Filed under: Estates

For the next couple of weeks we’ll be checking out some homes in the most expensive zip codes in the United Says, up this day, 60043 . This zip code refers to the town of Kenilworth, Illinois. This zip code has a median price of $1,900,000 with an appreciation rate of 226% since 1990. Kenilworth is a planned community. In 1889, Joseph Sears bought 223.6 acres for $150,300 to develop into an exclusive community. Over the years, Kenilworth has remained one of the wealthiest communities in the U.S.

Today’s home isn’t the most high-priced in the region but it does demonstrate the massive scale of homes in the area. This Prarie-style home has massive open rooms with dramatic windows and arches and a stark contemporary black and white palette. There’s a big indoor pool an a lower level great room. The six-bedroom home sits on just half an acre and is located a few blocks from Lake Michigan. This home is listed at $3,995,000.

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Filed under: Estates

One-of-a-kind home designs have always been popular, but extremely unique homes with drastic lines and specific themes seem to be getting more and more popular every day. Living in a home shaped like a giant snail shell isn’t up everybody’s alley, but maybe something more contemporary and sleek like this Jet House by Jerome Olivet would fit your style superior. Although I have the ability to see how the name “Jet” fits it, I personally think it looks more like an alien spacecraft with its sweeping round curves and almost saucer-like silhouette. Called “biomorphic,” it has two stories (which are connected by an elevator) and looks like its full of bright light and tones of greys, blues, and whites — I really wish we had more photos of the inside!

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Filed under: Estates

Condominiums may be in tough shape all over the country but one thing is certain, empty nesters are beginning to move into them. The Arizona Republic covers the opening of Bridgeview, a luxury condo tower on the south shore of Tempe Town Lake. The 12-story tower has views of the lake and bridges (hence the name) as well as neighboring towns and the mountains. The $140 million building is n the 17-acre Hayden Ferry Lakeside mixed-use site that also includes office space and retail. A luxury hotel is also planned. Amenities at Bridgeview include a lounge, library with a fireplace, business center, demonstration and catering kitchen, dining room/supper club, home theater, billiards room, a gym with a sauna and steam room, outdoor heated pool and spa, outdoor barbeque area, zen garden and a putting course.

While many condo towers in the Southwest have had trouble selling, the project manager at Bridgeview reports that almost half the 104 Bridgeview condos were sold before construction was completed. That would have been slow sales a few years back but is pretty good for this market. Bridgeview has one-, two- and three-bedroom residences starting at about $680,000 and 5,000-square-foot penthouse homes at about $5.6 million.

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Filed under: Estates

Ever wish you could purchase a home in a place like Nantucket, Mass. or Palm Beach, Fla., but found it out of your range? Such posh locales come at premium prices. Many people decide to settle for less just to have a stakehold in a top address.

Or you could try another route: Find a neighborhood that is almost as nice as the one you aspire to, but that comes at a discount.

Real estate research firm Neighborhood Scout, did a fascinating study that turned up great fodder for such a search. We used the findings to identify some great new estates of the day here at Luxist, which we’ll be featuring later this month, and AOL’s real estate channel put together this photo gallery). Neighborhood Scout’s founder Dr. Andrew Schiller and his team used their “match” feature to trove their database of neighborhood metrics to come up with locales that have many of the same attributes of the poshest places, but offer a steep discount in real estate values.

So, for example, if you want Nantucket, but can’t afford it, try Southwest Harbor, Maine. Schiller finds both “quaint, sophisticated, nautical,” but Southwest Harbor comes at an 83% discount to Nantucket. Want Malibu? Try Madison, Conn. instead. The median home price there’s $650,000 vs. almost $3 million in Malibu.

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Filed under: Estates

For the next couple of weeks we’ll be checking out some homes in the most expensive zip codes in the United States, up this day, 60611 . This zip code is in Chicago, Illinois and encompasses costly Chicago’s Gold Coast area. This zip code has a median price of $1,954,000 with an appreciation rate of 236% since 1990.

Right now, the most pricey listings in this area belong to the Chicago Spire, the massive spiraled Santiago Calatrava masterpiece that will be the new defining piece in the Chicago skyline. The MLS is also sprinkled with some high-priced listings for Trump’s Chicago offering. But for today’s estate I selected something a tiny older that talks to this area’s history. This duplex is part of a building built in 1913, designed by architect Benjamin Marshall and located on East Lake Shore Drive. The unit was purchased as raw space by the current owners in 1998 and redesigned by architect Scott Himmel. The main level has a round entry foyer with curved stairway, big living room with lake views, a separate dining room/library, family room, eat-in kitchen with breakfast room and butler’s pantry, and a separate laundry room. The upper level has three bedrooms including a master suite with a study, dressing rooms and a terrace over looking the lake. This home is listed at $5.6 million.

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Filed under: Estates

Chris Tucker, the comedian most famous for playing Jackie Chan’s foil in the Rush Hour movies, has put his home in the Mulholland Park Estates area in Tarzana on the market. The Real Estalker Mama unearthed this find for us and also reports that he owns the house next door so it isn’t clear which home Tucker lives in. This makes sense because this luxurious but brain-numbingly boring home doesn’t seem to reflect Tucker’s antic spirit. The home was a previous model estate and was likely furnished for neutrality by home stagers. The five-bedroom home is 6,500 square feet and also has a home theater, upstairs game room and library. The pool area is particularly over the top with its statues and water features. The master bedroom also has a very shiny campagne bedspread and some curious lighting and a rather small television tucked into a bookshelf. The master bath includes a very massive spa tub which looks a tiny dated (the home was built in 1995 and already seems to be showing its age). This home does seem to have a decent location for the valley, it looks to be up on a hill and has views over the valley. The home is listed at $3.8 million.

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Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

From the NY Post’s Gimme Shelter:
–Brooke Shields and Chris Henchy are buying a Greek Revival townhouse on West 10th Street.. The townhouse currently has four apartments with 18 rooms total and had a $5.6 million asking price. The listing is here.
–Director Ang Lee has been spotted checking out a a building in Chelsea with a $5.195 million asking price. The listing is here.
–Joy Behar has purchased one apartment at Astor Court on the Upper West Side for approximately $3.5 million and is selling another unit in the building.
–Donald Trump has already dropped the rent on the $200,000 a month penthouse apartment rental/sales listing on Park Avenue. Trump has lowered the price to $175,000 a month but the for sale price is still $45 million.
–Neil Simon’s wife, Elaine Joyce, has just purchased an apartment at the new Platinum condo complex at Eighth Avenue at 46th Street. She’s said to be paying approximately $1.8 million for a mid-floor two-bedroom apartment.

From The Wall Street Journal Online’s Private Properties:
–It’s looking more and more like movie producer Sidney Kimmel has sold his Palm Beach, Florida house for a number close to the astronomical $81.5 million asking price.
–Meanwhile in Palm Beach, Donald Trump has finally dropped the asking price for his Palm Beach spec house to $100 million.
–British music producer Nellee Hooper has relisted his former London home for

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