new orleans

Bond No. 9 Creates New Orleans Scent

Perfume company Bond No.9 has covered just about every neighborhood in New York with a distinctive fragrance but the brand has taken on the Big Easy for a new Saks Fifth Avenue exclusive scent. Bond No. 9's New Orleans scent includes notes of cinnamon and sandalwood, tuberose, violet leaf, cassis and vanilla. The bottle has a Swarovski crystal fleur de lis on the bottle. The scent launches on December 4 and Laurice Rahme of Bond no. 9 will be at the New Orleans Saks to sign bottles on December 4 and December 5 from 11 am to 6 pm. It sells for $325.

Source

Tags: bond no 9, BondNo9, new orleans, NewOrleans, perfume, saks fifth avenue, SaksFifthAvenue

Nicolas Cage's New Orleans Homes Go Back To The Bank

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

t's official, Nic Cage is no longer a homeowner in New Orleans. The Times-Picayune reports on the foreclosure auction which saw Cage losing both his French Quarter and Garden District homes. Cage's lender, Regions Bank, bought both homes back for a total of $4.5 million, which is two-thirds of the value that appraisers hired by the bank had determined they were worth. There were no other bids for the property. Cage did not attend the auction. The city will collect $151,729 in unpaid property taxes. Cage owed approximately $5.5 million on the homes. The bank is free to go after Hancock Park Real Estate Company, Cage's real estate holding company, for the other $1 million and can also try to sell the homes at market value to raise the money.

Cage bought his six-bedroom Garden District home in 2005 for $3.45 million and listed it for sale for $3.7 million. Cage's New Orleans other home, the haunted LaLaurie mansion was bought by Cage in 2006 for $3.45 million. He listed it for $3.9 million. He has blamed his former business manager, Sam Levin, for his recent financial woes including a $6 million IRS bill. He still has homes in Las Vegas, England, Rhode Island and the Bahamas either on the market or about to be sold.

Gallery: Another Nicolas Cage Home In New Orleans

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in New Orleans

Source

Tags: new orleans, NewOrleans, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

Nicolas Cage's Two New Orleans Houses Listed In Sheriff's Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

A reader left me a hot tip this morning that he had seen a couple of interesting foreclosure New Orleans auction notices come up on the Trulia website. Could they be the homes Nicolas Cage has been trying to sell in New Orleans? A quick look at the Orleans Parish Sheriff website confirms that both of Cage's New Orleans homes on the market including the haunted LaLaurie mansion are listed as part of a November 12 auction. The houses each appear with a claim of $5,548,260.78 and Regions Bank is listed as the claimant against a real estate L.L.C. known to be used by Cage to purchase the homes.

It's just the latest turn in Cage's complicated financial saga.
Just the other day we learned that Nicolas Cage's current total owed to the IRS is now a steep $6,257,005. He recently sold both his Bel-Air, California Tudor home and his New York City apartment. Homes in Las Vegas and Rhode Island remain on the market

[Thanks Bill!]

Gallery: Another Nicolas Cage Home In New Orleans

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in New Orleans

Tags: celebrity foreclosure, celebrity real estate, CelebrityForeclosure, CelebrityRealEstate, new orleans, NewOrleans, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

Continue reading “Nicolas Cage's Two New Orleans Houses Listed In Sheriff's Sale”

Lafitte Guest House Up For Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

It seems that nearly every residence of a certain age in New Orleans comes with reports of ghosts and the Lafitte Guest House is no exception. The Bourbon Street boutique hotel is a three-story guest house with 14 restored guest rooms with private baths. HauntedHouses.com says the house is home to several spirits including the ghost of a little girl who died of yellow fever.

What might be scarier however are the reviews the guest house has received on Trip Advisor lately which may be one reason that the charming property is up for sale. Some of the guest rooms have distressed brick walls and many have private balconies. It has a small courtyard and can host up to 50 people for weddings and other events. It is listed at $3.8 million.

Gallery: Lafitte Guest House

Source

Tags: bourbon street, BourbonStreet, hotel for sale, HotelForSale, inn for sale, InnForSale, lafitte guest house, LafitteGuestHouse, new orleans, NewOrleans

George Rodrigue's New Orleans Anniversary Editions

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Artist George Rodrigue is celebrating his 20th Anniversary in New Orleans with a special limited edition set of prints featuring his famous staring puppy dogs in chrome, blue, and gold on reflective backgrounds. Original Rodrigue works often sell for upwards of $20,000 (see some of his new releases in the gallery below) but each of these prints are priced at only $750. Each of the above designs is limited to 150 original silkscreen prints on heavy chrome paper measuring 35" x 26". Signed and numbered (of course).

Via ForbesLife

Gallery: George Rodrigue Newly Released Paintings

Source

Tags: 2009, art, george rodrigue, GeorgeRodrigue, new orleans, NewOrleans, rodrigue

The Brown Mansion, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's estate is one of the grandest in New Orleans, a city known for its grand homes. The Brown Mansion on St. Charles Avenue was built in 1904 for W.P. Brown, a local cotton mogul. The Romanesque Revival home has nine bedrooms and approximately 14,000 square feet of space. The home, which looks like it belongs on a university campus, was built with the finest materials and has ornate plaster details, carved wood ceilings and massive fireplaces. The stone home sits on private gated grounds by landscape architect Rene Fransen and has a terraced patio with a heated pool and a hot tub. There is also a built-in three car garage. It is listed at $8.5 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: The Brown Mansion

Source

Tags: brown mansion, BrownMansion, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, louisiana, new orleans, NewOrleans

Continue reading “The Brown Mansion, Estate of the Day ”

More Nic Cage Price Cuts

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Nicolas Cage is at it again chopping the prices on some of his many homes for sale. Dakota over at Curbed LA reports that Cage has cut another $2.25 million off his gorgeous Bel-Air home. The Tudor which Cage bought from singer Tom Jones for $6.469 million back in 1998 was once listed as high as $35 million three years ago.

Cage has also shaved a modest $250,000 off one of his homes in New Orleans taking it down to the $3.45 million he paid for it in 2007.

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in New Orleans

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in Bel Air

Tags: bel air, BelAir, celebrity real estate, CelebrityRealEstate, new orleans, NewOrleans, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

More Nic Cage In New Orleans, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Believe it or not there is even more of Nicolas Cage's real estate to cover. I thought we went over most of it a few weeks ago but the Real Estalker reminds me that there is another Cage home up for sale. It's another New Orleans classic and this one has quite the spooky past.
Cage seems to have a natural love of the macabre, he collects ancient skulls, horror movie posters and haunted houses. The LaLaurie house is a six-bedroom home on Royal Street that was a house of horrors in the mid 1800s. Delphine LaLaurie is believed to have tortured her slaves. Accounts differ as to what actually happened but the stories span the range from starving, beating and imprisonment to far more lurid and unspeakable acts. In 1834 there was a fire at the house and Madame LaLaurie disappeared never to darken the door of her own home again. Some reports say screams and the sound of chains dragging on the ground have been heard in the house and several owners have bought the home and then quickly sold it.

The gray home has a modern interior including a new kitchen and beige walls. This one isn't as charming as his other New Orleans home and he has accented it with red velvet furniture and some rather sinister art depicting vampires, gargoyle-topped buildings and strange monsters (all of which makes the crucifix on the wall in the dining room seem a bit disturbing). Cage bought the home in December 2006 for $3.45 million. Cage put it on the market last fall for $3.9 million but it is now listed at $3.55 million making this one a definite money loser for him.

For a more Earth day friendly estate, check out the Earthship on the Bright and Spacious blog.

Gallery: Another Nicolas Cage Home In New Orleans

Source

Tags: lalaurie house, lalaurie mansion, LalaurieHouse, LalaurieMansion, new orleans, NewOrleans, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

Continue reading “More Nic Cage In New Orleans, Estate of the Day”

Nicolas Cage Sells One, Many More To Go, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

The real estate habits of Nicolas Cage are legendary. He does more buying and selling in a year or two than most of us could do in a lifetime. In the U.S. he currently has three properties on the market but overseas he's just sold one of his many homes. Cage bought the 11th-century Schloss Neidstein in 2006 for $2.3 million back in July 2006. It is believed that he spent millions in renovations on the 10-bedroom property which is on a hill and overlooks more than 395 acres of forest and meadows. But after all that work, Cage did what he always does, he moved on. The Telegraph says that Cage spent only one night in the castle.

Cage has a variety of properties up for sale from a $7 million island in the Bahamas to homes in Nevada, California, Rhode Island and Louisiana. While I've covered the other three, I haven't given the New Orleans, Louisiana house estate-of-the-day treatment yet. It seems a grave mistake on my part because it's quite lovely. The Garden District home has six bedrooms and grounds that include a heated pool and statuary. Inside the home's graceful lines, marble fireplaces, plasterwork, stained glass and curved staircase are elegantly preserved. The kitchen seems to be an overly modern off note but otherwise the home is beautiful and the rooms done in shades of periwinkle and pale blue are particularly winning. Cage bought in 2005 for $3.45 million and this home is now listed at $3.7 million.

UPDATE: This home is now listed at $3.45 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

[Thanks, Lana!]

Gallery: Nicolas Cage at Gray Craig

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in Bel Air

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in Las Vegas

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in New Orleans

Tags: bavaria, castle, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, germany, louisiana, new orleans, NewOrleans, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

Continue reading “Nicolas Cage Sells One, Many More To Go, Estate of the Day ”

Magnolia Mansion, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

The Magnolia Mansion is a Greek Revival masterpiece built in 1857 in New Orleans and is now a bed and breakfast and popular spot for weddings. The mansion is located one block from the St. Charles Streetcar, and within minutes of the French Quarter. It is historically known as the Harris Maginnis Mansion and has a long history that includes serving as the headquarters of the American Red Cross during World War II. The classic antebellum home has 13 guest rooms each with a private bath as well as formal common areas decorated in an exaggerated Southern style that includes red walls, velvet draperies and crystal chandeliers. The Magnolia Mansion website even promises ghosts (there's a whole section with ghost stories and orb photos from guests). The mansion is listed at $5.5 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Magnolia Mansion

Source

Tags: estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, haunted, magnolia mansion, MagnoliaMansion, new orleans, NewOrleans

Continue reading “Magnolia Mansion, Estate of the Day ”

Rosegate, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's home has a literary past. The Greek Revival-style home in New Orleans, known as Rosegate, is the former home of author Anne Rice. Rice owned the five-bedroom house from 1989 to 2004 when she sold it for $2.6 million as Big Time Listings reports. It was built in the 1850s and has high ceilings, large antique beveled mirrors, plated ceilings and antique murals in the dining room. The home is where Rice wrote many of her vampire novels and she set her Mayfair witches books in the home. Her husband Stan died of cancer in late 2002 and she moved out in 2004. The home is said to be haunted a couple of former owners who died in the house. The beautifully spooky home is listed at $3.75 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Rosegate

Source

Tags: anne rice, AnneRice, celebrity real estate, CelebrityRealEstate, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, new orleans, NewOrleans

Continue reading “Rosegate, Estate of the Day”

The Classicist: Haspel's 100 Years in Style

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Men's Style, The Classicist

2009 marks the 100th anniversary of a true American sartorial institution: Haspel, makers of the classic seersucker suit that has come to epitomize elegance in the summer months for dapper gentlemen from coast to coast. The company's history dates back to New Orleans in 1909 when haberdasher Joseph Haspel began making suits in lightweight fabrics, allowing men to remain dressed to the nines even in oppressive climes.

After passing out of family hands for nearly two decades and being allowed to stagnate somewhat, the brand is now being revived on the eve of its centenary by Joseph's great-granddaughter Laurie Haspel Aronson. She is giving the label a much-needed facelift, introducing new clothing lines and updating its storied styles while remaining true to her ancestor's values of maintaining an elegant appearance no matter the conditions.

It was those values married to quality workmanship and classic style that led to Haspel's being favored by the likes of presidents Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman and Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as dapper movie stars like Humphrey Bogart, Gregory Peck, who wore Haspel seersucker in To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), and Cary Grant, who sported Haspel suits in Charade (1963), while becoming a staple of Ivy League style on college campuses everywhere.

Gallery: 100 Years of Haspel

Tags: Cary Grant, CaryGrant, Gregory Peck, GregoryPeck, Harry Truman, HarryTruman, Haspel, Hunting, Ivy League, IvyLeague, Mens suits, MensSuits, New Orleans, NewOrleans, Seersucker

Continue reading “The Classicist: Haspel's 100 Years in Style”

Partners in Preservation, Charity of the Day

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Charity, Charity of the Day

Partners in Preservation is an alliance between American Express and The National Trust for Historic Preservation and is geared towards the preservation of historic sites all across the US. The initiative involves over $5 million in funds and is spread out over a 5 year period, with the first two years' efforts focusing on Chicago and San Francisco and this year New Orleans.

Nine sites in New Orleans have been nominated for the project and include everything from churches and cemeteries to the building known as "The Birthplace of Jazz." Want to learn more and get involved? Click here.

Thanks Chris!

Source

Tags: american express, AmericanExpress, charity, charity of the day, CharityOfTheDay, new orleans, NewOrleans, partners in preservation, PartnersInPreservation

Marriott's New Orleans Volunteer Package

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Services, Charity

Taking a vacation can be about so much more than just treating yourself -- what about getting away from it all in a way that's not only fun for you but also helps others? Marriott is offering a "Big Easy Spirit to Serve Getaway" package that offers luxurious amenities combined with charitable donations and volunteerism. The package includes a room at a Marriott hotel with breakfast for two in the morning, a "Care Concierge" who will help hook you up with volunteer organizations in the area and help you find a way to help that is meaningful to you, and then $50 of every night's room rate will be donated to Habitat for Humanity. All for rates of $159-$259/night.

Via LA Times Travel Blog

Source

Tags: big easy, BigEasy, charities, charity, hotel, hotel packages, HotelPackages, hotels, Marriot, new orleans, NewOrleans, package, packages, volunteer

Brad Pitt's 'Make It Right' Foundation, Charity of the Day

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Charity, Charity of the Day

Brad Pitt's Make It Right foundation is geared towards helping hurricane Katrina victims rebuild in New Orleans. Brad is putting a call out to all American families to be generous and giving this Christmas season by donating to the cause and helping New Orleans families as they fight "the fight of the their lives." The biggest focus of the efforts is rebuilding the homes that were lost, and doing it in a speedy and environmentally conscious way.

Donating to the cause is a great gift, either as a straight monetary amount given in a loved one's name or through giving them a t-shirt or hat to promote and support the cause.

Via psfk

Source

Tags: brad pitt, BradPitt, charities, charity, foundation, holidash, hurricane, katrina, make it right, MakeItRight, new orleans, NewOrleans, pitt, rebuild