Welcome to The Brokerbabble Glossary, wherein Curbed contributor Jeremiah Budin expands the popular column he created for Curbed NY to a national arena. The concept: take a word or phrase that shows up in an unreasonable number of listings and decipher its true meaning. Ideas? Send them to the tipline. [2312 Calle De Panza Northwest, Albuquerque, N.M., via Trulia ] The concept of luxury is at least a little bit subjective. Something that is luxurious is characterized by elegance, splendor, refinement, and so on, all of which—one could argue—are in the eye of the beholder. Of course, when the beholder is a broker with a property to sell, luxury can be found in every bedroom and bathtub in the country. Therefore, although one might expect, for instance, that a “luxurious bath” would be large enough to contain (at least) one adult human body, that expectation would be misguided. Very misguided. [722 Dryden Drive, Baltimore, via Trulia ] Let’s hope that the word ‘master’ refers to the master bedroom and not to a well-dressed (and updated) overlord that comes with the house. Actually, considering the size of that bedroom, let’s hope it doesn’t. [5210 Catalpha Road, Baltimore, via Trulia ] What qualifies a bath as luxurious, exactly? To be fair, compared to what things were like a hundred years ago every bath is luxurious, so maybe these listings are aimed mainly at time-traveling frontiersmen. [11205 Azalea Drive, Pittsburgh, via Trulia ] Yep. Definitely. Any style. · All Brokerbabble Glossary posts [Curbed NY] · All Brokerbabble Glossary posts [Curbed National]
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The Brokerbabble Glossary: Decoded: the Most "Luxurious" Listings in the Country
Here at Curbed celebrity real estate is a dime a dozen, from tales of woe, to multimillion-dollar transactions, to sports stars trading one massive mansion for another. How can one make sense of all these famous people buying and selling properties? Enter the Celebrity Real Estate Heat Map. Below, please find the 20 hottest stories from the past few months, taking place as close as Connecticut and as far away as Hawaii. Of course, NYC and Los Angeles are veritable epicenters of celebrity real estate madness, so be sure to zoom in on those cities closely. See someone missing? Leave ‘em in the comments. · All Curbed Celebrity Heat Maps [Curbed National]
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Curbed Maps: Updating the Curbed Celebrity Heat Map: Spring 2012
Photo by Jeffrey Hirsch/ New York Social Diary House NYC —New York Social Diary photographs furniture maker Tucker Robbins’ home for its weekly House column. Given Robbins’ signature organic style, it’s no surprise that “the walls of the front hallway are lined with wedding carpets out of river stick and goat skin that once belonged to the Tuareg tribe, nomads of the Sahara.” [NYSD House] BEVERLY HILLS —Guess jeans founder Georges Marciano has put his seven-bedroom estate on the market for $24.5M. The mansion has attracted lookie loos in droves: usually 10 Ferraris are parked out front. [Trulia Luxe Living] THE INTERNET —The Huffington Post has released its list of 10 design Twitter handles to follow right now, and it includes @johnmaeda, president of the Rhode Island School of Design, @designsponge (of course), and Dwell magazine deputy editor @jamiegillin. [Huffington Post]
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CurbedWire: Tucker Robbins at Home; a Jeans Mogul Lists in Bev Hills
Photo of Thom Felicia’s dining room by Alexa Stevenson This year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House had people gossiping even before designers were assigned their rooms: instead of being held in, say, a grand 16-room townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, it would be produced in The Aldyn, a glassy residential tower that Knicks sharpshooter Carmelo Anthony calls home. Could this design-industry tradition truly transform a new-construction setting into something beautiful, and for only the second time in its 40-year history? Not that modern architecture doesn’t have some advantages. Thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows and a perch on floors 21 and 22, the two adjacent duplexes selected for Kips Bay—on the market for $15.9M and $16.9M—offer some of the city’s best panoramic views of the Hudson River. As for the multiple ceiling heights, lack of moldings or charming detail, and oddly placed HVAC systems, those participating devised clever ways to circumvent the unsightly. Charlotte Moss, for example, added digitally printed Delft tiles along the baseboards of her master bedroom. Shawn Henderson wrapped the moldings in his lounge with velvet. And since every room started out as a bright, white box, essentially, color seems to explode—green is quite popular this year. It’s also worth mentioning that most everyone had some sort of tribute to the late American decorator Albert Hadley, who passed away in March. View the 48 best details from this year’s Kips Bay below. Click here to view the full photogallery. Photos by Alexa Stevenson · Kips Bay Casts New Construction, Oddly, For ’12 Showhouse [Curbed National]
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Showhouses: The 48 Best Details From the Kips Bay Decorator Show House
Adding to recent allegations that Ikea used East German prisoners to manufacture sofas in the 1970s, six Cuban-American Congresspeople have sent a letter to Ikea North America president Mike Ward requesting “a meeting to discuss recent reports alleging that IKEA has knowingly benefitted or sought to benefit from the use of Cuban prison labor to manufacture its products.” According to the Huffington Post, the retailer struck a deal with Cuba in 1987 that enlisted Castro-era inmates to produce tens of thousands of dining tables, children’s furniture, and other products. The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which first broke the story, reported that Ikea factories were actually incorporated into certain Cuban prisons. Anyway, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) has this to say about the matter: “Multinational corporations have a moral obligation to assure their businesses are not violating human rights. We look forward to getting answers from IKEA on our multiple concerns stemming from these accusations.” Meanwhile, Ikea has added this brouhaha to the internal investigation it launched when the East Germany situation presented itself. Any other countries wanna get in on the deal? · Did Ikea Once Force Political Prisoners to Make its Furniture? [Curbed National] · Ikea Criticized For Alleged Use Of Cuban Political Prisoners [Huffington Post] · Cuban Americans in Congress want meeting with IKEA over Cuban prisoners [Miami Herald]
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Controversies: Has Any Ikea Furniture Not Been Made by Political Prisoners?
Co.Design notices the geniusly subtle, nearly logo-less branding inside the new Virgin Atlantic HQ in London: “[E]very bit of the experience is bold—we’re talking about red floors with race-car sheen . Even the plain walls seem to convey a certain larger-than-life grandeur beyond a mere reference to white space. Virgin makes white paint into a luxury.” [Co.Design]
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Office Spaces: Co.Design notices the geniusly subtle, nearly…
Have a nomination for a jaw-dropping listing that would make a mighty fine House of the Day? Get thee to the tipline and send us your suggestions. We’d love to see what you’ve got. Click here to view the full photogallery. Location: Middletown, N.J. Price: No Reserve, Absolute Auction The Skinny: The national brokerage firm Keller Williams has decided to enter the auctions market with Supreme Auctions and is opening their foray into that business with this brick manse in New Jersey, about an hour south of NYC. The Georgian-style estate was built in 1916 by architect John Russell Pope, the man behind the Jefferson Memorial, and is located across the street from the Navesink Country Club. Measuring 12,000 square feet, the mansion has some spectacularly well preserved segements, but few rooms that couldn’t use some work with the decor. The mirror-and-brass bar area looks particularly dated, as does the master bed, and the dust on the floors can’t be doing much to inspire bidders. Then again, the bones are there to create a stunning suburban estate, particularly given its waterfront location, and a buyer could scoop this place up for cheap, as it’s being sold in a no reserve absolute auction on June 19. · 1916 Historic Estate [Supreme Auctions]
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House of the Day: Dusty Georgian Mansion Will Go to Highest Bidder at Auction
This pool: so big! Click to make bigger. Tonight’s episode of Million Dollar Rooms —the HGTV show that brought you the ’40s-themed mini-town and the garage that doubles as a ballroom —features the world’s largest residential pool, which is located beside a 9,000-square-foot mansion in El Campo, Texas. Bowing to clients who wanted to create a “tropical getaway,” pool designer Cheryl Kuykendall created an aquatic wonderland with a 40,000-square-foot main pool (filled with 750,000 gallons of water), six waterfalls, a 21-foot slide, a 500-foot lazy river, a bar, an outdoor kitchen, a kiddie area, and more. “The idea of this was to put so much into it that it was just an entire weekend of entertainment,” Kuyendall explains of the project, which cost upwards of $3M. Thirsty yet? Watch the video tour below. The Video: · Million Dollar Rooms [HGTV] · All Million Dollar Rooms coverage [Curbed National]
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Lifestyles of the Rich and Richer: Here’s a Look at the Largest Residential Pool in the World
The Sagaponack, N.Y., estate that once belonged to the late Henry O. Golightly —”who supposedly inspired the Holly Golightly character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s “—has hit the market for $13.95M. The property boasts a restored shingled house from 1787 and some outbuildings. Meanwhile, Holly Golightly’s actual house just sold. [Curbed Hamptons; previously ]
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Click here to view the full photogallery. Photos: Sotheby’s Nantucket recently topped CNBC’s list of America’s richest counties, so it’s no wonder that Massachusetts’ most expensive listing is one of the island’s largest estates. Known as Swain’s Neck, the 69-acre parcel is surrounded by water on three sides and is occupied by a four-bedroom main house, a two-bedroom guest house, a boat house, an office building, and a guard house. The price for all that space in one of the country’s most expensive markets? A cool $59M. The offering includes a private beach and three moorings on well protected Polpis Harbor. Owned by the estate of an engine electronics magnate, the sprawling property could become the most expensive home ever sold in New England should it sell for close to its asking price. · Swain’s Neck Estate [Forbes] · Extravagant Estates from America’s Five Richest Counties [Curbed National]
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On the Market: A Look Inside New England’s Most Expensive Mansion