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LVMH-owned London shirtmaker and haberdasher Thomas Pink is celebrating a stylish forthcoming book called An Englishman In New York with an event and exhibit at its Madison Avenue flagship in New York on March 24. The volume of photographs by Jason Bell includes notables and notable dandies like Vogue's Hamish Bowles (above), Barneys' Simon Doonan and Sting, British to the core but also quintessential New Yorkers. Bell's photographs are currently on exhibit at at London's National Portrait Gallery, where the book has already been released; it's scheduled for publication here on April 1.

As an Englishman living in New York himself, Bell was inspired by the fact that there are 120,000 British men and women living in New York City – about the same amount as the entire population of Stamford, Connecticut. In addition to the above Bell photographed a diverse cross-section of British born figures, including taxi drivers, cops, construction workers, divers, helicopter pilots, chefs, burlesque dancers, drug dealers, UN ambassadors and dog walkers, all of whom tell stories about how they came to settle in New York.

"I went for a walk in Central Park with Sting, and for a cup of tea on Kate Winslet's roof terrace, sat on Zoë Heller's stoop and watched Stephen Daldry bicycle down 8th Avenue," Bell relates. "I was given a private tour of both the Metropolitan Museum and the Barneys' shop windows. I started with a blank canvas and was amazed by the number of Englishmen and women who have made such a large impact on the cultural life of the city. And amidst all the questions about why people had come here and what they had left behind, I learnt a little bit more about what it means to be English, what it means to be a New Yorker, and where the two intersect."

"We are extremely excited to be hosting an event to honour Jason and his brilliant work," says Jonathan Heilbron, President and CEO of Thomas Pink. "Thomas Pink itself is 'An Englishman in New York.' We opened our Madison Avenue Flagship store over 13 years ago and New York has come to be a second home and major market for our brand. Thomas Pink is English at heart but we are truly a New Yorker too." [cont'd]

Gracefully aging pop star Sting was just spotted having fun with bikini-clad babes aboard a superyacht belonging to a billionaire pal in Sydney, Australia. The yacht in question, Z Sydney, is a $50 million Overmarine Mangusta 165, the world's largest open yacht, owned by media mogul James Packer. In December, Packer entertained Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal on the yacht, while his old friend Tom Cruise regularly enjoys a trip on the vessel during his annual trips Down Under. The sleek craft can hit a top speed of 33 knots with its twin MTU 16V 4000 M93 engines producing 4,556 hp.

The interior of the yacht, first shown at the Salon Nautique in Cannes, features five staterooms and is finished in a luxurious, elegant combination of neutral fabrics and dark woodwork. The 165's interior includes an expansive main salon with cocktail tables, a long bar, and a surfeit of seating. Two pop-up, back-to-back flat-screen televisions face the main salon and the adjacent dining room. The craft's aft deck covers a garage that contains tenders and toys and opens hydraulically at the push of a button. The bikini-clad babes are extra.

From the Real Estalker:
--The ex-wife of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, Jo Wood, has listed their home in Kingston on Thames, shown above, for £13,000,000. The listing is here.
--Actress Peri Gilpin of Fraser fame and her artist husband Christian Vincent were the buyers of Shabby Chic creator Rachel Aswell's Malibu home.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--The Beverly Hills home of the late Ed McMahon is back on the market for $4.6 million. This is the same price it was listed at in 2008. The listing is here.
--Actor Ving Rhames and his wife, Deborah have sold a Brentwood house that had been listed as a short sale. The five-bedroom house sold for $1.95 million. It had been listed on and off for three years and was at $2.699 million when we checked it out in 2008. It had been purchased five years ago for $2.5 million. The couple also sold a larger Brentwood home in late June for $5,520,786 that had been purchased in 2005 for $6.5 million.

--Olympic medal winner Carl Lewis has sold his Pacific Palisades home for $2.5 million.
Rapper and "Pimp My Ride" host Alvin " Xzibit" Joiner has lowered the price of his Woodland Hills, California home to $650,000. He bought the home in 2003 for $670,000. The listing is here.
--Filmmaker, commercial director and restaurateur Joe Pytka has sold Castillo del Lago in the Hollywood Hills for $7 million. He bought the home from Madonna in 1996 for $5.3 million. The home was first listed at $14.95 million in April of last year.

Actress and real estate agent Dana Sparks has listed her Lake Sherwood contemporary at $2.555 million. The listing is here.

From the NY Post:
--Lady Gaga is still apartment hunting in New York City most recently checking out a four-bedroom One Morton Square rental.
--Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have been looking at a $29.8 million penthouse duplex at the Mayfair building at 610 Park Ave.
--A a Tribeca home once rented by Leonardo DiCaprio and Gwen Stefani is on the market at $6.995 million.
--Pet-food tycoon Leonard Stern and his wife, Allison, are purchasing a SoHo penthouse to live in while their 110-year-old Fifth Avenue mansion is being renovated uptown. They are in contract to buy a penthouse duplex at 25 W. Houston St. for about $8 million.

From the NY Times:
--Donald J. Trump Jr. sold his condominium at 220 Riverside Boulevard at Trump Place this month for $1.845 million.

From Chicago Breaking Business:
--Nicholas Pritzker, the chief executive and chairman of the Hyatt Development Corp. and a member of the Pritzker family, has placed his contemporary-style mansion on 45 acres on Lake Michigan in Covert, Michigan on the market for $4.95 million.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--Arizona Cardinal Monty Beisel has listed his contemporary home in Encino, California for $2.395 million. The listing is here.
--Actor French Stewart and actress and interior designer Katherine LaNasa sold their renovated Hollywood Hills-area home in early March for $3.637 million and now their buyer has resold it for $4.08 million.
Oscar-winning rapper Juicy J has sold his Sherman Oaks house for $1.82 million.

From the Real Estalker:
--Jane Fonda is the latest celebrity to move into the Sierra Towers in West Hollywood picking up a modest one-bedroom rental.
--Cher's son Elijah Blue sold a two-bedroom home in West Hollywood, California for $1.1 million in January.
--Sonja Morgan who is on the Real Housewives of New York City had listed her five-bedroom home in New York City for $7.25 million before pulling it off the market last month.
--Stephen Dorff has listed his Malibu beach house for $50,000 a month. The listing is here.
--Rumor has it that real estate developer Mohamed Hadid has finally sold the ten-bedroom store he built in Los Angeles' Bel Air neighborhood. Last we checked the home was listed at $72 million but now it is listed as "Backup Offers Accepted" meaning that a deal may be in the works.

--A home owned by actress Penelope Cruz has hit the market for $3.695 million. The listing is here.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Karl Rove is in contract to sell his five-bedroom Washington D.C. home, which had been listed for $1.59 million. Rove and his wife, Darby, bought the three-level brick home for $799,000 in 2001.

--A limited-liability company linked to James Jannard, founder of sunglasses and apparel maker Oakley, has bought property in Beverly Hills for $19.9 million.
--Well-known fund manager John Laporte and his wife, Andrea, have bought a home in Ketchum, Idaho, for $5.5 million, more than 20% lower than its original $6.95 million listing in the summer.

The 7th annual Tibet House US Benefit auction is taking place on November 18th at Christie's Auction House in New York City. The event is aimed at promoting and preserving Tibetan culture. Proceeds from the auction will be divided to sustain the Tibet House and another organization with like-minded initiatives. Some funds will support projects and programs spawned by the Tibet House in their mission of displaying and maintaining the ancient traditions of the Tibetan civilization. The event will also donate to Tibetan Children's Village an integrated educational community for destitute Tibetan children in exile located in Dharamsala, India. The fundraiser will also benefit the Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey.

Items to be auctioned off include a package of four VIP concert tickets and a meet and greet backstage with Sting, internships at Rolling Stone and US Weekly, a private journey for two to Bhutan with guest accommodations, a luxury yacht cruise for seven to the Bahamas with a week long stay in a private house on the beach, lunch at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York City with Uma and Robert Thurman, shopping and lunch with Donna Karan at her store, John Lennon, Martin Scorsese, and Miles Davis memorabilia, a one-week stay in a villa on the French Riviera, contemporary art and photographs from Annie Leibovitz, Patti Smith, Ed Ruscha, Donald Baechler, and more. TIckets to the event are $225 per person with VIP tickets that include a preview and private reception available for $500.

I'm almost starting to feel bad for Trudie Styler and Sting. It seems like every time they fly private they are taken to task. This time it's Trudie on the hook. The pair, who co-founded the Rainforest Foundation 20 years ago, attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The Daily Mail says she took a private flight from New York to Washington D.C. accompanied by an entourage of eight people including Manhattan-based hairstylist Antonio Prieto. Sting took a commercial flight from London to the Washington DC event. While it is true that she could have taken a shuttle or a train, it seems a bit much to grill her over this one.

Rock star Sting is the latest celebrity to get into the wine business. The British singer purchased a 16th-century villa, called Il Palagio, in Figline Valdarno, Italy back in 1997. He has turned the 860 acres of land into an organic farm producing honey, olive oil and fruit and vegetables. There are also extensive vineyards on the property. His first wine will be a 2007 vintage which is mostly Sangiovese with Merlot and Cabernet added. According to an AP story, 30,000 bottles of wine which were produced on the property will go on sale in September and will be sold in the U.S. A 2008 Chianti may also go on sale if it is ready by this fall.

Cityfile leads us to the much-anticipated listing for Sting and Trudie Styler's duplex at the Brentmore at 88 Central Park West in New York City. It was originally rumored that the apartment was going to be listed at $26 million but it hit the market for $19 million with Halstead Property. The Brentmore is a pre-war Beaux Arts building built in 1910 and the apartment is an 18-room beauty with 6600 square feet of space. The home has five bedrooms and as the listing puts it "this home sings with excitement!" There are large windows facing Central Park, a formal dining room, eat-in kitchen and a prep kitchen with a butlers pantry. French doors, parquet wood floors, lead glass and plenty of bookcases stuffed with books add to the charm. There is a music room with a large piano and guitar cases tucked underneath it and just about every room features a beautiful rug atop the hardwood. Every room in the listing pictures (except for the bordello-red boudoir) seems to invite you to come in, sip a cup of tea, pick a book off the shelf and spend an afternoon watching the city pass by below.
Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

In commemoration of their final appearance together (scheduled for August 7th at Madison Square Garden) auctions started this week on eBay for a complete set of Police instruments autographed by the band. The set includes 4 instruments that are each available for bidding separately and include Sting's Signature Bass, Sting's Sennheiser Microphone and Stand, Andy's Signature Fender Telecaster, and Stewart's Tama Star Drum Set.

100% of the proceeds will go to benefit Public Television Rocks! in honor of their dedication to art, music, and culture.

The celebrities who espouse a green lifestyle often find themselves in trouble when they indulge in some of the privileges of the wealthy. Al Gore has taken the heat for his energy consumption and now Sting is in the spotlight for a private jet splurge. Sting took a solo flight to Germany recently on a Falcon 2000 to meet the rest of the band, The Police for a concert in Leipzig. A spokesperson for the airport confirmed that he was the solo passenger on the plane which can carry 14 passengers. He flew back to England less than 24 hours later via private jet but it's not known if he was alone.

According to the Daily Mail, the Police was named 'dirtiest band' in January for the scale of their carbon footprint. It's been a tough year for Sting and his eco-actions. He started off the year by renting a private yacht in Australia and as I mentioned back in May, his Rainforest Foundation has come under fire for its record of giving. Sting also starred in an ad-campaign for the notso eco Jaguar cars.

Sting has long been known as one of Hollywood's most philanthropic people but this week Sting and his wife Trudie Styler are under fire for their charity The Rainforest Foundation. Charity Navigator has reported that only 41 percent of the money raised by the couple's Carnegie Hall charity concert in 2006 actually went to fund programs that save the rain forest. In their rating system they have given the charity 0 stars.

Trudie Styler is quoted in People as saying that the foundation is in it's 20th year and that alone speaks to the efficacy of the nonprofit. In 2006, the charity reported $10 million in net assets including almost $5 million in cash which has caused some to speculate as to what they are doing with the money. This news comes as the Rainforest Foundation's next Carnegie Hall concert is set for May 8 with performances by Billy Joel, James Taylor and Brian Wilson and also includes a charity auction with a variety of donated items to raise money for the foundation.

If the nude supermodels in Christie's' upcoming auction are a little out of your price range, but you'd still like to try your hand at starting a photo collection, check out Swann Galleries' NYC sale on May 15. While short on supermodels in their birthday suits, the Swann sale does have some high-profile and provocative celebrity pix at considerably lower prices than the Christie's event.

Highlights include Francesco Scavullo's 1984 portrait of Sting, est. $1,800 - $2,200, pictured here; Roy Schatt's 1954 photo of James Dean, est. $1,500 - $2,500; several works by Herb Ritts including a 1986 Madonna portrait, est. $4,000 - $6,000, and a muscle-bound Fred With Tires, 1984, est. $8,000 - $12,000; a 1977 Christopher Makos photo of Andy Warhol, est. $4,000 - $6,000; and Helmut Newton's 1981 full-frontal Sylvia in My Studio, Paris, est. $4,000 - $6,000. Catch a preview below.

Sting and his family have idyllic New Year's plans. The rock star his wife Trudie and their four children are in Sydney, Australia, where it is summertime, and have rented out one of the most expensive yachts on Sydney Harbor, the Phoenix 1. The yacht rents for a daily charter rate of $13,200 Australian (around $11,575). The yacht has two VIP stateroom plus a double and twin cabin with accommodations for eight guests. The fly bridge includes a spa, sun pads, bar and barbecue. It has a dining room, main saloon with an entertainment suite and a gym (pictures of the interior are at the yacht's charter listing. It is expected that Sting will be enjoying the New Year's Eve fireworks from Sydney harbor along with Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban, and Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-lee Furness.

Sting's wife Trudie put together a few Christmas hampers (well, 100 of them actually) filled with hand-selected items from the couple's country estate in Wiltshire, England and they've become insanely popular. Available in London at Selfridges, the hampers included a variety of organic goodies including a bottle of champagne, a Christmas cake, beetroot chutney, a couple of beeswax candles, and a chocolate coin. There were 9 treats total in the $300 hampers, and they must have be good because they've already sold out -- with "a number" of them going to Sharon Osbourne.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--The $50 million Kress Family penthouse duplex at 1020 Fifth Avenue is off the market. It hasn't been sold, the family is just tying up some loose ends.
--Ahmass Fakahany, a top-ranking executive at Merrill Lynch, and wife Alsun Keogh have sold off one of their apartments at the Police Building, thelaw enforcement HQ turned co-op at 240 Centre Street for $2.93 million.
--Actor Tim Blake Nelson and his wife Lisa just sold their 7.5-room prewar co-op at 37 Riverside Drive for $5.25 million. Their buyer is Jonathan Morris, co-founder of the retail fashion Web site Bluefly.
--Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen have put their 12-room condo at One Morton Square, shown at right, on the market for $11.995 million which is $4,695,000 more than they paid for it three years ago, The apartment has been rented out for much of the time. The listing is here.
--Zach Braff has paid $3,200,000 for a 2,500-square-foot apartment in the building at 840 Broadway.


From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Sting and Trudie Styler have pulled their Central Park West duplex off the market. The couple have also purchased a $30 million condo at 15 Central Park West.
--A minor fracas has developed over the listing of Christie Brinkley's $30 million Bridgehampton estate. Stribling agent Jessica Mansell Ambrose has it listed as an exclusive on her site but Corcoran Group broker, Susan Breitenbach is supposed to have the listing.
--Billy Joel and his wife Katie Lee have closed on their latest Sagaponack property for $11.625 million. It was on the market for $12.99 million. Apparently restrictive building codes prohibited the couple from adding to the home they bought from Roy Scheider last spring for $16.75 million. The new property, just west of Scheider's old place, has a three-bedroom home that Joel may use as a studio.
--Seagram heir Edgar Bronfman Jr. has picked up a 10-room apartment for $18.75 million in the Carhart mansion. Bronfman and his wife Clarissa already have a posh co-op on Fifth Avenue so it is not clear what they will do with their latest acquisition.

From the NY Times Big Deal:
The $45 million triplex at One Madison Park, the tower going up at 23 East 22nd Street, will include a one-bedroom unit on a lower floor for use by a private butler, who will be provided by the condominium indefinitely and paid by it as well. The proposal is still in the planning stages.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Actress Rashida Jones, daughter of Quincy Jones, has paid $1,240,000 for a two-bedroom Cape Cod-style house in West Hollywood.
--Todd Stashwick, who stars on "The Riches" on the FX network, has paid $1,255,000 for a three-story home in the Hollywood Hills.
--Actress Denise Richards has sold one of the two houses that she owns in Hidden Hills, Calif. for $3,800,000.
--It looks like Avril Lavigne has finally sold her home in the Mulholland Estates neighborhood in Beverly Hills. The house, which was listed at $6,200,000 now shows that it is "looking for backup" in the LA MLS.
--British celebrity Anouska De Georgiou has paid $1,180,000 for a four-unit apartment building in the Los Angeles' Grove area and a few months ago she paid $1,167,000 for a three-bedroom, Spanish-style house in Los Angeles' Fairfax/WeHo area.
--Victoria's Secret model Emma Heming is the latest celeb to pick up in an apartment in the Broadway Hollywood building in Hollywood, paying an undisclosed amount with her then-fiance, party promoter/DJ/nightclub guru Brent Bolthouse for a unit in the building that she no longer occupies. The couple split up and she moved back to New York City picking up a condo in Chelsea.
--Actor Wilmer Valderrama has also picked up a unit in the same building as above.

From the Real Estalker:
--Rumor has it that Jason Lee may be moving to the Los Feliz home currently owned by musician Robert Cray and on the market for $3,250,000.
--The house in Palm Springs that Cher flipped and put on the market at $2,495,000 has been reduced to 1,999,000. It was our estate of the day back in January.
--House flipper turned reality star Jeff Lewis has listed another home, this one in the Los Feliz area for $1.795 million.
--Actor Eddie Cibrian and his wife Brandi have put their Encino home of the market for $4.395 million. The Real Estalker mama wasn't a fan of the property but someone was, is already listed as "looking for backup." Check out the virtual tour and make your own judgement, Valley palace or slapdash decorating at its highest iteration?
--Britney Spears' former NY penthouse is back on the market for $6,995,000. Considering how much trouble Spears had selling this it is pretty amazing that Beverly Hills 90210 producer and writer Jessica Stein and her husband Isaac Levenbrown have put the home on the market for $2,995,000 more than they paid for it in August 2006. Spears also appears to have taken her Beverly Hills house off the market yet again. This after various gossip blogs have reporting that Spears has a fantasy room in the home and that Spears is not exactly the tidiest of housekeepers.
--Actress Angie Harmon and football player Jason Sehorn have put their three-bedroom Beverly Hills home on the market for $1.895 million. The listing is here. The Real Estalker Mama reports that the couple actually live in Hidden Hills in a much larger four-bedroom home that is right next to the one that Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels recently purchased.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Looks like I got it wrong on which Rising Glen house belongs to Rachel Zoe a few weeks back. Check out the listing for her home listed for $2.995 million here.
--Jerry Rice and his wife, Jackie have put their Atherton, California estate on the market for $22 million. You can see pictures here.
--As we mentioned above, Jeff Lewis of the Bravo reality show "Flipping Out," has listed a home in Los Feliz. Ruth Ryon puts it at slightly more than $1.8 million whereas the Real Estalker Mama had it at $1.795 million. He also recently sold a Spanish-style home in Los Feliz for about its $4.5-million asking price.
--For the first time in 50 years, the Shavelson estate in Studio City has come on the market. The home belonged to directpr and producer Melville Shavelson, who worked on films starring Lucille Ball, James Cagney and Frank Sinatra. The home is a four-bedroom 1930s traditional listed at $4.795 million. The listing is here.