Filed under: Estates

Usually I don’t write up pieces of land without homes on them but this one is pretty impressive, a huge 1,507-acre spread (1,374 deeded along with 133-acre BLM lease) in Montana on the Yellowstone River. This area was named Black Bluffs by Capt. William Clark of Thomas Jefferson’s Corps of Discovery and has been basically untouched for over 200 years. The property is bordered on the north by 2.5 miles of private Yellowstone River frontage and has dramatic upriver views framed by the Beartooth Mountains, Montana’s tallest peaks. The river is full of wild brown and rainbow trout and the area is rich with wildlife including sage grouse, wild turkey, elk, moose, black bear, antelope, eagle and osprey. The property is located about 30 minutes away from Billings, Montana. Hopefully whoever buys this land will preserve this beautiful open space. It is listed at $5,750,000.

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Filed under: Estates

A new building in the West End/Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington D.C. is one of the priciest complexes in the area. The $100 million building called 22 West, is located at 22nd and M streets and will be home to 92 condominiums ranging in price from $838,500 one bedrooms to penthouses going for as much as $3,868,500. All two bedroom and larger units get two parking spaces and the smaller units get one space each. Also each unit gets a storage locker. Each unit has floor-to-ceiling windows, natural oak wood flooring and plenty of wiring for all audio-visual devices and building wireless and high-speed world wide web access. The building will have a rooftop pool, a garden terrace, a restaurant and retail stores on the ground floor. The GW Hatchet reports that the building is currently around 30% sold. it is scheduled to be finished this summer.

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Filed under: Estates

For $12.5 million this gorgeous estate in Potomac, Maryland could be your new abode. A colonial style home built in 2004, this massive home has ten bedrooms, eleven baths and five powder rooms. With 2.7 acres to enjoy, including the 50-foot swimming pool with waterfalls and lighted outdoor tennis court, this 25,000 square feet home affords plenty of space for amusing guests or hosting large family gatherings. Each room that could be conceived of is included — media room, wine cellars, staff quarters, exercise room and sauna, and a six-car garage. Plus it is conveniently close to downtown Washington D.C. and a few nearby airports. All it needs is a barn for horses to make it complete — at least in my eyes.

[Thanks, Matthew F.]

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Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, has become the latest member off the celebrity foreclosure club. According to the Detroit Free Press she has stated that an attorney’s mistake is the reason that her $700,000 mansion in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan has slipped into foreclosure over a mere $445 in 2005 taxes and late fees. She now owes a total of $19,192 in back taxes on the property through 2007. She has plans to pay up and get the slate-roofed brick mansion on Hamilton Road (see pic at the Detroit Free Press article) back before the March 31 foreclosure deadline. TMZ has Aretha’s official foreclosure documents.

In related celebrity foreclosure news, Michael Jackson’s attorneys say that he has worked out a deal with Fortress Investment Group to save Neverland, his big California estate which has been flirting with foreclosure for months now. The move will avoid the March 19 auction date for the home. I still state this is just a case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Jackson likely cannot afford the home and he can’t seem to find anyone who will buy it from him.

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Filed under: Estates

Another prime Newport, Rhode Island estate has gone on the market. Like Beechwood, another Newport estate we’ve covered as an estate of the day, Oakwood has a connection to the Astor family. It was the 19th-century summer residence of Mary Alida Astor Carey, the daughter of William Backhouse Astor, a son of John Jacob Astor. The home was built in the late 1860s and was one of the first summer retreats for the rich in the area. It was added to in the 1870s with a three-story tower, music room, ballroom and kitchen wing all added.

The Boston Globe reports that the current owner is J. Brian O’Neill, a Pennsylvania-based real estate developer who bought the property in 2004. He has shepherded it through a redesign that included expanding the master suite and adding a luxury loo above the enclosed rear terrace that overlooks the pool. The home has maintained some of its grandeur, the most beautiful room in the house is the dining room that has walls lined with 56 hand-painted Chinese panels, but has also been updated for today’s less formal society with a family room and a home theater. Key details in the seven-bedroom home include parquet floors, a Baccarat chandelier in the music room, carved mantels and beautiful woodwork. The nearly six-acre property includes a six-hole putting green, a lawn tennis court, a reflecting pool stocked with koi, a rose garden, and ancient oak and split-leaf beech trees. It is listed at $10.75 million.

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Filed under: Estates

Need more proof that Florida’s real estate market is in deep trouble? Here it is, both Sotheby’s Realty and Coldwell Banker are making moves on the real estate auction front. Sol Sotheby’s International Realty and Nestler Poletto Sotheby’s International Realty have announced they’ll hold their first luxury property auction for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties on March 28 in Fort Lauderdale, putting more than $200 million in high-end properties on the block. Most of the properties will be sold to the highest qualified bidder with no limiting conditions or amounts.

The same company that is working with Sotheby’s, Daniel DeCaro Real Estate Auctions, is also helping Coldwell Banker Real Estate Florida with auctions. They now offer clients the option of auctioning off their homes in Central Florida rather than selling in the traditional manner.

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Filed under: Estates

In the summer it can take an awfully long time to get to the outer reaches of Cape Cod, Massachusetts but it is worth it. Today’s estate is a prime example of the reason that thousands flock to the Cape once the weather warms up. It is situated on a sheltered salt water inlet with access to Pleasant Bay. The four-bedroom home is on an acre of land and it has a new kitchen, a large living room with vaulted ceilings and a screened porch. One particularly charming detail is the boathouse at the water’s edge with a loft area and game room. . It is listed at $4.275 million, pricey for a home with less than 4,000 square feet but you’re paying for the location in one of the most picturesque New England towns. Even though the middle range of the Cape Cod market has dropped considerably, prices of the high end home still seem to be reaching for the stars.

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Filed under: Estates

Given today’s dangerous real estate market , it makes me a bit nervous to see a newly constructed home over 20,000 square feet hit the market. This one in Stony Point, New York is a real humdinger. It is luxury on a grand scale with monumental double-height rooms. It has full-house automated lighting ,security cameras and an audio/video Creston system. The main home includes a cherry wood library, office, billiard room, gym, wine cellar, 21-seat theater and a four-stop elevator. There’s also a 3800 square foot carriage house which is attached to the main home via covered breezeway and underground tunnel and a 2800 square-foot pool home giving the entire property ten bedrooms total. The 2.5 acre property also has a lighted 50×100 sport court and a heated custom pool with a spa. It is listed at $9.5 million.

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Filed under: Estates

You may never have heard of Kelowna, British Columbia but it’s one of the fastest growing cities in North America. The city on a Okanagan Lake offers beautiful scenery and a relatively mild climate. Today’s three-bedroom home is situated on a hill for panoramic views of the lake and the surrounding hills. The home was designed by Isabel Chen and sits on 1.19 acres. The modern home has an open floor plan and plenty of windows and sky lights. There’s a separate guest suite over the garage that has a private deck. There is geothermal heating and air conditioning. I like the look of the saltwater concrete pool and the wide wood decks. It’s not a wildly charming house but the view and the easy and clean space warm my heart. It is listed at $2.2 million Canadian.

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Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

From the NY Post’s Gimme Shelter:
–Kenneth Cole and his wife Maria Cuomo Cole, have just paid $14.5 million for a five-bedroom, five-bath prewar co-op apartment at One Sutton Place South.
–Real-estate investor/enthusiast Michael Hirtenstein has added even more space to his TriBeCa bachelor pad at One York taking it from a massive 6,600 square feet to a gargantuan 11,000 square feet of interior space plus 6,000 square feet of exterior space.
–So far Andie McDowell, Christie Brinkley and Rosie O’Donnell have all checked out the nine remaining residences at 10 West End Ave.

From the NY Observer’s Manhattan Transfers:
–The former Guccione townhouse sold for just $49 million to hedge fund titan Philip Falcone. Astonishing considering it was once listed, albeit briefly and foolishly for $99 million.
–TV home renovator Bob Vila spent $4 million on a townhouse in 2004. He has now renovated and is asking $11.5 million. The renovation was filmed for season 15 of the TV show Bob Vila’s Home Again. The house is now two duplexes plus a full floor apartment as well as rear half-floor apartments on the first and fourth floors, which Mr. Vila couldn’t touch because there are still rent-stabilized tenants there. The penthouse is being rented for the year at around $15,000 per month, and the duplex downstairs is rented at around $10,000. The listing is here.
–Est

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