2007 and is located within a short distance of the ski lifts of Vail Village. It also offers immediate access to the Town of Vail's extensive hiking trail system. The home itself is a five-bedroom house that was constructed using state-of-the-art mechanics including radiant heat and a second humidified forced air heating system and air conditioning.

This home features custom rockwork inside and out, granite counter tops throughout the home, stainless appliances and more. A rec room has a full wet bar and a water feature. A heated drive, entry and rear deck area keeps you safe from icy walkways. The home also has an elevator, climate-controlled wine room, media room and a private patio with a hot tub, gas log fire pit and an outside shower. The home is offered fully furnished and the asking price is $5.995 million.

If today's estate doesn't look like a retired football player's house that's because Peter Gogolak gave up the football game a while ago (he was a kicker for the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills in the 1960s and 1970s) and focused on the home renovation business. The Wall Street Journal's Private Properties reports that Gogolak and his wife Kathy buy, renovate and then sell homes in Connecticut. This five-bedroom home in Darien, Connecticut is their 11th. They bought it in 2005 for $3 million and spent eight months restoring it. The 1920s Colonial has a lovely location on a hillside with just under two acres of gardens, stone walls and lawns. The property includes a pool with a waterfall. The interior is classic Connecticut with a formal living room, hardwood floors, French doors, and a large kitchen with an adjacent family room with fireplace. This home is listed at $5.5 million.

Sports stars has a habit of retiring to Florida where the weather is warm and the living is easy. Luxury Real Estate recently announced the listing for a Jupiter, Florida home belonging to Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies.

The five-bedroom home is located in the Admirals Cove Golf and Yacht Club in Jupiter. Schmidt bought the home in 1991, two years after playing his last major league game. The 8,500 square foot home has been renovated with new kitchen appliances, a butler's pantry and wet bar, master suite with his and hers baths, exercise room, media room and study. The home has a pool and a full guest house with a bath. It has 120 feet of water frontage with a dock suitable for a large yacht. A golf membership must be sold with the home.

Rob Thomson, of Waterfront Properties says that Schmidt and his family love the Admiral Cove community and are looking for a more suitable home within the community now that their children have grown up. This home is listed at $4.5 million.

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]

Maybe you can't afford to buy a Luxist Estate of the Day, however you may enjoy living in in similar splendor for a week. In fact why not invite your friends and family to share a totally planned fun filled vacation, otherwise known as a House Party.

Sophie Conran, the daughter of the renowned British design guru Terrance Conran, has teamed up with Temple Guiting Manor to help visitors plan a bespoke country house party. A perfect way to celebrate a holiday, special occasion or just enjoy time away with family and friends, a house party allows for a quieter more relaxing level of conspicuous consumption. Ideally, even though you may be the host or hostess, that role exists for you in name only. Renting a manor house somewhere in the British Isles is a stress free way to entertain as if you were in your own luxury home but with none of the ensuing hassles.

Temple Guiting Manor, which has been privately owned since the 15th century, has been restored to the highest standards. Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner stated that it is "one of the finest, if not the very best of the small Cotswold Tudor houses." While the house which sleeps 10 is available on a self-catering basis why not let Sophie and her team cater to your every whim for a true break. Not only do they provide you with all the normal amenities of a fine hotel but there are countless experts in every category imaginable to inspire you and your guests. Sophie's philosophy is "If you want to make something, then learn it from the best".

Examples include:

• Executive chef Alan Bird, of the ever popular celebrity frequented The Ivy, will hold a master class.
• Jim Murray proclaimed by the BBC as the "world guru of whiskey" will educate you on the process of making whiskey.
• Knitting and crochet lessons from Clare Ward and Sarah Coates
• Flower design workshop with talked about florist Nikki Tibbles whose clients include Gucci, Chanel and Ralph Lauren
• Simon Stocken a former national bridge and poker player will teach you all the tricks you need to excel at the games

Favorite country pursuits such as golf, gliding, fishing, clay pigeon game shooting are also available.

The bespoke house party tradition has been updated for the modern lifestyle, and it is a unique experience to be able to relax in a rural retreat in a spectacular setting where every whim and need is accommodated by the most talented in the business.

What's not to love about a castle that sits under the Hollywood sign? Especially if the price has been chopped from $7.5 million (the price the house was listed for in June 2008) to $4.7 million?

TV personality Debbie Matenopoulos and her soon-to-be-ex-husband Lionsgate Entertainment music executive Jay Faires have re-listed their Norman-style castle, once known as Wolf's Lair. The couple reportedly bought in 2002 for $2.9 million. Because of the association with Hitler's bunker of the same name, plans are to change the name to something, well, more castle-y.

The turreted 5,485-square-foot castle that sits on 3.3 acres was built in the 1920s and includes a two-bedroom guest house designed by architect John Lautner. The main house was built by and named after L. Milton Wolf, the developer of Hollywoodland. In fact, the Hollywood sign that sits behind the home was put there by Wolf to advertise Hollywoodland. ( The original sign bore that name and was covered with 4,000 flashing electric light bulbs.) There is a heart-shaped black-bottom pool and eight bedrooms total on the property, which sits high above Los Angeles' Beachwood Canyon.

Lure about this property is legendary. Wolf, something of a ladies' man, reportedly installed a secret apartment under the gatehouse where he entertained, ahem, privately.

Bugsy Siegal's former castle -- the one Madonna owned subsequently -- is right up the road a piece. Castillo del Lago is listed at $9.95 million, making the former Wolf's Lair a relative bargain.

Ernie Carswell of Teles Properties, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

Mark Ecko's Stronghold isn't the only lavish estate in Bernardsville, New Jersey. The area was once a summer colony for Wall Street financiers after the Civil War. The Stevens Estate is a 15-acre property which was originally the summer mansion of Robert Livingston Stevens, whose family was instrumental in the development of steam-powered boats & locomotives and founded Stevens Institute of Technology. Present owner Nat Conti and architect Jeffrey Beer took on the task of restoring and updating the home including the addition of an entire new wing and a main kitchen. The entertainment level replicates a Parisian street scene with a courtyard and a home theater complete with lobby, café, and candy counter. The grounds include formal gardens, a reflecting pool with ornamental water plants and a swimming pool pavilion with a center fountain and cherub fountains. This home is listed at $16.75 million.

You have to love a home where a giant flatscreen television shares the same room with a suit of armor. Nightingale house in the Mayfair area of London is a classic home which has been given a recent renovation to make it elegantly livable. In its current condition it is cluttered but deliciously so, featuring fine antiques in many of the high-ceilinged reception rooms. Bedrooms, and even a bathroom, contain fireplaces with carved marble mantlepieces. The home has a roof terrace, four bedrooms but only garage enough for one large car. It is listed at a Freehold Guide price of £12,000,000.

Today's home in East Hampton, New York is build as a designer's home but I haven't been able to find out the identity of the designer. The 14,000 square foot stone and stucco manor house on 1.3 acres overlooking a 17-acre meadow preserve minutes from the ocean. The home is beautifully turned out with a dramatic double-height entry hall with some sort of sculpture, a living room with coffered ceiling, formal dining room, large kitchen/family room, library and the coolest room in the house, a circular domed office. The master suite has a study and twin baths and there are four additional guest bedroom suites. The finished basement has a playroom, wine storage, gym and two staff bedrooms. The property includes a heated pool, stone pool house and a garage. The lovely designer furnishings are available separately. It's listed at $17 million.

Usually when we are looking at raw space for a tremendous price it's a New York City apartment but in Chicago a massive penthouse just went on sale for $14 million making it the most expensive home on the market in the area. It is being sold by Bill Wrigley, Jr., the current chairman and former CEO of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.

The space is over 11,000 square feet with two terraces (1,500 spare feet each) and six garage spaces. The penthouse is three units combined into one on the eighth floor of a limestone building at 65 E. Goethe St. It opens to all four exposures and has lake views. It comes with the architectural plans which Wrigley had commissioned. It is listed with Baird & Warner.


The Chicago Tribune's Elite Street column also reports that Wrigley's beautiful home in Lake Forest, Illinois is also on the market. It was on the market for $16 million in a pocket listing previously but is now listed for $14.5 million with Ned Skae of Coldwell Banker. The seven-bedroom home was built in 1912 and designed by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw. Wrigley Jr. bought the home in 2003 for $9.9 million and it has been renovated and restored for gracious family living. The 3.1 acre property with lake views includes a pool and a terrace.

Where is Bill Wrigley Jr. headed? Crack real estate sleuth Bob Goldsborough found that Wrigley paid $11 million in April for a home in North Palm Beach, Florida and paid $11.53 million in May for property in Aspen, Colorado. Just last year Mars bought the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in a transaction valued at $23 billion.

Given that both homes are of similar cost which would you choose if you had the money, the promise of a raw Chicago penthouse or the finished elegance of the Lake Forest mansion?

Today's San Francisco home isn't just a piece of celebrity real estate, it's a before and after. We first checked out the home of Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett in 2006 when it was listed at $12.5 million. At that time the Georgian home in Pacific Heights was so decked out in velvet and wine colors that one commenter called it the "Shady Rest Funeral Home." Even the kitchen was red. The home disappeared off the market but now as the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties column reports, it's back. And it's a whole lot brighter inside. Hammett has had this home for a while. He paid $2.56 million for the home in 1993. The home has eight bedrooms and a music studio and a billiard room with a bar in the basement. The renovation did not change any of the home's beautiful lines and vintage wood details, but those touches are showcased much better against a more neutral palette. The former music studio is now repurposed as a family recreation area and the listing states that the area would be perfect as a home theater. This home is now listed at $9 million.