If you have an estate and you need to make the rent one enterprising idea might be to rent it out for weddings. Just make sure the neighbors won't mind. The Daily Breeze has the story of a Palos Verdes Estates home which was rented out for weddings. Unfortunately neighbors in the elite Southern California community took issue with the streams of caterers and wedding guests pouring onto the estate each weekend. They complained about the noise repeatedly and city officials were brought in on the case. Now the home's owner could face up to two years in jail and a $4,000 fine in order to deter her from doing it again. The owner, Melahat Uzumcu was arraigned today on charges of violating the zoning code, creating a public nuisance and conducting a business without a license. The home is still listed online through HomeAway.com for 10,000-$12,000 per week or $2,000 per night and listing pictures show a charming large home with an ocean view.

You have 320 choices if you're looking for a home that costs more than $20 million – though if you're smart, you shouldn't have to pay nearly that much. Why? As you'd expect, real estate agents are having trouble moving these houses, so they are staying on the market for a while, and age doesn't do much for a property's value.

The top listing right now belongs to Aaron Spelling's widow – at least until she can sell it. This is a difficult proposition, however, with a price tag of $150 million. Four years ago, the highest price on the market was half what Spelling is asking. This year, $75 million isn't good enough to make the top 10.

Since the number of listings is up, you'd expect sales to be down ... and that's how it's working out. In the Hamptons, year-over-year sales were off 43 percent in the second quarter, with the median price down 17 percent. Homeowners who can't sell are trying to rent instead, with mixed results. Joseph Farrell, who has a home in Bridgehampton, would like to sell it for $59.5 million. Until that happens, he has to be content to rent it, which he's doing now at $425,000 for two weeks.

So, if homes aren't moving, why continue to price them above $20 million? The answer is as old as consciousness: vanity. An absurd price is guaranteed to get some attention (as I've just demonstrated).

Sales and rentals in the Hamptons this year have been more than a bit sluggish but that's not stopping builder Joe Farrell of Farrell Building Company from seeking a big Hamptons payday. We first heard about Sandcastle, a luxury 11.5-acre estate in Bridgehampton went it went on the market for $50 million. At the time Farrell was quoted as saying he built the home for his family but was then encouraged by brokers to try and sell it. Later the NY Post reported that the Jonas Brothers were checking it out as a summer rental (it's listed for $500,000 for any two-week period in July or August). But perhaps believing that he should strike while the iron is hot, Farrell has raised the price to $59.5 million, which is of course what you do when your house has been on the market less than a month. Is it just crazy enough to work, has Farrell stepped into a 2005-6 time machine or is he actually hoping the home doesn't sell? It's a mystery.

The 14-bedroom home is built for play with a two-lane bowling alley, a heated gunite pool with an underwater stereo, a sunken tennis court, a disco and bar, virtual golf, a movie theater with a planetarium on the ceiling, a squash and racquetball court, a half-pipe for skateboarding, a rock-climbing wall, a DJ booth and recording studio and a Jacuzzi. The home has over 31,000 square feet of space and has an elevator, walnut library, 10-seat theater and a 2800 sq. ft. master suite. As a rental, the property will come with a luxury car, a Ferrari or a Bentley, depending on what the client wants, and chef, butler, full staff and maid service.

[via Newsday's Real LI]

The most expensive real estate in the country has taken some pretty major price cuts over the past year or two. In the past, mega-mansions with huge pricetags would often sit on the market a year or two without a price cut with owners secure in the knowledge that the right buyers would eventually come along. These are uncertain times and there are some very motivated sellers testing their luck in the real estate waters. Our list of top ten reductions of U.S. properties we've covered in the past starts at a $10 million cut and it only gets higher from there.

10)The Sloane Mansion, was $64 million, now $54 million
Price Cut=$10 million
The Henry T. Sloane mansion on East 68th Street in New York City is located just steps away from Fifth Avenue on the East Side. The building has 18,500 square feet total spread out over five stories and there are 15 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms, seven fireplaces, a ballroom and a rooftop garden. The mansion was designed by architect Charles Pierrepont H. Gilbert for Sloane, the heir to a furniture empire, in 1905. The home is classic Beaux-Arts style and five of the rooms have all their original details intact including wood-paneled ballroom with original oil-painted murals. It has been on the market for over a year but may need to go lower than $54 million in this economy.

For many New Yorkers, realizing you've grown up happens when you take stock and note that you finally have enough money for a home outside the city (read: more than two rooms), you need or want more space, and you cannot stand apartment living one second longer. Enter Westchester, the suburb that offers space and upscale living but is close to the heart of NYC via a train ride on Metro-North.

Here's one option: This 1904 Milton Point Colonial, situated on 2.55 acres in Rye City, N.Y., offers 6,963 square feet, 14 rooms (seven BR, 5.5 BA), a shoreline pool and spa, two-car garage, alarm system, deck, eat-in kitchen, fireplace, high ceilings, skylights, walkout basement, and wet bar. Taxes are $112,675. Asking price: $7,595,000.

Click on the photo to see the listing sheet. Or, go to Houlihan Lawrence and enter either Web ID QD411021 or MLS # 2819330.

Click the continued link to see all the photos, or view the gallery.

VillaVida owns large and luxurious villas in the Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo area of Portugal. Their Luxury Collection of the fifteen most beautiful properties has been selected and published here on their website.

Each of the selected villas features 4+ bedrooms and a swimming pool, and many include saunas, gyms, tennis courts, waterfalls, and more.

The Quinta do Lago Bonaparte 6-bedroom villa you see above includes gardens with extensive flowerbeds, manicured lawns, an ornamental lake, and an orchard of citrus trees alongside the private tennis court. The villa is fully furnished with American-style kitchen conveniences and is just two kilometers from the beach. It is available for €7,000 to €13,000 depending upon the season; maid service included.

Today I bring you a bumper crop of estates, five Colorado homes which will all be auctioned off via sealed bid on October 15 at the Colorado Luxury Real Estate Auction. This property auction will present over $16,000,000 in inventory with minimum bids below their appraised values. The sellers are luxury property owners who are looking a faster sale in this slow market. The homes range from a lavish mansion to several ranches with substantial acreage and a Victorian home.

Somerset Manor in Niwot, Colorado has a minimum bid of $5.395 million and was listed for as much as $7.395 million. It is on 2.5 acres in the Somerset Estates area that includes water features, a formal yard with an interior fence and a private nature area beyond with walking trails, low maintenance vegetation, a shared pond and even a putting green and a tee box. Inside there are more than 13,000 square feet of finished space on three levels that include a two-story foyer, a chef's gourmet kitchen, a main-level gym and therapy pool, an executive study and a two-story great room that walks out to the covered deck overlooking the grounds.

Turn Around Ranch in Silverthorne, Colorado has a minimum bid of $2.599 million. The home has nearly 4,500 square feet of space and gorgeous mountain views. The property includes a barn.

Saddleback Ranch has a minimum bid of $1,999,999. The 18-acre Colorado-style gated estate is on a rolling parcel amidst sandstone bluffs & gorgeous vistas. The main home has four bedrooms, gourmet kitchen, yoga studio, art studio and a 1000-bottle wine cellar with reclaimed ancient Chinese door and custom mosaic tile floor. A guest cottage has a bedroom, private kitchen & bath and the detached executive studio features a large office, library and bathroom. The spa area includes 16'x47' heated pool, six-person sauna, large pool deck and patio area.

The Mountain King Ranch in Boulder, Colorado was once listed at $2.995 million and has a minimum bid of $1.95 million. The home is surrounded by 115 acres. The main house is a 5,600+-square-foot private mountain retreat with many balconies, patios and huge picture windows. Each of the four bedrooms has either a private balcony or French doors leading to a flagstone patio and there is an outdoor redwood spa.

A Victorian home in Longmont, Colorado was listed at $739,000 but now has a minimum bid of $520,000. It is a three story home of 6,500 square feet with a new gourmet kitchen and an interior with original woodwork and columns. A private staircase leads to the newly opened attic-currently owner's art studio.

Real estate may be sluggish but that hasn't seemed to stop the luxury home tours. For three weekends in September, Sept. 5- 21, Chicago-area real estate gawkers can check out the houses in the 5th annual Chicago Luxury Home Tour. The homes are all new and feature green construction such as asphalt shingle roofs, geo-thermal heating and cooling, radiant in-floor heating and recycled and recyclable materials. Tickets can be bought in advance for $15 at local locations or for $20 at the homes. Or if you aren't in the area, sneak a peek at the photo gallery on the Chicago Home Tour website.

[via Chicago Tribune]

NYC seems to be surviving the housing market's slow decline better than most cities. Case in point: This $80,000,000 condo at 15 Central Park West. Located on the 40th floor, the home, built in 2007, is 5,276 square feet and has unobstructed views over Central Park West and the Hudson River. Of the 9.5 rooms, there are 4 bedrooms and 5.5 baths, and the major rooms have 14-foot ceilings. There's a library and a fireplace (only one?). The ground floor suite is 1,222 square feet with private street access that would work for owner staff offices. There's also the usual building amenities: doorman, courtyard, health club, pool, and garage. As with most condos and with many homes in NYC, you pay way more than the purchase price. This home requires monthly maintenance/CC of $5,425 and monthly real estate tax of $2,081. Too bad the photos only show you the view -- I'd love to see the kitchen and bathrooms in a home like this!

[Thanks, Raeann]

The New York Times periodically picks a price and then does a "What You Get for ... $xxx,xxx" piece in its Real Estate section, comparing homes in three cities. I've never seen a "What You Get for ... $35,000,000," article so here it is, at least in one city: This estate in Montauk (no direct link, so go here, and enter Web ID H34007) is set on 35.5 acres between the Atlantic Ocean, a freshwater pond and fields and meadows, with 400 feet of ocean frontage. The house is 7,000 square feet and has a tiled roof, plus there's 50% more living space than the house itself, thanks to the 3,500 square feet of mahogany decking. Built in 1994, there are three levels, comprising five bedrooms, five baths, living and dining rooms with 16-foot ceilings and walls of glass that overlook the ocean and grounds. For cooking (or, more likely, where your staff will be doing the cooking), there's a chef's kitchen. Also: a breakfast room, an office, a screening room with a state-of-the-art JBL system, and a garage. A path leads through private gates to the beach.

Most expensive homes have extra built-in features that are meant to make the environment more comfortable, but not the $2 million Bioscleave House on Long Island. Husband and wife architectural design team Arakawa and Madeline Gins have made sure the "Lifespan Extending Villa" they created is specifically as uncomfortable and unsettling as possible. At the core of their campaign to defeat mortality is the idea that "comfort is the precursor to death." They believe that they have created an environment that keeps people constantly tentative, which in turns helps them stay young and cheat death.

So what makes it so uncomfortable? The floors are severely uneven and bumpy (you have to sign a waiver before you can enter and there are poles to grab onto in various places in case you lose your balance), all the light switches and electric sockets are placed at weird angles, and it's painted in an array of crazy colors (some walls include as many as 40 different shades).

Interestingly enough the couple doesn't seem interested in living in it themselves, as it's currently sitting empty waiting for occupants. That thing cost $2 million and now they aren't even going to live in it. What, they don't want to defy death after all?

Can't say I blame them. I hope to be nice and comfy in my old age, death precursor or not.

Via Engadget

The Nautilus House is a cartoon-like combination of bright vibrant colors and a gigantic shell-shaped design. It's a real house, located in Mexico City and occupied by a young couple and their two small children. Not only does the Nautilus House look like a giant work of art, but because it's built from a mix of chicken wire and concrete (among other things) and takes cues from a Nautilus shell (hence the name) it's also an earthquake-proof and maintenance-free structure. And that's always handy.

The inside decor is all about smooth rounded surfaces, rich colors, and greenery all over the place. And although the home is surrounded by Mexico City on 3 sides, the West side has most of the windows and faces out to a beautiful view of the mountains.

I really like it, but for anything other than a vacation home it might get old -- living in this house must make a person feel like they're in a tropical version of Whoville.

Via DVICE

Louis Kahn only designed 3 major architectural homes in his career and one of them, the Escherick House (named after the woman for whom it was built, Margaret Escherick) is up for auction. Its address is in Philadelphia and according to some it's his best residential creation and has "mature style" and a "warm and human quality" to the interior (and I tend to agree).

So the house will be sold, but unlike most houses its price will not only reflect the local regular real estate market but also the art market. Valued at $2 million only about half of that is unbiased structural and land values -- the rest is all artistic and historical sentiment.

Very few celebrities have only one home -- owning multiple residences in locations around the world is key to keeping any sense of normalcy and routine in their lives. But although first homes are usually in cities like New York and LA to be close to work, where do celebrities like George Clooney, Johnny Depp, and Oprah choose to buy vacation homes? Where do they go when it's entirely up to them and they want to relax?

Well for Clooney it's a waterfront villa in Lake Como, Italy, for Depp it's a 50 acre farmhouse in France, and Oprah prefers her ocean-front ranch in Santa Monica. Where would you live? Check out this list of celebrity summer homes and see who's taste is closest to your own.

Temecula, one of the lesser known wine regions in California will soon be home to a new luxury development. Ridgeview Estate at the Groves is a $102 million dollar development of 41 two-acre custom home sites located in the hills overlooking Temecula. The gated community will include finished individual view lots. Temecula, which is in Southwestern Riverside country, has been experiencing a boom in tourism with resorts and increased attention focused on local wineries. Temecula lacks the lavish gorgeousness of Northern California's wine country but the estates will still probably be quick sellers. The first phase of lots will be released in October.

Related: It seems like Temecula is having some of the same problems with wine-rowdy tourists that plague Napa and New York wineries.