Today's estate is one of the prettiest I've seen in a while. Astor Courts in Rhinebeck, New York was designed by architect Stanford White for John Jacob Astor IV. The beautiful Beaux-Arts style mansion was completed in 1904 and is on 50 acres. The expansive main living area has five bedrooms and spans over 15,000 square feet. The truly stunning details include the indoor clay tennis court topped with a glass ceiling and framed by Gothic arches and a white marble pool surrounded by arches and graced with a pale sky blue ceiling.

In 1964 Brooke Astor gave the home to the Catholic Church. The Wall Street Journal's Private Properties reports that the current owners, real-estate developer Arthur Seelbinder and his wife, Kathleen Hammer, a former producer for Oxygen Media, ought the home in 2005 for $3.2 million and spent a fortune restoring it. Stanford White's great-grandson, Sam White led the restoration. Clearly he did a fine job, it's a stunner (even if some of the decor seems a little too Crate and Barrel prefab for a home of this pedigree). The home is listed at $12 million.

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I've written about this property before but new pictures and a lower price make it worth a second look especially because I think it is due for another price cut. The Italian Renaissance mansion in Upper Brookville, New York was built for investor Henry Sanderson in 1915. It's a classic American example of the exuberance of wealth. The 40-room villa on 24 acres was used by the Roman Catholic Church as the St. Francis Retreat House.The estate is owned by Sylvia Kumar, wife of imprisoned former Computer Associates chief Sanjay Kumar. Sanjay Kumar was ordered by a federal judge to pay back $798 million to shareholders after he pleaded guilty to securities fraud. The home was bought by Sylvia Kumar from St. Francis Monastery for $6.75 million in 2001.

The home has a domed rotunda, a loggia, a winding staircase, a library, two dining rooms, seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The home has stone columns and arches, wrought iron doors and delicate Renaissance style paintings. There is a possibility that the land could be subdivided into five acre plots and the property does have a renovated three-bedroom cottage and a walled carriage house with heated garage, five indoor stables, six bedrooms, workshop and two bathrooms. It was listed at $17 million, it was chopped to $14.5 million last December but given that the home itself likely requires significant updating, I am guessing that it may take another deep price cut to sell this home.

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Today's estate in the town of Irvington, New York has a bit of history on its nearly 11 acres. The property contains a barn and carriage house, built in the 19th century, as well as the Odell Tavern, a stone farmhouse which became a tavern in 1746. This tavern, constructed of fieldstone, with walls that are four feet thick once hosted the "Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York" in April 1776 on their way out of New York City when the British occupied it. Wikipedia led me to a NY Times article that shows that in 1989, the Village of Irvington had the opportunity to buy this property for less than the $5.5 million it was offered for on the open market but did not. In 2006 the tavern was restored.

The main home is a 23-room Bedford Stone house built in l938. There's a lot of history in the house too. Many of the rooms have marble fireplaces and carved wooden details. This house was designed by Aymar Embry 2d, who also designed the George Washington Bridge. The home does have more modern touches such as the recently renovated kitchen but the lure here is the charm of living with history. It is listed at $8.8 million.
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Today's home in the Riverdale area of the Bronx, New York is located on the highest topography in the area. The large stone home was built in 1928. The eight-bedroom home has over 14,000 square feet of space. The home drips with rococo details like gilded mirrors and ornately carved marble fireplaces. Handsome wood details include a sweeping staircase and columns and a highly polished bar perfecting for mixing up a Manhattan. The kitchen features industrial-looking stainless steel refrigerators and a large pot rack. A huge conservatory offers a place to enjoy the sun in winter months. The green marble bathroom which looks to be the master bath looks more like an office, save the giant hot tub. The estate includes 2.3 acres of land and is offered as a lease-hold sale for approximately 200 years. It is listed at $15 million.

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Christopher Buckley, the son of famed conservative William F. Buckley has been in the news recently for endorsing Barack Obama and resigning from his late father's National Review but the New York Observer's Max Abelson reports that Buckley might also be in trouble with some real estate agents. He recently called the $24.5 million price for his late parents home at 778 Park Avenue to be absurdly inflated.

Is that price a bit excessive for a four-bedroom home? The New York Observer article indicates that the price may drop soon. Certainly the duplex maisonette has its charms though. The home has been given a makeover with new paint, carpet, decor and electrical upgrades. The main level includes a double entry hall that leads to a 50 ft gallery over and a winding staircase to the second private floor where there are four bedrooms. There is a large living room, adjacent to the library. The lower floor includes the formal dining room and a large kitchen as well as a second staff kitchen and staff changing room and staff quarters. The listing stresses the fact that the home can be reconfigured for today's more casual lifestyle. Currently it is still at $24.5 million through Barak Realty.

If you want to sell a this house attractive, why not also make a little money using it in film shoots? Today's home in Upper Brookville,NY was recently used in two episodes of the trendy television show "Gossip Girl" but has a scandalous past all its own. It will be showcased in the upcoming season which will include scenes from a "white party." The home has also been used in a Kohl's commercial and Ludacris filmed an AT &T commercial in June. The home is certainly party ready with a foyer with dual wraparound staircases perfect for dramatic descents, a 65-foot ballroom, a gym and a saltwater swimming pool that sits in a greenhouse-like glass enclosure. The five-bedroom home is on five acres which back up to an arboretum.

This estate may also be familiar to long-time readers of this column, in fact it was an estate of the day in 2007. That's when the home was seized as part of "Operation VIN City," an 18-month investigation that busted up the largest stolen car ring on the East Coast. It was the home of ringleader Michael Pescatore and was sold at auction by the Treasury Department on March 22. Real estate agent Kim Greenberg and her fiancé, real estate developer, Fred Rudd picked up the home for $8.3 million which is pretty close to what two sharp commenters guessed it would go for in my 2007 post.. Now it's all prettied up and on the market for $12.9 million.

[via Real LI]

It's hard not to envy Mariah Carey's Hamptons adventures. Last summer she made herself cozy in Tommy Hilfiger's tribute to the tasteful use of orange and this summer Braden Keil of the NY Post reports that Mariah is renting Stone Meadow Farm in East Hampton for on week for $125,000 (less than half of the reported $350,000 she spent on Hilfiger's pad but that was for a month).

Like Hilfiger's place was, this one is also up for sale. Stone Meadow Farm is on eight acres and has a 18,000 square foot house with 10 bedrooms and 12.5 bathrooms done up in white and dark brown with white walls and furnishings and dark wood floors and wood tables. The shingled expanse includes a 3500 sq ft finished lower level with a spa and media room.

The grounds include two separate cottages to house guests or staff as well as stone courtyards, large patios, a heated Gunite pool and a tennis court. The barn can stable five horses and there are ample riding fields. This home is listed for $19.95 million.

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Chad Pennington and Vinny Testaverde share more than just their NFL quarterback careers in common, they also have the same real estate agency to help them sell their New York homes. We saw Pennington's home on Sunday today Testaverde's mansion. Testaverde's home is also a brick Colonial but on a more lavish scale than Pennington's. Testaverde's Oyster Bay Cove home is a six-bedroom on over four acres. The home includes a master suite with private balcony,sitting room, steam shower and Jacuzzi. It's a little more recognizable as a sports home than Pennington's was especially since Testaverde's got his footballs and jerseys on display in the theater room. Of course the home also has a huge fitness area with a suana and steam room and there is also a video game room, billiards room and a trophy room, fabulous kitchen and a nice wine nook. The property includes a Gunite pool with a waterfall, kiddie pool, Jacuzzi and a basketball court. It is listed at $6.495 million.

UPDATE: This home is now listed at $5.9 million.

For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions.

[via Newsday]

Another tremendously expensive property has gone on the market in the Hamptons. Braden Keil's Gimme Shelter column in the NY Post reported on today's estate, a 12-bedroom home that is nearly 18,000 square feet. The property is owned by Juergen Friedrich, who ran the European division of Esprit sportswear and has spent a great deal of money updating the home, which was built in 1902 and designed by Grosvenor Atterbury. The country home sits on 9.11 acres that include old trees, flowering shrubs, evergreen perimeters, rose gardens. indoor pool, outdoor pool with pavilion, tennis court, paddle court, gymnasium, carriage house and a four-car garage. At nearly 3,000 square feet, the master bedroom suite is larger than many homes. What may hurt it on the real estate market is that it is not on the water. But if you can live without that, it's a pretty impressive property. It is listed at $67.5 million.

UPDATE: This home is now listed at $49.5 million.

I know this is the second day in a row we are featuring a furniture-less New York apartment, but this one offers something different, the chance to see a before and after. This apartment in the Silk Building at East Fourth Street and Broadway used to belong to Britney Spears, and it took her forever and a day to unload it, dropping the list price from nearly $6 million to $4 million before selling it. The couple who bought the apartment in 2006 have now put the home on the market for $6.595 million. The current owners, Jessica Klein, a television writer and producer, and her husband, Isaac Levenbrown, spent several hundred thousand dollars sprucing up the home. And since we have some before pics from Britney's old listing we can see some of the changes. The floors have been darkened, the master bath has been changed and the kitchen has had a really beautiful upgrade.

The apartment, which has three bedrooms and a 24-foot-long terrace, was also once owned by Russell Simmons and before that by Keith Richards. I'm not quite sure what makes this apartment so attractive to the rich and famous but for $6.595 million you can get yourself a heap of celebrity provenance.

[via the NY Times Big Deal]

We've seen some expensive homes in the Hamptons but if there's anything I've learned in years of covering the high-end real estate market, it's that there is always another even bigger place around the corner. This home in Southampton Village has nine bedrooms, four floors and +13,500 sqft of living space. The home was the last project of renowned builder Kurt Andresson and famed New York Architects DAquino Monaco. It sits on approximately 11 acres of which six are Peconic Land Trust natural preserve lands with 1,000' oceanfront and 1000' pond front. On particularly winning detail is a two story enclosed gazebo with beautiful ocean views. The property also includes a sunken tennis court, gunite pool and Jacuzzi, pool house, two-car garage with h garden/potting area and second floor storage, private walkway to beach and pond with wooden dock. This home is listed at $80 million which puts it at the top tier of Hamptons real estate.

Rentals in the Hamptons are already getting scarce but those with the money can buy this historic waterfront estate on Quantuck Bay and offer the perfect summer vacation for family and friends.

Henry Bacon, once with McKim, Mead & White, and best known for his design of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.,was commissioned to design this historic shingle-style manor. In an extensive three-year renovation in the mid 1990s, the architectural details, floors and fixtures were carefully restored and all the luxuries of modern-day living were added.

The 10.37 acre estate is completely private, bordered on the front by 64 century-old European pruned Catalpa trees. The back border stretches across more than 1,000 feet of waterfront, complete with deep-water dock.

The main residence is around 16,000 square feet on three floors with nine bedrooms, nine full and two half baths, six original fireplaces and 5,000 square feet of hand-pegged mahogany decks and brick & bluestone terraces. There are water views from 22 of the 24 rooms.

The grand entry foyer has a three-story hand carved staircase that leads through the reception gallery to a formal living room with a fireplace as well as a banquet-sized dining room with a fireplace and murals recreated from the works of William Merritt Chase and Childe Hassam, who painted in the area more than a hundred years ago.

Other living areas include a billiards room, a sunroom and a chef's kitchen with a large dining area surrounded on three sides by water views. The ground floor also has a pantry with espresso bar, an office, two powder rooms and a large laundry room. The downstairs cantina has a temperature & humidity controlled wine cellar.

In addition to the sprawling 1,000 square foot master suite, which has two large mahogany decks plus his & her baths and dressing rooms; the second floor has a center hall with adjacent office with covered mahogany deck, a living room and three bedrooms with baths.

The third floor has an oversized living room with a mahogany deck and vaulted ceiling, five bedrooms and four baths, an exercise room, a walk-in cedar closet and a laundry room.

There is also an original 2,000 square foot poolside carriage house covered in century-old grape vines that has been updated to include his & her baths and dressing rooms and a full service kitchen. Other buildings include an oak paneled guest cottage, oversized four car garage and a two-story three-bedroom and bath gardener's house with a separate driveway. The grounds include recreation and meditation areas, a Lord & Burnham greenhouse, a Har-Tru tennis court and a heated gunite pool with waterfall spa all set amidst acres of expansive lawns and gardens . It is listed with Mark Roter (631 288 5233) and Marcia Altman (631 288 5004) Co-Exclusive Brokers Brown Harris Stevens, Westhampton Beach for $39 million.

For the next couple of weeks we will be checking out some homes in the most expensive zip codes in the United States, up today, 11545. The Glen Head/Old Brookville area of New York is a wealthy village in Nassau County located between Jericho to the south and Oyster Bay to the north. In the early 1900s wealthy millionaires moved into the area building large homes. That type of building for the wealthy is still going on with many larger new homes on the market. This is the same zip code that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have their New York home in. The median home price in the 11545 zip code is $2,532,000 with an appreciation of 344% since 1990.

We previously covered the most expensive home in this zip code. Lion's Gate, a six-bedroom newer home has been on the market for a couple of years. It was $11.5 million when I made it an estate of the day in March of 2006. It is now listed at $11.9 million.

One of the most lavish homes in the area is so new you can practically see wet paint through the listing. La Bijou is a large new home with seven bedrooms and approximately 11,250 square feet of living space. The amazing 21-foot ceilings have handmade plaster crown molding painted with gold leaf detail throughout, There are his and hers master bedrooms, and the home has over 6,000 sq.ft. of 24" marble tile flooring with not only radiant heat, but also central heat and air conditioning. Other over-the-top details include European imported crystal chandeliers, Swarovski light fixtures, a 6'x10' hand carved solid mahogany entrance door, hand carved marble fireplace mantle and a marble entrance foyer staircase with hand forged iron and brass railings. The home has the latest in modern conveniences including the newest appliances and central vacuum/audio/intercom/internet. The fully gated property has a core security system including surveillance cameras and an alarm with radio back up. it is on nearly three acres and has a heated in-ground pool and a cabana. This home is listed at $11.5 million.

Today's estate is classic upstate New York. The Wiccopee House in East Fishkill was built in 1894 and redesigned in 1929 by Aymar Embury II who was best known for designing the Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park Zoo. Th three story colonial has a traditional white clapboard exterior with black shutters with a wooden elliptical fan over the front door and a widow's walk. There are over 7,000 square feet of space including a beautiful formal library with built-in book shelves and fireplace, a study with hand painted tiles surrounding the fireplace and half round book shelves, and a drawing room with French doors to the side terrace. The formal dining room fills out the window-ringed half round and the kitchen has obviously had a redesign with state of the art appliances. Upstairs there are four bedrooms and a large master suite in the process of being renovated. The third floor is home to a game room, bedroom, bath (in progress), and a storage area. The land is nearly 18 acres with lawns, gardens, an in-ground pool with a cabana, clay tennis court, paddocks and a carriage house with two bedrooms. It is listed at $2.495 million.

This New York City co-op is located at 77 Bleecker St is three levels and has some great open spaces. The great room has high ceilings, three exposures, and a wood-burning fireplace. The open kitchen adjoins a dining conservatory. The home is configured as three bedrooms plus a large home studio. The master bedroom suite includes a master bath, dressing room with a skylight and laundry, and its own private south-facing terrace. The innovative windows (I love the circular window in the bathroom) make this home a step above the generic white box apartment. It is listed at $4.995 million.