THIS CHIC, DECO, ECHO PARK PAD IS A BARGAIN, IF YOU HAVE $1.6 MILLION

I was in L.A. just visiting my friend, photographer Rocky Schenck who has a fab 20s home in Beachwood Canyon. World of Wonder co-founder, Fenton Bailey and Billy Luther has a to-die-for house in desirable Hancock Park and my pal Ann Magnuson & her husband have a little jewel-box Neutra house in Silverlake, so I've been having having MAJOR real estate envy since my week-long visit to La-La land.

I just came across this little gem, built in 1930, this Art Deco period house in Echo Park, could be split into residential and creative working spaces. Nearly 3,000 square feet is spread over 3 levels with 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, a decorative fireplace, den, guesthouse, office, studio and two-car attached garage. The main living area seems to float above the Hollywood with panoramic views of the city and a multi-functional studio has built-in bunk beds. That outdoor terrace looks like the perfect place for entertaining. It might not be cheap but you’d get a lot for your money. If I just had an extra $1.6 million lying around in some back account…

(via L.A. Times)

SIMPSONS' CREATOR SAM SIMON'S NEUTRA COMPOUND IS ON THE MARKET FOR $18 MILLION

This Richard Neutra house belonging to the late Simpsons creator Sam Simonand has hit the market for $18 million. The Bailey House (aka Case Study House #20) is really the guest house that sits on the Simon estate as a counterpart to his four-bedroom contemporary “main house.” (Simon died this year after a long battle with cancer. His estate is estimated in excess of $100 million. He’d be worth more but he donated a big chunk of his Simpson’s fortune.) 

Only 34 houses were designed as part of the Case Study House program; 24 were actually constructed, 21 remain standing, only one designed by Neutra was built. Simon engaged master architects and restoration artists Marmol Radziner to preserve and renovate the Bailey to achieve its Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument status. The main house has energy conservation technology and used sustainable and recycled, toxin free materials. A theater/bar/game room connects to a stone deck with a infinity-edge pool that overlooks the Bailey House and the private grounds. Nice job on the restoration, Sam. But your taste in interior design overall is not mine. The palette overall is off and in particular, that curved class banister and Dale Chihuly “chandelier” are the antidote to Neutra, if you ask me.

(via The Agency)

A PERFECTLY RESTORED BROOKLYN BROWNSTONE WITH CRISP, MODERN DETAILS

Brent Allen Buck‘s brownstone exterior fits in perfectly with his Prospect Heights neighborhood. This year Buck went out on his own to launch Buck Projects, headquartered in the Brooklyn brownstone he renovated on nights and weekends over the last two years. The townhouse serves as a design laboratory and office, as well as a home base he shares with wife Katie. Take a look. The photos tell the story. I once co-owned an almost identical brownstone and can just imagine the work (and money) that would go into bringing this 150 year-old home into the 21st century. A meticulous restoration. Major props.

(Photos, Devon Banks; via Curbed NY)

NEVERLAND IS FOR SALE FOR $100 MILLION (MINUS THE ZOO & AMUSEMENT PARK)

The ranch FKA, Neverland, once owned by Michael Jackson is on the market for $100 million. The Los Olivos, California property is about 40 miles from Santa Barbara, and is now called Sycamore Valley Ranch. The amusement park rides are gone, as is the private zoo with orangutans and elephant, although there still is a lone llama on the property. The clock made of flowers, which spells out Neverland, is still there, and so is the building for the “Neverland Valley Fire Department“, although it’s no longer staffed with firemen, as it was in MJ’s 15 years here, but the railroad tracks and train station remain. The property is 2,700 acres and has 22 structures on it; the 12,000 square foot main house (which is not that great) and sits between the property’s two lakes, has six bedrooms plus an staff quarters. There are two guest houses, one four-bedroom and another two-bedroom one, plus a swimming pool with a cabana, basketball court and a tennis court and a 50-seat movie theater with a stage with trap doors for those magic shows. 

Jackson paid nearly $20 million for the ranch in 1987 but mid financial struggles, he defaulted on a $24.5 million loan backed by the ranch and a real-estate investment firm bought the note in 2008 for $23 million and put the title into a joint venture it formed with the pop star. Colony spent millions on upgrades, intending to eventually sell it. The listing agents warn they’ll be doing “extensive prequalification” of potential buyers before showing the property, so don’t get any ideas about touring the joint, unless you’ve got millions…

“Our seller is not encouraging a lot of showings. We’re not going to be giving tours.”

Seems kind of too bad Michael didn’t keep the whole place intact. The investors could have easily made it into a Graceland style attraction. My friend Casey leaves nearby, and this was her and her neighbor’s biggest fear; endless hordes of Michael Jackson fans – FOREVER.

THE MOST EXPENSIVE HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY...? WOULD YOU BELIEVE $500 MILLION?

The biggest spec house in L.A. has gotten even bigger. The finished project will be more than 100,000 square feet and it’ll feature a 74,000-square-foot main house, with a 5,000-square-foot master bedroom, a 30-car garage, a “Monaco-style casino,”(?) and three smaller houses spread across four acres. Prolific spec house builder and movie producer, Nile Niami says;

“The house will have almost every amenity available in the world.” 

There will apparently be thousands of gallons of wasted water too. One pool is just dull, if you have the $500 million price tag, you want four pools, right? This palace will have one underground, another on the second level of the mansion and two more outside, according to permits. In the middle of a devastating statewide drought that has provoked mandatory water cutbacks, it will have all those pools plus 20,000 square feet of grass. The mansion’s architect, Paul McClean, says; 

“There a lot of things in the house that will help to preserve water. But those are things that correspond with luxury houses, and I can’t tell you that it’s a green and energy-efficient house.”

Originally, the plans called for five pools, so getting rid of 20% of your pools, that’s conservation, right?

The LA Business Journal estimated last year that the project would ask “in the $150 million-plus range.” Jonathan Miller, president of appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. told Bloomberg; 

“I’m skeptical. My first reaction is laughter. But we’re in this perpetual state of surprise as new thresholds are broken.” 

As a comparison, the new, 200,000 square foot Whitney museum cost $440 million to build –in Manhattan. If it sells for even half that, it’ll still be the most expensive sale in the U.S. I’d say, they need some better marketing materials because these renderings look like a place you could get (in Miami?) for about $25 million.

(T/Y Tad; via LA Curbed)

SUMMER SALE! THE FINEST ESTATE IN THE U.S., 25% OFF – NOW JUST $100 MILLION!

What has been called “the finest estate in America” is now back on the market after being originally listed at $135 million. It’s in Dallas, next door to the George Bush‘s place, unfortunately – Hicks lets the former POTUS use his helipad. In the ultra-snooty Preston Hollow, it includes the 27,092-square-foot main house with 10 bedrooms and 12 full bathrooms, the 3,347-square-foot guest house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms and three-story, a 4,836-square-foot pool house that includes a game room, country club-sized pool and a 20-person movie theater for a combined total of over 35,000 square feet. Check out the art deco bar, the chicest room in the house, I think. Listing agent Allie Beth Allman says;

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a new buyer — only the third owner in 77 years — to acquire this magnificent property.”

It was built in 1938 by architect Maurice Fatio for Italian Count Pio Crespi and his wife, Florence who lived in the house until she was 99. It was bought by Tom Hicks and his wife in the 90s and renovated and updated in 2003 (at a reported $100 million!) by architect to the rich and famous (and leather queen) Peter Marino. All this luxury is set on 25 acres in the middle of Dallas. It can be yours for $100 million. But seriously, if you’re not a Republican, don’t bother…

AN 8 BEDROOM MANSION WITH A BALLROOM FOR $500K? (THERE'S A CATCH...)

This is the first offering of this historic mansion in 70 years,  this landmark built for automaker B. Everitt and later bought by C. Grinnell, this English Manor-style house has 3 Full floors of living space above a finished lower level.  This urban palace of 8800 square feet has 8 bedrooms, 6 full & 2 half baths. The main floor has a gigantic living room with a carved limestone fireplace, a large oak-paneled dining room, a tiled sunroom with another limestone fireplace, and a paneled library with yet another fireplace and a hidden bar. The vintage kitchen area includes a butler’s pantry with a dumbwaiter and the original pink refrigeration room. The grand entry hall is repeated upstairs with a barrel-vaulted ceiling. The marble staircase leads the the lower level with a large ballroom, billiard’s room with a bar and a children’s playroom with a vintage mural of the house and its neighbors. Plus, there’s a full apartment above the 3-car garage. It needs to be updated and restored but what a deal at $499,000! The catch? It’s in Detroit. But unlike some “deals” in Detroit, it’s in the posh, East Boston-Arden Park area.

TAKE A TOUR OF THE "AMERICAN HORROR STORY" HOUSE

The L.A. mansion from season one of American Horror Story just sold… and it was a deal, apparently. After its starring TV role in 2012, the owners saw dollar signs and listed it for $17 million! But as there were no offers, the price continued to drop and it was eventually $13 mill less. It just sold for $3.2 million. If you were not thinking about real estate and looking at other things watching the inaugural season of AHS, you might have missed the original Tiffany stained-glass, Batchelder tiles and gorgeous woodwork throughout in the Alfred F. Rosenheim Mansion. Oh, and a private chapel too (or those impromptu exorcisms) but thankfully, no man in rubber fetish gear –that we know of…

REAL ESTATE PORN: A TRIBECA MINI-LOFT RENO FOR A LUCKY MED STUDENT

Somebody has rich parents, as this pad was done over for a med student at Columbia who needed a pied-à-terre while in school –no dorm for this future doc. (Wonder if he/she Ubers it to school? Tribeca is at one end of the island and the university campus is at the other…) Nevertheless, the gut renovation of this 900 square foot loft in Tribeca was cleverly reconfigured by Lynch Eisinger Design and the result was this light-filled, open space with plenty of storage. The walls were removed to open the space up and the architects disguised all the functional needs of the loft into a single plywood volume which reaches just below the apartment’s ceiling letting daylight in raising the floor in those areas as well denoting a transition between the public and private spaces. Along one wall is a white cabinet which hides a workspace, Murphy bed and the long cabinet door gives overnight guests extra privacy. The plywood volume with the bedroom has a grey rubber floor and matching storage cabinets with one bright orange one. A grey curtain closes for privacy and one assumes to keep the light out in the day, after a long night partying.

THIS 200 YEAR-OLD STONE HOUSE IS NOT WHAT YOU'D IMAGINE INSIDE

This 200-year-old stone house in Linescio, Switzerland looks like ruin outside, yes? It IS, more or less until you go inside where a spacious modern interior has been “inserted”. The Swiss firm of Buchner Bründler Architekten renovated the centuries-old building into a summer home that boasts a clean and minimalist light-filled interior. Since it will only be used in the summer a heating system or additional insulation wasn’t necessary but a minimalist fireplace was added on the ground floor. The house features high, folding shutters that open up to maximize its natural cooling. A small wooden extension that features concrete elements was built on too. Reclaimed spaces are my favorites and this one looks like it just might last 500 more years.

(via Inhabitat)