People who live in Glass Houses....

Top-secret glass house can be yours
This Laguna Beach, Calif., home is invisible from the street, but boasts 180-degree beach views (and an $11.85 million price tag).
Posted by Mai Ling at MSN Real Estate on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 9:54 AM

This $11.85 million home in Laguna Beach, Calif., features floor-to-ceiling glass with panoramic views of the ocean. (© Realtor.com)It's not that I wasn't intrigued by all of the homes listed in Forbes' write-up of America's Strange Homes for Sale, but when Move.com referred to this house as the bat cave...


Photos of the house, which features ceiling-to-floor glass walls that provide a 180-degree view of the ocean, certainly didn't hurt.


But the part I like best about this house in Laguna Beach, Calif., is its stealthiness. Not only is the home invisible from the street, but the owners also get to take a secret tunnel into the subterranean garage that also includes a hydraulic lift so you can bring a car straight into the home.



I don't know how much more like "Batman" you could get!

http://realestate.msn.com/blogs/listedblogpost.aspx?post=1330351&_blg=1,1330351

The Hamptons, darling, LONG ISLAND

Four mansions on exclusive Georgica Pond in the Hamptons are on sale and are asking big bucks despite the recession.

The most recent addition to the market is a 25,000-square-foot estate on 5.5 acres that boasts 8 bedrooms, 11.5 baths, an indoor heated wave pool and a Turkish bath. The home, at 30 Wainscott Stone Highway, also includes an outdoor pool, tennis court and a 110-seat movie theater that is a replica of the famed Zeigfeld Theatre. Among its former renters are Madonna, Warren Beatty, Kevin Costner, Jay Z, Damon Dash and Jennifer Lopez.

According to real estate site StreetEasy, the home was put on the market on Friday for $19.995 million. It can also be rented for $200,000.

The property that has been for sale the longest is 81 Briar Patch Road. The mansion has been on and off the market for the past year, and most recently saw its price chopped by 1%, to $39.5 million.

Sotheby's first listed the 12,00-square-foot home for $40 million last April. It removed the listing in September for several weeks, according to StreetEasy, only to put it back on the market later in the fall at the same price. It then removed the listing, to put it back on in May 1% lower, although it isn't clear whether the cuts have gone deep enough. The home, which is next to a 16-acre meadow, boasts 18th century stone fireplaces, a walnut-paneled library, 30-foot ceilings in the living room and a separate 2- bedroom guest cottage.

Brown Harris Stevens has the listing of a 3.7-acre property on the east shore of Georgica pond. Facing west, it has more than 400 feet of water frontage, and boasts a four bedroom home designed by Peter Marino. The home is new, built in 1990, and includes a large living room, country kitchen and a master suite. It has been listed on the market for $27 million since November, 2008, according to StreetEasy.

Another property on the market is at 40 Laforest Lane. Unlike some of the other properties, it is near East Hampton Village, which could be a perk if you prefer not to be isolated in your estate, and choose to walk among the masses (albeit East Hampton masses) shopping at Calypso or Coach.

The home, which has been on the market since January for $13.5 million, boasts 250 feet of waterfront, a dock, waterside pool, and 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.

Four mansions on exclusive Georgica Pond in tony East Hampton, Long Island are now on the market. Could it be the recession that's forcing them to sell?

The most recent addition is a 25,000-square-foot estate that boasts 8 bedrooms, 11.5 baths, an indoor heated wave pool and a 110-seat movie theater that is a replica of the Zeigfeld Theatre. Madonna, Warren Beatty, Kevin Costner, Jay Z, Damon Dash and Jennifer Lopez are among those who've rented the home, which is on the market for $19.995 million.

Ferris Bueller's Ferrari House For Sale

By James Grahame

Here's your chance to own a piece of cinematic history - the location where Ferris Bueller's pal Cameron accidentally sent his father's prized Ferrari plunging through a picturesque plate glass window into the ravine below.
"The Ben Rose Home - site of the famous movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Cantilevered over the ravine, these two steel and glass buildings - which can never be duplicated - have incredible vistas of the surrounding woods. This is a unique property designed by A. James Speyer and David Haid, both notable architects of the 20th Century."
These magnificent examples of mid-century minimalism (that's an exterior shot of the garage on the left) can be yours for only $2,300,000, or $433.96 per square foot.
370 Beech Street, Highland Park, IL [via Cory O'Brien]
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Ferrari Scenes [YouTube]

Posted by James Grahame on May 26, 2009 at 03:12 PM in Household + Design, Movies & TV Shows | Permalink

wacky houses

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20268781,00.html

Candy Land - $150 million

Marriage to a mogul, fine art and life in 'The Manor.' Yes, Candy Spelling has 'Stories.'

By Irene Lacher

Los Angeles County's largest home, dubbed "The Manor." owned by Aaron and Candy Spelling is for sale. It boasts a two-lane bowling alley.

In her memoir, "Stories From Candyland: Confections From One of Hollywood's Most Famous Wives and Mothers" (St. Martin's Press), Candy cracks open the door to her life as a distinctive breed of Angeleno -- the ultimate trophy wife, not a member of the first wives' club, but the (usually younger) last wife. Spelling's chatty account traces her own trip to Fantasy Island from her youth as an L.A. model. The rewards of such a life -- which included a 56,500-square-foot French chateau-style cocoon and a first-class tour of Europe with 52 suitcases in tow -- are legendary.

Now that she's a widow, Spelling has also decided The Manor is too big for one person. As widely reported last summer, she bought a $47-million, 16,500-square-foot penthouse condo in the Century, a Century City building under construction and designed by star architects Robert A.M. Stern, Jean Nouvel and Richard Meier. She plans to move in to her new spread in about a year and has just put her home on the market with an asking price of $150 million (although real estate sources say a price in the low $100 millions is probably more realistic).

Spelling shows a visitor some of her treasures on display in the living room. Inside a cabinet are a dish that belonged to Egyptian King Farouk, a Fabergé cigarette case given to Cary Grant by Barbara Hutton, a 19th century bird box that chirps and the agate bottle she bought from the Chinese artist who painted it. She points to one of her first collections, a carefully positioned cluster of Chinese snuff bottles. "Tori used to play with them and then she'd break them, sometimes, the little spoons," she notes. "I stopped collecting them when I realized they could do fakes."calendar@latimes.com

Who Will Buy the Mansion???????????

http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/la-hm-hotprop28-2009mar28,0,477343.story
From the Los Angeles Times

HOT PROPERTY
Hugh Hefner's home next to Playboy mansion for sale for $27,995,000
The two-story, 7,300-square-foot English Manor-style home was built in 1929 and bought by the Hefners in 1998.
By Ann Brenoff

March 28, 2009

OK, no more proverbial pressing your nose up against the gates hoping to catch a glimpse of what goes on at the Playboy mansion. Now you can live right next door and spy from the comforts of your own home.

Hugh Hefner and wife Kimberley have listed their personal residence, next to the Playboy mansion in Holmby Hills, for sale at $27,995,000. It's a Mini-Me to the adjacent party palace, a sister house if you will.

The two-story, 7,300-square-foot English Manor-style home was built in 1929 and bought by the Hefners in 1998. It sits behind private gates on 2.3 acres and has some of the original wood paneling, leaded-glass windows and a hand-carved staircase. There are hand-painted walls, a newly remodeled kitchen with a morning room and butler's pantry, two staff rooms, formal living and dining rooms, a library and family room. It has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

The grounds back up to the Los Angeles Country Club and include a pool. There is room for a tennis court, which would provide the new owner with plenty of excuses to visit next door when a ball errantly finds its way over the wall.

The home was designed by Arthur R. Kelly for the sister of Arthur Letts Jr., the original owner of the Playboy mansion. The Hefners are selling the home because their two sons will soon head to college.

Hugh Hefner, 82, is the founder of Playboy Enterprises. Kimberley Hefner was Playboy's Playmate of the Month in January 1988 and was Playmate of the Year in 1989.

Joyce Rey and Stacy Gottula of Coldwell Banker Previews International, Beverly Hills, share the listing.

ann.brenoff@latimes.com

Bloodletting

As of February 2009

This just in from CNN

Existing home sales lowest since '97
Realtors say sales fell 5.3% in January, believing would-be buyers delayed purchases due to stimulus talk.

* Existing home sales lowest since '97

Mortgage Rates
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sales of existing homes fell in January to their lowest levels in nearly 12 years, with a real estate group saying buyers delayed purchases in anticipation of government programs to boost the housing market.

The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that existing home sales dropped 5.3% last month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.49 million units from a rate of 4.74 million in December.