teardown

Calvin Klein's Hamptons Teardown

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Fashion designer Calvin Klein has won approval for his ambitious teardown project in the Hamptons. Dragon's Head is a massive rambling home of somewhat dubious distinction in Southampton. It was built by Henry Francis du Pont in 1924 but has been majorly remodeled in not the most tasteful of manners. Newsday reports that the village Architectural Review Board which was asked to check out the home and see if there was anything historical in it worth preserving has decided it doesn't have jurisdiction over the home's interior. The path is now cleared for Klein, who spent around $30 million on the home five years ago, to begin the process of demolition. He is erecting a new modern home of stucco and steel in place of Dragon's Head.

Some have expressed happiness to see the home disappear. Du Pont's original home had been given a ludicrously lavish makeover by financier Barry Turpin. He took a classic Hamptons home and turned it into one of those American castles that some of the rich sometimes amuse themselves by constructing. It now has turrets, towers and all sorts of flourishes which make it stick out like a sore thumb in the area. Klein's more low-slung and understated beach home will likely be a better fit. And yet, on Newday's poll many voted for the option saying that Dragon's Head is beautiful and should be preserved.

Gallery: Celebrity Teardowns

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Tags: calvin klein, CalvinKlein, celebrity real estate, CelebrityRealEstate, hamptons, southhampton, teardown

Matthew McConaughey's Malibu Mess

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

For a little while, frequently bare-chested romantic comedy star Matthew McConaughey has been living the real estate-less life in California. McConaughey sold off his three-lot Hollywood Hills compound toward the end of 2006 and then was spending most of his time in a couple of Airstream trailers in Malibu. He also still owns a 1.600-acre ranch in Texas. But last fall, McConaughey, who recently announced that his model girlfriend Camilla Alves is pregnant with their child, purchased a $10 million property in Malibu. The property is a little over an acre and includes a four-bedroom home that was built in 1949. When the sale was announced in November, Big Time Listings mentioned that the 3,550-square-foot home has had some celebrity owners in the past such as Richard Page, the lead singer of the 1980s band Mr. Mister (which had the popular songs 'Broken Wings' and 'Kyrie') who sold the house in 1996 to its most recent owner for $1,260,000. As TMZ shows in a video on their website construction has begun on the home, expanding the home which is located on a deep lot just a few houses away from the ocean.

Matthew McConaughey is far from the first celebrity to spend a lot of money on a home that needs a lot of work or may even be a tear down. Our gallery below includes a few more examples of recently multi-million dollar purchases bought for the land more than the home.

Gallery: Celebrity Teardowns

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Tags: celebrity real estate, malibu, matthew mcconaughey, MatthewMcconaughey, tear down house, teardown