the strand

Today's home is a bit of 1980s decadence on The Strand in Manhattan Beach, California. The oceanfront home was completed in 1988 and designed by Ray Kappe. The listing states that Kappe was commissioned by a Hollywood studio owner to design this as his second home. Kappe is a living legend in Los Angeles architecture.

Like all the pricey homes along The Strand, this home has expansive views of the ocean, letting your swivel your head and span the coastline from Malibu to the Palos Verdes peninsula. The home itself is firmly rooted in the past but offers three bedrooms and a large open floor plan. The home has a rooftop deck and pool. The home combines curving shapes and Art Deco influences with a fair touch of industrialism. It's got a bit of an anonymous hotel quality but you can't beat the view (even if it does lack privacy). It's listed at $16 million.

Last week, The Strand, a boutique hotel recently opened in Manhattan's Fashion District, threw a party to celebrate the opening of it's glass-domed rooftop lounge. Friends, family and press sipped Champagne and stood with jaws dropped, staring at the incredible reach-out-and-touch-it view of the Empire State building just three blocks away.

The glass-roof is retractable (shown here open) and is one of just two in the city. The other covers Plunge, the rooftop bar at The Gansevoort Hotel further downtown in the Meatpacking District). The Strand's lounge is more intimate and filled with comfortable Asian-inspired plantings and banquets, the perfect spot to enjoy a drink at night's end. The lounge is The Strand's sexiest asset, the rooms, while fairly large by New York standards, are simply furnished.

The hotel will likely be hopping twice a year during Fashion Week. As a tip of the hat to the fashion crowd, the owners sourced vintage fashion shots from Condé Nast's archives and framed them in rooms and public spaces. So even if guest aren't a part of the fashion crowd, they can feel like they are. And a new, soon-to-be-opened ground-floor restaurant features a cozy two-sided fireplace, another great gathering spot for this mid-town hotel.