isiah washington

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--NY Mets pitcher Johan Santana has gone to contract for just over $3 million on a three-bedroom, 3½-bath apartment at 170 East End Ave. but has also been spotted checking out a $17.5 million penthouse several floors above.
--Ben Stiller has been townhouse shopping in the West Village.
--Raffaello Follieri, the check-bouncing boyfriend of Anne Hathaway, reportedly kept one broker in limbo for almost six weeks regarding a $15.9 million West Village townhouse that the couple had checked out. There was an accepted offer but the $1.5 million deposit never arrived.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Ricky Kenig, a beauty and costume shop kingpin, is putting his Park Slope brownstone on the market for $3.2 million. He bought the home for $1,375,000 two years ago and gut-renovated it with details such as a three-story magnetized wall along the stairwell, a video monitor system, those cute little Kohler Hatbox toilets and a custom Philippe Starck shower.
--S. Christopher Meigher III, the chairman and CEO of society magazine Quest, and his wife withheld a few mortgage payments because they disagreed with their bank over a refi and nearly ended up having their two-unit apartment auctioned off. The Meighers got the refinancing rate they wanted and have settled the issue.
--Investor and environmental philanthropist. Dan Lufkin, has put his five-bedroom spread at 455 Central Park West on the market this week for $17.5 million which is around three times what he paid three years ago.The apartment, shown above, is a converted 19th-century chapel which has been beautifully restored, saving the antique French oak floors, arched windows, gold-leafed walls, stone columns, Gothic fireplace and, especially a 28-foot-high vaulted living room. More gorgeousness at the listing here.
Dora the Explorer co-creator Eric Weiner and wife Cherie Vogelstein, a playwright, have bought a high-floor, seven-room condo at Ariel West for $4.395 million.
--Leighton Candler, a Corcoran senior vice president, has been chosen to sell Brooke Astor's apartment. The listing for the $46 million apartment hasn't hit the internet yet.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Actor Channing Tatum has bought a Laurel Canyon property that was listed at $3.4 million for $2,595,000. Big Time Listings led us to the property website here.
--A home on Mulholland Drive that belonged to writers Aldous and Laura Huxley has hit the market for $1.95 million.
--Hollywood agent Toni Howard and her husband, producer David Yarnell, have purchased an 18th-floor junior penthouse in a luxury Westwood condominium building for $3.3 million.
--Karen Pankow, the ex-wife of Chicago trombone player James Pankow, has listed her Malibu home for $4.5 million. The listing for the contemporary home is here.
--Google's board chairman and chief executive, Eric Schmidt is the owner of Ellen DeGeneres's former Montecito estate. It was our estate of the day a year ago.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Former "Grey's Anatomy" actor Isaiah Washington has sold his four-bedroom condo in Hancock Park for $1.5 million.
--Dido has sold her three-bedroom house in the Hollywood Hills for an undisclosed price after it had been on the market for $4.6 million.
--Sting picked up a 16th- and 17th-floor duplex unit in 15 Central Park West in New York City for $26.5 million.
--via the Palm Beach Post, movie producer and Jones Apparel Group founder Sidney Kimmel has sold his mansion in Palm Beach, Fla. for its $81,500,000 list price!

From the Real Estalker:
--The Real Estalker Mama takes us through the rumor mill reporting on the possible split of Dr. Phil McGraw and his wife Robin and the potential sale of their large Beverly Hills home. The latest estimates have the home hitting the market in the $16-18,000,000 range.
--Vincent Gallo may have found a buyer for the Wolff House.
--Los Angeles man about town Brent Bolthouse has put his sexy two-bedroom Lautner-designed hosue in the Hollywood Hills up for lease for $10,000 a month. The listing is here.
--Kirsten Dunst has spent around $3,000,000 for a three bedroom penthouse apartment in New York.
--Rumors continue to swirl over whether or not Tiger Woods really bought that $65 million house in Southampton.
--Another kerfuffle in Greenwich, Connecticut over a planned mega-mansion proposed for 18 Simmons Lane that would be over 30,000 square feet and include a gym, theater, wine cellar, staff quarters and 26 toilets.

From AOL Real Estate:
--Recession Proof Home Improvements