Attention all you baby boomer women: April 18-20 is YOUR weekend on Daytona Beach. The Daytona 500 is over, and Bike Week 2008 is jut a memory….

The weekend is advertised as a “Girlfriends Getaway” and it looks like they have quite a lineup of women talking about subjects from menopause to fitness and health to doing business on the Internet. Check out their website:

http://www.enjoyyourmenopause.com/ (Don’t look at me; I didn’t make up the name.)

Tags: baby boomer women, daytona beach, menopause

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Filed under: Estates

For the next couple of weeks we will be checking out some homes in the most expensive zip codes in the United States, up this day, 75220. This zip code refers to a part of Dallas, Texas. This zip code includes the prestigious Preston Hollow area and has a median price of $1,530,000 with an appreciation rate of 160% since 1990.

Today’s estate is done in an English Country style and is over 15,000 square feet. There are three levels, plus a lower level which are accessible through
seven staircases and an elevator. The first level includes a two-story entrance, living room, dining room, library, family room, office, sunroon and a massive kitchen that includes a Viking stove top and a hammered copper vent hood.

The second level is home to the master bedroom with his and hers baths, dressing rooms and a sunroom. There are also three additional en suite bedrooms on this level as well as a playroom, a five-desk computer/office area and a full-service laundry with a drip-dry area. The third level is a furnished space that also has a kitchenette and a full bath. The bottom level has a den or game room; a stone floored corking room; a pine-paneled smoking room; a media room; a sunlit workout/fitness center and a fifth bedroom with full bath. The property also includes a three-car garage, an outdoor area with a fireplace and grilling space and a swimming pool with a dramatic slate-backed water wall. This new home has been expertly staged (read an article about the stager here). It is listed at $8.6 million.

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Filed under: Estates

In Tel Aviv, Israel, the G Tower offers Tel Aviv’s most pricey apartment, a flat priced at $34-million apartment. The Gindi Group, which developed the G Tower recently announced the selling price for the triplex flat which combines a former duplex and penthouse apartment on the 24th, 25th and 26th floors. The new apartment is located just under the triplex which was purchased by the holder of controlling interest for Bank Hapoalim, Shari Arison, for $13 million.

The tower has 31 floors with 40 apartments. Building amenities include a culture center with a library and bar, a fitness center, swimming pool, conference center, underground parking and tight security. The new apartment has 360 degree views of the city and measures 1,500 square meters (around 15,145 square feet) for a price of over $22,000 per square meter. According to an article on Haaretz.com some real estate agents in Tel Aviv think the price is way too high, especially since a $25 million penthouse in the Sea One Project on Hayarkon Street failed to sell.

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For the next couple of weeks we will be checking out some homes in the most high-priced zip codes in the United Says, up today, 29401. This zip code refers to the beautifully historic town of Charleston, South Carolina. This zip code in the fast-growing Southern city has a median price of $1,590,000 with an appreciation of 228% since 1990.

To explore this town we’ve got one beauty of an old home. This home on King Street in the historic district is the Patrick O’Donnell home it was built by O’Donnell over the period of 1852-1870 who was building the house for his bride but took so long finishing the job that his fianc

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Filed under: Estates

For the next couple of weeks we will be checking out some homes in the most costly zip codes in the United States, up today, 33924. This zip code brings us to Captiva Island, Florida a spit of land stretching into the Gulf of Mexico. This tranquil and warm area has a median price of $2,060,000 with an appreciation rate of 382% since 1990.

Captiva island is reached by vehicle via the Sanibel Causeway and Sanibel-Captiva Road. Its location makes it a bit of a hurricane magnet and the island was damaged in 2004 when Hurricane Charley rolled through. That doesn’t stop people from building some large houses though. Case in point, today’s estate, a massive three-story home with six bedrooms. The overall decor relies far too much on the beige but the home does have a salt water aquarium, gourmet kitchen, elevator, arched gallery, marble floors and massive mahogany double doors. The swimming pool includes a spa and an area for in-water dining and most importantly a short walk brings you directly to the Captiva Isand’s famously beautiful white sand beaches. This property is listed at $10,900,000.

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Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Musician Moby is facing real estate woes on both coasts this week. He has been trying to sell his charming New York co-op in the El Dorado since last summer (check out pictures from our estate of the day posting here) but seems to be having trouble finding a buyer his co-op board will love. Moby bought the two-bedroom tower apartment for $4.5 million in September 2005 and it is spread out over four levels and has terraces with terra cotta tiles, stone parapets and of course, mega views. He originally listed it at $7.5 million and found a buyer but the El Dorado co-op board turned the buyer down. Moby got smart and Main Street reports that he’s now offering $75,000 as a finder’s fee to anyone who can help him find a buyer that can pass muster.

As we heard a couple months ago, Moby and his friend fashion designer Stacey Bendet purchased a $3 million home in the Hollywood Hills with the plans to turn it into a showplace for stylists and celebs with the garage as Moby’s recording studio. Now neighbors aren’t thrilled with idea of a music studio in the area and are warning him not to pursue the renovation. A neighbor stated to the NY Post that they kicked Prince off the street for making noise and so Moby should be careful. Gee, life as a peace-loving vegan millionaire is tougher than I thought.

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Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Controversial pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright is getting a luxurious retirement home. The Tinley Park Southtown Star reports that Barack Obama’s former pastor will have a four-bedroom home in Tinley Park, Illinois, a southern Chicago suburb. Wright’s home, which is being paid for by his church, the Trinity United Church of Christ, will include an elevator, butler’s pantry, exercise room, a master bedroom with a whirlpool and a spare room for a future theater or swimming pool. The mansion is estimated to cost $1 million.

Wright was recently in the news for his controversial polemics against U.S. foreign policy and Obama’s Democratic rival, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton. He has retired from preaching and it is the policy of the church to provide housing for retiring clergy although I’d guess that usually the lodging isn’t quite so lavish.

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Filed under: Estates

For the next couple of weeks we will be checking out some homes in the most pricey zip codes in the United States, up this day, 33037. This zip code lands us in Key Largo, Florida, an island paradise in the upper Florida Keys archipelago . This getaway famous for tourism diving and sport-fishing has been celebrated both in a Humphrey Bogart motion picture and a 1980s pop song by Bertie Higgins. This tropical vacation spot has a median price of $2,740,000 with an appreciation rate of 385% since 1990.

Today’s estate isn’t the most expensive one for sale in the area but it exemplifies the more luxurious side of Key Largo real estate. The property has both a five-bedroom main house and a guest house. The two-acre retreat on the water has tropical landscaping, a dock and a pool and spa. There is a huge gourmet kitchen a double-height great room and plenty of windows and veranda space. One particularly nice detail is the loft which has a spiral staircase leading to a roof sun deck. This home is listed at $5,395,000.

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Another grand old home in Newport, Rhode Island has hit the market. Braden Keil’s Gimme Shelter column in the NY Post alerted me to the fact that Hopedene, a grand home on Newport’s famous Cliff Walk is for sale. Hopedene was built in 1889 and is called Peabody and Stearns’s most monumental Colonial Revival residence. The home is on six acres and is approached via a private lane to gilt and wrought iron gates, The property includes a main house, a big carriage home with guest quarters, an ocean facing pool and spa, tennis court, gated service entrance, and an FAA approved heliport.

The home itself has gorgeous details including a marble vestibule with a mosaic floor and Italian Renaissance style center hall and a beautiful wood-paneled library. The semi circular ballroom is currently used as a dining room. The home includes remnants of a grander age such as a butler hall, parlor, and cooks and butler’s pantries, kitchen library and a flower room. The upper floors are given over to bathrooms and bedrooms, many of which with marble fireplaces. The carriage home includes a game room with a bar, a full bath, a nautical library and French doors opening to bluestone terraces and the pool, and a heated garage. On the second level there are five bedrooms a full kitchen and laundry and bathrooms.

The NY Post reports that the owners are Palm Beach socialites Craig Millard (the retired chairman of Prudential Preferred Properties) and his wife, Michele. This home is listed at $22.5 million.

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Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

From the NY Post’s Gimme Shelter:
–Donald Trump is asking a truly stunning amount of rent for one of his unsold Park Avenue penthouses: $200,000 per month for a three-bedroom condominium, shown above, that is listed at $45 million. The listing is here.
–We first heard rumors of this back in December but now it seems that it is official that the listing for Oscar-winning producer Marty Richards’ apartment went to contract. It’s selling for somewhere just below its $22.7 million asking price. The buyer is stated to be fashion-show mogul Elyse Kroll. Her 23-room townhouse is on the market for $29.75 million. The listing is here.
–Hopedene, a fabulous mansion on Newport, Rhode Island’s famous Cliff Walk has hit the market. It’s our estate of the day later today.

From the NY Observer’s Manhattan Transfers:
–Steven Croman who has been named to The Village Voice’s 10 Worst Landlords List, has picked up a townhouse at 7 East 75th Street,paying $14.5 million to a family that had owned the house for decades. (The home’s facade was used as home on the Television show The Nanny). Croman states he has no plans to make it into a single family home or to raise rent for existing tenants.
–Writer and Oprah scapegoat James Frey has picked up a $985,000 one-bedroom apartment which is next door to his three-bedroom apartment at 505 Greenwich Street.
–One of New York city’s most coveted homes, Brooke Astor’s 778 Park Avenue duplex may soon be on the market. Agents from five of the city’s top brokerages met in the 778 Park duplex’s library to audition for the listing which could be as much as $46 million.

From The Wall Street Journal’s Private Properties:
–Bear Sterns Chief Executive Alan D. Schwartz has taken his Buy, New York home off the market and is renting it instead. The home was listed for $4.5 million. Bear Chairman and former CEO James Cayne closed last month on a $27.4 million purchase of two adjacent apartments at the Plaza in New York.
–Allman Brothers Band drummer Claude “Butch” Trucks has cut the asking price on his Palm Beach, Fla., house again this month to $3.995 million, down 17% from the original $4.8 million. The listing is here.
–In Manhattan, a few new high-profile condo buildings with unusual designs are selling at high prices for downtown neighborhoods. At 100 11th Ave., an irregular, glass-faceted tower designed by France’s Jean Nouvel, 70% of the building’s 72 original units have sold since sales began in April. Eight of the nine units at Shigeru Ban’s “Metal Shutter Houses” development have sold at full asking price of up to $10.25 million. Herzog & de Meuron’s 28-unit green-glass 40 Bond building still has one original unit for sale after two years on the market, in addition to several resale listings.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
–via WSJ Private Properties, retired quarterback Drew Bledsoe is selling his home in Westlake, Texas. He already lives in Bend, Oregon. The listing is here.
–Sitcom actress Jaime Pressly has paid $2,250,000 for a new five-bedroom home in Sherman Oaks.
–British Television presenter and Simon Cowell girlfriend Terri Seymour, has paid $4.6 million for a home in the Bird Streets area of the Hollywood Hills. Pictures of the beautiful contemporary home are here.
–A modern home in the Hollywood Hills that once was owned by actress Milla Jovovich has been listed for $2,399,000. The virtual tour is here.
–Michael J. Fox has paid $6,300,000 for a new six-bedroom house in Quogue, N.Y.
–Charlotte Bobcats shooting guard Jason Richardson has listed his five-bedroom home in Oakland, CA for $3,100,000. The listing is here.
–O magazine editor-at-large and Oprah BFF Gayle King has closed on the purchase of a $7,100,000 condo in Manhattan.
–Rumor has it that Jessica Simpson might have bought a huge house in Nashville, Tennessee but so far she has denied this.
–Danny Masterson has sold his four-bedroom, Spanish-style home in the Beachwood Canyon area of Los Angeles for $1.2 million.
–via TMZ Tom Arnold has listed his five-bedroom, 4,211-square-foot home in Tarzana for $2,275,000. The virtual tour is here.

From the Real Estalker:
–The $81.5 million Sidney Kimmel home in Palm Beach might have already gone to contract for a number over $75 million.
–Actor Enrique Murciano has listed his home in Los Angeles for $1.795 million. The listing is here.
–via NY Daily News, Mary J. Blige has paid $12.3 million for a home in Saddle River, NJ that was originally listed at $17 million.

From the LA Times: Hot Property:
–Another look at the home that DJ Paul Oakenfold has put on the market for $10 million. It was our estate of the day in February.
–Hotelier Jason Pomeranc has purchased a former Hollywood Hills home of actress Sandra Dee and singer Bobby Darin for about $3 million.
–Frank Sinatra’s Palm Desert hideaway,Villa Maggio, has hit the market for $4.995 million. The compound sleeps up to 22 people and there is a helicopter pad, movie theater and outdoor dance floor. The listing is here.
–Actress Dedee Pfeiffer, sister of Michelle Pfeiffer, has listed her home in Mandeville Canyon for $1.195 million. It looks like the three-bedroom home with hot and cold Japanese-style dipping pools has already gone to contract. The listing is here.
–Actor Gregory Harrison has listed his southern Oregon home at $5.9 million. We covered this home as an estate of the day back in January but were unaware of its celebrity provenance

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