walter cronkite

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--The Hollywood Hills home built for actress Beverly Garland and constructed by Garland's husband, Fillmore Crank is on the market for $1.765 million. The listing with Michael Tunick is here.

--Actress Missi Pyle and her husband, grizzly bear expert Casey Anderson, have listed their Beachwood Canyon home for sale at $669,000.
--Kim Kardashian has bought a furnished estate in the Beverly Hills Post Office area for about $3.5 million.
--Actor Malcolm McDowell and his wife, Kelley, have listed their 1922 home in Ojai at $3.55 million. The listing for the three-bedroom home is here.

From the NY Post:
--One of the three East 80th Street townhouses Frank Winfield Woolworth created for his daughters is up for sale. The home at 2 E. 80th St. built in 1915 for his eldest daughter, Edna Woolworth Hutton is now up for sale at $19.99 million.
--Blake Lively has been spotted apartment hunting in TriBeCa. She was seen looking at apartments at 55 Vestry St., also known as the Fairchild building, a development we profiled recently.
--Real estate developer Aby Rosen has re-listed a six-story limestone townhouse at 3 E. 94th St. for $24.75 million. It was listed at $23.75 million when we checked it out as an estate of the day last year but has been listed as high as $29.5 million. Rosen bought it for $8.8 million in 2005 and gave it a gorgeous renovation.

The Loews Regency Hotel is catering to long-term residents. A one-bedroom suite costs around $12,450 per month, a two-bedroom unit goes for around $18,000 per month.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--James Preston, who ran Avon Products from 1988 to 1998, has sold his 398-acre property in Kent, Connecticut for $8.5 million, it had previously been offered for around $14 million.
--The late Walter Cronkite's apartment in New York City has sold for $2.5 million, which is about 17 percent less than the original asking price of just under $3 million in December. The buyer is a Citibank executive.
--Bell Ranch, a 250,000-acre ranch in New Mexico first listed in 2007 for $115 million is now for sale for $83 million. It was listed at $103 million with an additional 40,000 acres thrown in when we last covered it in April 2009. The Bell Ranch features Bell Mountain and a a 10,832-square feet hacienda with swimming pool and tennis courts The property includes a general manager residence and lake house, ranch offices, stables, barns, garage and storage facilities. Cowboy camps are located throughout the property. The Bell Ranch airfield (8,200' x 75' lighted dirt airstrip) has a large hangar. The new listing is here.



From MediaBistro:
--George Stephanopoulos and Ali Wentworth have gone to contract on their Washington mansion.


From the Real Estalker:
--via the Palm Beach Daily News, Bruce Springsteen bought two homes next to each other in Wellington, Florida. He has sold one of them which was listed at $3.95 million but sold for $2.95 million.
--David Chu, the fashion designer who created the Nautica brand, and his wife Gina have listed their Park Avenue triplex for $32.8 million. The listing is here.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--The Bel-Air home of director and artist Stephen Verona is for sale $4.395 million. The red tile-roofed villa, shown above, includes gardens and a gazebo. The property website is here.
--Television writer Daniel Freudenberger has listed his historic Cheviot Hills home for $3.695 million. The listing is with Ben Lee Properties.


From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has paid $19.5 million for a Tuscan-style home in the Hollywood Hills.
--George Stephanopoulos, co-host of ABC's "Good Morning America" show and a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, has bought a home in East Hampton, N.Y., for $3.5 million.
--Interior designer Cindy Rinfret, whose clients other local residents Tommy Hilfiger and television personality Regis Philbin, has put her Greenwich, Connecticut home on the market for $14.5 million.



From the NY Post:
--Katie Lee, the cookbook author and ex-wife of Billy Joel is said to be selling her 23 Perry Street that she and Joel once shared and that she bought from Joel for $3 million after their split last year. It is expected to be listed with Dolly Lenz for $12.9 million.
--Jeffrey Loria, the art-dealing owner of the Florida Marlins, has picked up part of the Howard Gittis' Southampton estate on Ox Pasture Lane. The estate was divided into three portions and sold for a combined $38.5 million to Loria and designer Tory Burch.
--Someone wants in at the Trump International Hotel and Tower. A Russian family walked away from a deal to buy an $18.5 million, 5,500-square-foot penthouse at the tower but it was auctioned off for more than $31 million. It is reportedly gutted and a renovation could cost $10 million.
--Julianne Moore was spotted checking out the Soho Mews development looking at two townhouse units priced around $5 million to $5.5 million. Her townhouse remains on the market for $11.995 million.


From the Real Estalker:
--Billionaire Jerry Perenchio has added to his huge Bel Air estate by picking up a $9.2 million property across the street from his home.
--The seven-bedroom home that Michael Jackson rented in las Vegas for around six months has sold for $3.1 million. The home in Las Vegas he was interested in buying remains on the market at $16.5 million.


From Zillow Blog:
--Sean Penn and Robin Wright have sold their Marin County home. The price was not revealed but the home was first listed their home for sale in August 2008 for $15 million.

From the Chicago Tribune's Elite Street:
--Charlotte Bobcats and former Chicago Bulls center Tyson Chandler has listed his six-bedroom mansion for $3.395 million. He bought the home for $4 million and in the past he tried to sell it for as much as $4.9 million. The listing is here.

--Former Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman has sold his 36th-floor condominium in Chicago's Trump International Hotel & Tower for $2 million.
--Chicago sportscaster Steve Kashul has sold his three-bedroom, ranch-style house in Naperville, complete with a basement bowling alley, for $475,000.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Inventor and master pitchman Ron Popeil has listed a gated Beverly Hills home, shown above, for sale. The English country-style house includes a tennis court, a large pool with a deck area and a two-story guesthouse. There are six bedrooms and it is listed at $5.995 million. The listing is here.
--The Beverly Hills home of Dr. Robert Rey, star of E! Entertainment Television's "Dr. 90210," has come back on the market at $4.395 million. It was previously listed at $5.295 million. The listing is here.
--Actor French Stewart and his wife, actress and interior designer Katherine LaNasa, have listed their renovated and expanded Hollywood Hills-area home for $4.195 million. The listing is here.
--Designer Brogan Lane has listed her 1924 Spanish-style boutique hotel and rental property, Villa Delle Stelle, in Hollywood at $1,098,100.
--Producer Marshall Herskovitz has sold his home in a Brentwood equestrian area for $4.6 million.

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--Real estate developer Louis Cappelli has found a buyer for the 13-room duplex at 515 Park Avenue he owns with his second wife, actress Kylie Travis. The six-bedroom unit was listed for $29.5 million when it went into contract last week.
--Japanese filmmaker Keiko Ibi has gone into contract to sell her condo at 15 Central Park West. The one-bedroom unit was most recently listed for $3.485 million.
--Clifford Brokaw, a Goldman Sachs alum and a managing director at Corsair Capital, has paid $2.9 million for a third-floor apartment at 907 Fifth Avenue. It first went on the market for $4.4 million in May 2008.
--The lower half of George Gershwin's former duplex at 132 East 72nd Street has gone into contract after more than nine months on the market. The two-bedroom co-op had most recently been listed for $3.05 million. Socialite Debbie Bancroft's apartment, which is located one floor up and comprises the second half of Gershwin's former home, is still on the market for a reduced price of $1.5 million.
--African telecom mogul Yerim Sow has re-listed his three-bedroom pad at 15 Central Park West for $21 million. The listing is here.
--via the Real Deal, real estate mogul Elie Hirschfeld has put his East Hampton estate up for sale for $25 million. The listing is here.
--via the New York Post, Anna Wintour's daughter Bee Shaffer is searching for a place of her own and has been spotted touring two apartments in the "$2.3 million range" at 330 Spring Street and 505 Greenwich with her mom.
--via Curbed, real estate heiress Caroline Cumming has closed on the sale of her home at 11 Spring Street. The building had been listed for $26 million and sold for $19.5 million.
--Vice magazine co-founder Shane Smith has reportedly paid $2.2 million for a loft on Desbrosses Street in Tribeca.
--Hedge funder Glenn Dubin and his wife, Dr. Eva Andersson-Dubin have put their 12-room, 6,000-square-foot duplex at 1010 Fifth Avenue on the market for $18.5 million. The listing is here.
--via Curbed, New York's tiniest townhouse at 75 1/2 Bedford Street has gone into contract. It was most recently listed for $2.499 million.
--via the NY Observer, Kenneth Horowitz, the Florida-based entrepreneur who founded Cellular One and Weather Risk Solutions, has paid $5.2 million for a 46th-floor apartment at Trump Palace on East 69th Street.
--via the NY Observer, software mogul Marty Sprinzen has closed on the sale of his ninth-floor apartment at 838 Fifth Avenue. The apartment, which Sprinzen bought in 2007 for $15.8 million sold for $22.5 million.
--via the NY Observer, Russian chessmaster Garry Kasparov has paid $3.4 million for a penthouse apartment at 205 West 76th Street.
--Billionaire publishing heir Robert Ziff has gone into contract to sell his condo at the Trump International. It was listed for $11.5 million.
--Late fashion designer Abbijane Schifrin's former townhouse on East 19th St. has been chopped in price. It was listed at $8.75 million when we checked it out as an estate of the day but is now $7.995 million.


From the NY Post:
--Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and his wife Janet have been spotted shopping for a New York City apartment in the $7 million to $15 million range.
--Late news anchor Walter Cronkite's three-bedroom, five-bathroom co-op at 870 United Nations Plaza has just hit the market for $2.995 million.
-- Belarus-born model Maryna Linchuk has purchased a one-bedroom condo in Nolita for $1.1 million

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Fashion designer Christian Lacroix has sold a Paris apartment for €1.2 million, or about $1.8 million. He had originally listed the apartment in January for €2 million.
--Singer John Legend has paid $1.9 million for an apartment in New York's East Village neighborhood and has gone into contract to sell his two-bedroom condo for around $1 million. It was recently listed at $1.195 million.

--Former money manager Stanley Chais, said to have channeled millions of dollars of investor funds to Bernard Madoff, has cut the price on his Los Angeles condo to $3.35 million. He paid $4.4 million for the unit in 2007 and had originally asked $4.7 million for the two-bedroom apartment in the Sierra Towers in West Hollywood. The listing is here.

From the Real Estalker:
--The West Village duplex that Jude Law is currently renting is up for sale for $6.9 million. The listing is here.
--Faith Hill and Tim McGraw may have listed their Nashville home and they have peeled $4 million off the price of their Beverly Hills home. It was listed at $14.8 million when we checked it out as an estate of the day in October of 2008 but is now down to just $10.8 million.

Okay, so you're probably not going to get anywhere near the Obamas on their planned August getaway to Martha's Vineyard, as the Boston Globe reports, but it's hard to imagine a nicer place to be in late summer.

No word yet on where the Obamas will be staying while on the Vineyard, but a good pick for presidential accommodations could be the newly renovated Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown. (Sidenote: I visited last September, and on a sunset cruise of the harbor on the hotel's restored center-console wooden boat Stardust, spotted Walter Cronkite's house, and Walter reading in his living room. R.I.P.)

Besides its many large suites and private cottages for staff, the Harbor View has liberal street cred, since the owner, Scout Capital Real Estate, has a focus on sustainability. It's replacing single-use plastic bottles with reusable bottles and installing water stations throughout the property, for example, using solar heat for its pool, and during the renovation, donated furnishings, cabinetry, appliances to Habitat for Humanity, among other charities.

Scout's also got a nifty sustainability laboratory property on Esther Island off Nantucket where it's playing with other green technologies that might have use at its hotel properties, which includes generating all of its own electricity through a combination of solar panels and a power-generating wind turbine. Of course, wind turbines have been something of a political third-rail in these parts, so probably best for Obama not to mention that during his stay.