john stamos

Bette Midler is more than a woman -- she's like an army. We're not just talking about the power of her singing voice; she's also a dancer, an actress, a comedienne, and a well-known humanitarian, and a champion of both the arts and the Earth.

Since 1995, she's been working on her New York Restoration Project (NYRP -- she founded it), which has been helping NYC get greener and cleaner. Just recently, Bette herself planted the 250,000th NYRP tree in a Queens neighborhood and unveiled a new garden near Yankee Stadium. Now, she's auctioning off some very unique experiences with celebrities on CharityFolks.com, experiences which would make unbeatable holiday gifts.

Among the current gifts available are:

• Meet John Stamos Backstage at Bye Bye Birdie & Enjoy 2 VIP House Seats - $1,500.00
• Private Lesson with Tennis Great John McEnroe & Roundtrip Travel on JetBlue Airways! - $2,750.00
• Meet Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Steve Winwood, One of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time According to Rolling Stone, with 2 VIP Tix to a 2010 European Show Date - $1,500.00

Those are current bid prices; buyouts are available at higher numbers. All the proceeds will benefit NYRP, which plans to plant 1 million trees by 2017 (and totally will). Other items include a chance to meet Cher, a walk-on role with Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd, a getaway to Richard Branson's Necker Island, and more. She's convinced nearly 100 of her celebrity friends to contribute, so keep your eye on the NYRP CharityFolks page to see what's up for auction next.

"We've turned 55 vacant lots into beautiful community gardens and planted more than 250,000 trees, and we're just getting started, so I hope you'll join in the merriment by placing a bid today!" says Midler.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--As we saw on Friday, Tommy Hilfiger has put his Greenwich, Connecticut home on the market for $27.9 million.
--An oceanfront estate with a $65 million asking price has just gone to contract on exclusive Gin Lane in Southampton.
--It's official, Parker Posey has sold her one-bedroom co-op for $1.3 million and bought a two bedroom on lower Fifth Avenue for around the same price.
--Retired Goldman Sachs manager turned bed-and-breakfast proprietor Robert Mnuchin, and his wife, Adriana, have spent $20 million for a full floor co-op at 944 Fifth Ave.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb has closed on his famous $45 million penthouse at 15 Central Park West. No mortgage records were filed with the deed, which suggests that Mr. Loeb paid cash to satisfy the most expensive sales price ever on Central Park West.
--Even though he passed away in Monaco last March, the British skyscraper developer Howard Ronson has added to his real estate portfolio. His limited liability corporation just paid $11 million, according to public deeds, for the Berwind Manor's glass penthouse. It's not clear if his widow controls his real estate deals now, but his brokers said it was Ronson's idea to buy the mansion piecemeal.
--Lawyer Aaron Charney who sued his firm, Sullivan & Cromwell, last year alleging homophobia and collected a settlement, has bought a penthouse. He and a partner just paid $1.495 million for a penthouse at the newly converted condo at 93rd Street and Broadway.
--Developer Bruce Ratner has paid $6.9 million at 128 East 62nd Street.
--A $38 million Upper East Side mansion designed by Stanford White in 1903 has gone to contract. Rumor has it that the buyer is Thomas Montag, the former co-head of securities trading at Goldman Sachs.

From The Wall Street Journal Online's Private Properties:
--The ex-wife of technology entrepreneur Warren V. "Pete" Musser has decided to auction off her Philadelphia Main Line estate on April 19. Interior designer Hilary Grinker Musser is reportedly willing to accept as little as a quarter of its original $12.5 million asking price, the suggested opening bid of $3 million.
Columbia Law School professor Hans Smit, who's listed a mansion, shown above, for $30 million, has turned down a $20 million offer. I can almost understand why, it's an elegant 1909 French Renaissance-style marble house with all sorts of original details. Check out the listing here.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Model/heiress Lydia Hearst pays $1.49 million for a two-bedroom condo in Mid-Town Manhattan.
--Billy Howerdel, a guitarist who founded and played in A Perfect Circle, has sold his four-bedroom house in the Hollywood Hills for $1.875 million.

From the Real Estalker:
--Veronica Hearst's 28,000-square-foot Villa Venezia mansion on 3.77 acres in Manalapan, Florida sold at a foreclosure auction in Florida today for $22 million. Rumor has it that Greg Norman might be interested in picking it up.
--Russ Weiner, founder of Rockstar energy drinks has cut the price on his Hollywood Hills home from $22 million to $15.9 million. Check out the property website here. He has also dropped the price on his Franklin Hills home around $2 million, it's down now to $2,995 million.
--(via the Telegraph) Indian billionaire Lakshi Mittal has put his mansion on Bishop's Avenue in London on the market for £40,000,000. The Summer Palace measures 18,000 square feet and has 11 bedrooms, garage parking for 20 cars, and a heart shaped indoor swimming pool.
--Part of the large apartment at 810 Fifth Avenue in New York by Nelson Rockefeller is up for sale. The two-bedroom pad has a 47' living room with Central Park views, West and South. It is listed at $27.5 million.
--(via Curbed L.A.) John Stamos becomes the latest celeb to opt in at the turqoise Art Deco Eastern Columbia building in downton Los Angeles.
--Suzanne Somers has already dropped the price on her Palm Springs retreat from $35 million to $27.5 million. My bet is it will sell for $22 million.
--Actor Sean Hayes has put his Hancock Park home on the market for $8.95 million. It is our estate of the day later today.
--Singer Kylie Minouge has put her French Island, Australia home on the market for tender with a price tag of $1.8 to $2 million Australian. The listing is here.

From the Telegraph:
--A home with more than ten bedrooms and an underground swimming pool has become the world's most expensive single residential dwelling after being sold for £80 million (over $159 million).

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--The estranged wife of former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, has sold a Malibu beach house for an estimated $68 million which will make it the highest-priced home sale in Malibu. The 12,785-square-foot house on Carbon Beach takes up more than three lots.
--As the Real Estalker previously reported, former "Melrose Place" star Grant Show has put his gated Hollywood Hills home on the market for $1.995 million. The listing is here.
--Joan Collins has purchased a condo for $2.7 million in Sierra Towers in West Hollywood.
--The former Al Jolson estate in Encino has come on the market at $9.79 million. The home which has also been owned at various times by actors Katey Sagal,Kirstie Alley and Charlie Sheen, is listed here.


Thanks to Pierre, for reminding me that Kimora Lee and Russell Simmons's Saddle River, New Jersey is still on the market for $23.88 million. Nearly a year and no price reduction? That's pretty optimistic.

Thanks to Lana for directing me to the most expensive house currently on sale in Spain. The Carmen de los Chapitales which is listed for 90 million euros.