CasaSugar

This Just In: Nicolas Cage Lists Two New Orleans Properties

CasaSugar — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:30:36 -0800

Prolific real estate investor Nicolas Cage is on the loose on a wild selling spree. Cage has already put his Las Vegas, Bel-Air, and Rhode Island properties on the market, and today we have news that he's listed his two properties in New Orleans. According to WDSU and Real Estalker, Cage has listed his historical property (shown right) in New Orleans's French Quarter, the most haunted home in the neighborhood, in addition to a Garden District mansion. The haunted home, known as the LaLaurie House (which I wrote about here), is listed for $3.9 million, $400,000 more than he paid for it in April 2007. To hear about the other property and see photos, read more.

The listing for Cage's 13,176-square-foot, six-bedroom, five-full-and-two-half-bath Garden District mansion, which was once an active Catholic chapel, reads:

The most superlative of Garden District mansions with the best of every amenity. Ample room for a large family and big-time entertainment venue with formal gardens, parking, and everything anyone could possibly want in a most grand of grand, star-quality home.

It also features a pool and central air, which are ideal for the broiling NOLA heat. If the house looks familiar, it's probably because I quizzed you on the owner of it once, as it was once owned by gothic novelist Anne Rice. I've passed by the property hundreds of times myself and I can tell you it's an idyllic example of New Orleans architecture; I'd love to see interior photos.

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Home Away From Home: Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel

CasaSugar — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:00:00 -0700

If travel ever takes you to the country of Laos, you'd be well advised to pamper yourself with a night of luxury at the Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel in Luang Prabang. The town of Luang Prabang is a perfect destination for armchair architects, since this UNESCO World Heritage Site beautifully illustrates the fusion of traditional architecture and Lao urban structures.

The Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel was once home to Laotian royalty, and its current decor alternates between bygone colonial era furnishings in some wings of the hotel and more modern furnishings in others. Throughout the hotel, however, guests can expect beautifully furnished and luxuriously appointed quarters. After a day of exploring temples, ruins, or the city's architecture, guests can dine at the hotel's restaurant Elephant Blanc, which offers a variety of French, Laotian, and Indochinese cuisine. Or, choose to relax with a massage, facial, or other spa treatment at the Angsana Spa.

To take a full tour of the hotel, read more.

The hotel has been honored with many awards, including being noted as one of the world’s best new hotels in the Luxury Travel Awards and making the Condé Nast Traveler Hot List.

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Home Away From Home: NOLA's Hotel Monteleone

CasaSugar — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:30:44 -0800

The Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans' French Quarter is a legendary institution. Family owned and operated for over a hundred years, the hotel was recently renovated to restore it to its original grandeur. (Bonus: It's pet friendly too.) Take a look at the slideshow to find out more about this amazing hotel - including a ghost story!

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Midday Muse: New Orleans Architecture

CasaSugar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:00:41 -0800

I snapped this picture last year when I was trolling through the French Quarter with a plastic to-go cup of Sapphire and tonic. It's actually part of a long row of Creole Townhouses, but I was too smitten with that brick peaking out from the plaster to take in the bigger picture. And if you look a little closer, you'll see what else fascinated me - the tiny plants growing in the cracks and crannies of that sheer wall.

Architecture Styles: The Creole Townhouse

CasaSugar — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 05:45:52 -0800

In addition to its thriving music scene, finger-licking grub, and propensity towards too much fun, New Orleans architecture is what makes it one of America's most unique cities. In other hoods, brand new, $20 million manses are coveted by celebrities and money makers alike. In New Orleans, where you'll find at least six distinct styles of architecture, old homes are the truest treasures. read more One of these styles, and perhaps the most iconic, is the Creole Townhouse, which you'll find scattered throughout the narrow streets of NOLA's historic Vieux Carré in the French Quarter, as well as the nearby Faubourg Marigny. These brick or stucco structures, marked by lacy wrought-iron balconies, courtyards, thick walls, and arcades, were built to replace many of the city's wooden buildings that burned in the Great New Orleans Fire of 1788. While their balconies are go-to haunts for bead-throwing tourists and swarms of late-night revelers, they're also oft painted and photographed by visitors and locals alike, and are a keen venue for a green thumb's display of ivy, bromelaids, begonias, and ferns. In most cases, the facade of the building brushes up against the property line, leaving room for privacy (and parties) in interior courtyards not uncommonly decorated with flowing fountains. Creole townhouses are also built with steeply pitched roofs, side gabling, and several roof dormers.

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Nicolas Cage Owns a Haunted House

CasaSugar — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 06:00:12 -0800

Now that we've "fallen back" into the dark, I thought I'd share some grim celebrity trivia with you. While flipping through a photo gallery of haunted "murder" houses at This Old House, I learned that Nicolas Cage is the proud owner of the most haunted house in New Orleans' French Quarter, which he bought for nearly $3.5 million. The house was built in 1832 for Dr. Louis Lalaurie and his sadistic wife, Delphine, who legend has it, violently tortured and murdered hundreds of slaves within the house.

As for the hauntings, there were many reports of paranormal experiences between 1837 and 1932 in the house. In 1920, one resident reported: "There were no other families living here and one night, on the third floor, I saw a man walking carrying his head on his arm." In 1932, the house was being used as a furniture store, and it was reported that the owner "first suspected vandals when all of his merchandise was ruined several times, covered with a foul liquid filth. The owner waited one night with a shotgun, hoping to catch the vandals in the act. When dawn came, the furniture was once again ruined. He closed the place down shortly thereafter."

If you're not easily spooked, read more

While this history alone would prevent me from looking into this real estate, I think that this next fact would deter nearly everyone from buying the property: According to This Old House, "More recently, human remains dating back to the 19th century have been found in the home's floorboards." Maybe that explains Cage's permanently sullen expression.

Actually, Cage has made a habit of purchasing historical homes throughout the country and added this one to his stable in April. He reportedly has many real estate holdings, which he purchases through his trust, Hancock Park Real Estate Company L.L.C., to avoid media attention. His other addresses include a house in New Orleans' Garden District, a historical mansion in San Francisco's Russian Hill, two houses in Las Vegas, multiple properties in LA, and at least one place in NY. Ahhh to be a Coppola...

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