The most expensive real estate in the country has taken some pretty major price cuts over the past year or two. In the past, mega-mansions with huge pricetags would often sit on the market a year or two without a price cut with owners secure in the knowledge that the right buyers would eventually come along. These are uncertain times and there are some very motivated sellers testing their luck in the real estate waters. Our list of top ten reductions of U.S. properties we've covered in the past starts at a $10 million cut and it only gets higher from there.

10)The Sloane Mansion, was $64 million, now $54 million
Price Cut=$10 million
The Henry T. Sloane mansion on East 68th Street in New York City is located just steps away from Fifth Avenue on the East Side. The building has 18,500 square feet total spread out over five stories and there are 15 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms, seven fireplaces, a ballroom and a rooftop garden. The mansion was designed by architect Charles Pierrepont H. Gilbert for Sloane, the heir to a furniture empire, in 1905. The home is classic Beaux-Arts style and five of the rooms have all their original details intact including wood-paneled ballroom with original oil-painted murals. It has been on the market for over a year but may need to go lower than $54 million in this economy.

Classic rocker David Crosby of Crosby, Stills & Nash fame has put his beloved wooden sailing yacht on the market after 40 years. Crosby is asking $1 million for the classic 59-ft. Alden 356-B Centerboard Schooner, named Mayan. Crosby, who had an affluent upbringing in California and learned to sail at age 11, composed several songs aboard the yacht which he lived on for long spells. The Mayan is pictured on the cover of the 1977 Crosby, Stills & Nash album CSN, and references to her can be found in songs such as "Wooden Ships," "The Lee Shore" and "Through My Sails."

Crosby originally purchased the yacht in 1968 and spent over $600,000 on a refit in 2005, including new electronics, and she has been upgraded annually. The Mayan, which is located in Santa Barbara, is described as "a very powerful design that takes the weather very well." The cabin layout is very traditional but easily sleeps eight in three staterooms plus a large saloon double berth. Stars like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have sailed on her. Click here to see a photo gallery of the yacht.

Musician Jackson Browne has a leg up on other aspiring celebrity winemakers: he already has the property. Contact Music reports that Browne is thinking of turning his Hollister Ranch home in Santa Barbara, California into a vineyard. He knows he's got a great location for grape growing and ideal soil, there's only one problem, he thinks it might be too much work. He is quoted as saying: "I want to be a gentleman farmer, but I don't want to work very hard." Perhaps Browne should contact Tool frontman and successful winemaker Maynard James Keenan for advice. After all, Keenan has turned a piece of Arizona land into a thriving winery.

A luxe new coffee table book called Dream Homes: Coastal California (Panache Partners, $34.95) showcases over 40 of the region's finest architects, designers and builders. Focusing on Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties, it features 250 photographs of breathtaking designs such as the Villa Beaumont pictured above, an Italian-Renaissance country villa in Santa Barbara by Sorrell Design based on the work of the great 16th-century architect Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola. From multimillion dollar classical revival mansions to modernist beach dwellings, no expense has been spared in realizing clients' dreams (hence the title). See the gallery for a tour.

Today's home has an admirable spot in Santa Barbara, California along Channel Drive. It overlooks Butterfly Beach with views to the Channel Islands and up along the sweep of the coast. It is located in a great neighborhood with easy beach access. The home itself is a bit of a question mark. Built in 1951, it's got a modernist style but it seems a bit dated. The home has three bedrooms which are positioned for ocean views. There are cool details here, the gated property is entered through a large courtyard containing a two-car garageand the approach to the house is via wide pebbled stairs that appear to float above a reflecting pool lined with blue mosaic tiles, and bordered by plantings. The living and dining areas offer floor-to-ceiling glass windows wrapped around two sides of the building with clerestory windows for added light. The entire site has been arranged for maximum privacy so there is no need for window shades. The living room is linked to a sunken dining area with a large black circular chimney hood descending from the ceiling and hanging above a circular raised fire pit. The home sits on less than a half and acre and is listed at $35 million. Even for this area that's a lot for a house that I suspect might end up being a teardown. What say you, update and expand or scrap it and start over?

I know I don't need to school you on Montecito, California, the pricey enclave near Santa Barbara which is home to so many celeb getaway homes and some of the steepest prices in the state. Today's home is a freshly renovated turn-of-the-century carriage house that was part of the Earleton Lodge estate, built in 1907. The carriage house is cottage cute with a board and batten exterior and pitched roof. Inside it has been beautifully decorated by interior designer, John Roberts. It's absolutely charming with rooms straight out of the Crate and Barrel catalog. No pool but you do get some great outdoor entertaining spaces with sun lounges and an outdoor fireplace and there are ocean views from the upper floor. But for a four-bedroom home on less than an acre, $12 million is a bit steep (Zillow's zestimate has it at $4,876,582). Bigger pics of all that fantastic interior design are in the gallery.

Fibula Jewelry has great taste in store locations. They have stores in both Santa Barbara and Deer Isle, Maine. The jewelry shows great taste too, classic and luxurious pieces that remain distinctive. Take for example their "Girl with a Pearl Earring." The simple pearl earring gets updated with ornate curves of 18K gold that perfectly suit the charming lumpy baroque white pearls. They sells for $1,750.

The new Hayman & Hill Interchange wine from Cellar Door intrigues me because it has a bumper crop of white varietals. Interchange is a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat, Malvasia Bianca, Semillon and Gewürztraminer grapes. The grapes are meant to represent the diverse terrain of Santa Barbara county. The wine is described as having a floral nose and a tropical palate with just a hint of oak.

Hayman & Hill is named for its winemakers, David Hayman and Dennis Hill. David Hayman has seventeen years of strong international winemaking experience and is Blackstone Winery's Senior Vice President of Operation. Dennis Hill has over twenty five years of winemaking experience with many leading Sonoma wineries and is the Chief Winemaker for the Blackstone Winery. The Interchange wine is priced at $13.99.

Reaching the nearly ridiculous level of luxury that the Hope Ranch area in Santa Barbara is famous for, Terra Bella is a huge nearly 14,000 square foot mansion with an ideal location with ocean views. The gated ten-bedroom home aspires to a Tuscan fantasy of Italian architecture on a grand scale. Details include Venetian plaster walls, fresco finishes, hardwood marquetry floors, stone, marble and mosaic tile floors. Too much? Oh definitely, but such gorgeous excess. The land also includes a small vineyard, a vegetable garden, and a children's play area. It joins the ranks of the highest listings in the region with a price of $39.5 million. After the jump, welcome to fantasy land.

UPDATE: Two years later and no one has bought this home. It can now be had for $15.75 million.

Perhaps you've given up on the California winery dream, too labor intensive, too confusing and the market is crowded with small winemakers. How about the olive company dream? Today's estate in Goleta, California offers you the chance to become the owner of a 101 acre ranch that is home to over 5,000 mature olive trees. It is the location of the Santa Barbara Olive Company, which is now moving their headquarters to Santa Maria. The scenic ranch full of rolling hills has an 8,800 square foot main residence with a pool, spa, game room, music room and four bedrooms. The land also includes warehouses, a guest home and a four-car garage. There are also three acres of Chardonnay vineyard if you aren't quite ready to let that winery fantasy go yet. The home itself is in need of serious decor help but you can't beat the views to the Pacific Ocean. It is listed at $13.5 million. After the jump, palm trees and rattan as a design scheme.

Today's estate is one of those Santa Barbara beauties that was created in the 1920s. Behold Montjoie, an estate created in 1928 by architect Edwin Hill Clark for James Ward Thorne, the heir to Montgomery Ward. The mansion is a two story home with over 10,000 square feet of space. It has Renaissance and Beaux Art details and much of the home's original glory has remained intact. The home's classic look has made it a popular location for weddings in recent years.

Details of the eight-bedroom house include a formal living room, dining room and kitchen. The library is a 17th century, walnut-paneled curved room which was imported from an abbey in Tuscany. The master suite is in its own separate wing and has his and her bathrooms and a large office. The home sits on two acres with views to the city, ocean and mountains. It is listed at $8.95 million. After the jump, California not casual.

Yesterday we checked out a Stanford White home now check out a home designed by another famed American architect from the past, Betram Grosvenor Goodhue. Pariso Verde,located in Montecito, California has a very different type of appeal. It relies heavily on Spanish design. The home was recently expanded and remodeled. The 7,600-square-foot home captures the feel of Goodhue's orignal design but with an unpgraded gloss of modern luxury. The real history lies outside the home in the garden landscapes conceived by Lockwood de Forest which includes water features, stone pathways and columns. It is listed at $25 million. After the jump, these grounds were made for walking.

If you've ever had your dreamed of your own artists community you could buy this sunsplashed compound. The Cota Street Studios in Santa Barbara are seven individual units plus a commerical space designed by architect Jeff Shelton. Each studio has its own unique floorplan with plenty of outdoor space. The project was built in 2005 and offers beautiful live/work space in seven condos that feature hardwood floors, colorful tilework and many artistic flourishes such as curving windows. Fountains, ceramics and wrought ironwork add a distinctive charm. The property is listed at $11.9 million. After the jump, so much for starving artists.

Montecito, California the elite retreat of Oprah and other celebrities gets a lot of media coverage. But the nearby town of Carpinteria, 12 miles south of Santa Barbara is also home to stunning homes. The latest to hit the market is this stone farmhouse with an Italianate look. The expansive home sits on three acres with jaw-dropping ocean views. The 8,000 square foot home has six bedrooms and the land features a pool that looks out over the ocean. The home is selling for $43 million. Alas, no interior pics on the listing but enjoy the view after the jump.

If you want to be a rancher in Southern California, it will cost you. For the first time since the 1930s, the Jamala Ranch in Western Santa Barbara County is on the market. The ranch offers prime acreage located near the scenic coast around Jalama Beach and Point Conception.The ranch is over 15,500 acres of rolling hills and valleys, a spread of more than 20 square miles. The land includes many natural features such as the Jalama Creek which runs along the southern border of the property. There are 142 acres located along the ocean bluff top (the ideal spot for a dream house with a view). The ranch is part of the Rancho San Julian, a 48,000 acre Land Grant from the Mexican Government dating back to 1837. The Jalama Ranch has primarily for cattle ranching and farming and represents a rare chunk of unspoiled coastal California land. The ranch has four existing ranch homes, one guest house, three barns and multiple corrals and arenas. It is listed at $45 million. More shots of the prime land after the jump.