le reve

Last month we mentioned that Le Reve, the once $50 million estate for sale in Forsyth County, Georgia was in foreclosure. It has now had yet another price cut down to a new low of $16.75 million. Real estate agent Troy Stowe put it bluntly in a piece on WSOC-TV, saying "now, our new strategy is, the house needs to go." The new listing trumpets the fact that the home has been reduced by $32 million as well as indicating that the home is now bank owned.

La Reve was the home of Hubert and Norma Humphrey who designed their lavish seven-bedroom home with a private bowling alley, its own golf course, a massage room and a huge movie theater that is a replica of Atlanta's Fox Theatre. There is also a train room that is a replica of the old Central Georgia Railroad from Atlanta to Macon to Savannah that Hubert Humphrey worked on for 17 years as a train conductor. This incredible edifice has 82 rooms, two elevators and 62 televisions. The grounds include a heated swimming pool, pool house, spa, private playground, stables, tennis court, formal gardens and a guest house. The home, which is approximately 47,000 square feet on 72 acres was listed at a stunning $45 million in 2008 just two years after it was completed for a price of nearly $50 million total.

Our friend Kenny at Homes of the Rich alerted us to the fact that Le Reve, a massive estate in Cumming, Georgia, that was our estate of the day back in 2008 is now listed as bank-owned and under foreclosure. La Reve was the home of Hubert and Norma Humphrey who designed their lavish home with a private bowling alley, its own golf course, a massage room and a huge movie theater that is a replica of Atlanta's Fox Theatre. There is also a train room that is a replica of the old Central Georgia Railroad from Atlanta to Macon to Savannah that Hubert Humphrey worked on for 17 years as a train conductor. This incredible edifice has 82 rooms, two elevators and 62 televisions. The grounds include a heated swimming pool, pool house, spa, private playground, stables, tennis court, formal gardens and a guest house. The home, which is approximately 47,000 square feet on 90 acres was listed at a stunning $45 million in 2008. In January 2010 we saw that price carved down to $28 million. Now it can be picked up for $18 million.

Another rare Picasso painting has been the victim of an unfortunate accident. The Actor, a tall six foot by four foot painting completed by Picasso during his Rose Period in 1905, has been at the New York' City's Metropolitan Museum of Art for years. It was damaged last week when a woman who was at the museum attending an adult education art class, lost her balance and fell against the painting. The $80 million piece received a 6-inch vertical tear. A press release from the Met says the painting was immediately taken to the museum's paintings conservation studio for evaluation and treatment. The good news is that the damage was in the lower right hand corner and can be restored. The restored painting will be part of an upcoming exhibit of 250 works of art by the painter at the Met set to run April 27 through August 1, 2010.

The unusually larger canvas originally had another painting on it. The painting was part of Picasso's shift from the more somber Blue period to the more cheerful Rose period which featured warmer colors and a more energetic style. The Actor was given to The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Chrysler heiress Thelma Chrysler Foy in 1952.

Casino mogul Stephen Wynn. who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, an eye disease that has damaged his peripheral vision, put his elbow through his beloved painting, Picasso's 1932 'Le Reve' in 2006. At the time Wynn was reportedly ready to sell the work for $139 million even though he had at one point considered naming his hotel after it (instead the name went to a show at the resort). This work was also the victim of a six-inch tear, this one in a more obvious place, the left forearm of the figure. Wynn took the incident as a sign and did not sell the painting. After a $90,000 repair, the painting was evaluated to be worth $85 million.