CasaSugar

Coveted Crib: Light and Visual in San Francisco

CasaSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:00:06 -0700

I was lucky enough to meet San Francisco-based interior designer Jiun Ho at the Metropolitan Home Modern by Design Showhouse in June. The dining room he created for the space was the most elegant room in the house by far; it could make even delivery pizza seem gourmet. So, it's no surprise that his residential client projects are equally impressive.

I came across a condo design he did for an international businessman who is an avid art collector and was blown away. Some designers make every room all about them - their signature style, their go-to fabrics, their furniture designs (ahem, Jonathan Adler). But Ho created a perfect background for all of the masterpieces on display using light colors, simple shapes, and modest proportions. The result is a space that's visually exciting in an understated way. And a gorgeous grand piano tops it all off. To take the full tour, read more.

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This Just In: Natalie Portman Sells West Village Condo

CasaSugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:00:01 -0700

Actress and vegan shoe designer Natalie Portman has sold her Richard Meier-designed condo in Manhattan's West Village area. It had been listed for $6.55 million. Portman first purchased the condo in 2005 for $5.7 million. The stunning skyscraper, with its transparent glass facade, has been on the market since June.

According to the New York Post:

Included in the convertible three-bedroom, three-bath, fifth-floor apartment are views in three directions, a 32-foot balcony, and a spacious great room. Building amenities include a 24-hour concierge, a fitness center, an infinity-edge lap pool and a screening room.

For interior photos of the condo, read more.

While it's sad that the lovely Ms. Portman has ended her relationship with freak folker Devendra Banhart, I'm sure that this multimillion sale (impressive in this bad housing market) will provide her with some solace.

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In The News: No One's Immune From Downsizing

CasaSugar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:30:01 -0700

For most of us, downsizing means foregoing an addition on a home, or selling a vacation home, especially in this uncertain real estate market. If your last name is Spelling, though, downsizing has a slightly different meaning.

As reported in the LA Times, Candy Spelling, widow of Aaron Spelling, has traded in her Holmby Hills home - the largest house in the entire county of Los Angeles with 123(!) rooms and measuring in at 56,500 square feet- for her new $47 million condo, which spans the top two floors of LA's Century City high rise, which is still under construction. You see? No one's immune to downsizing; it just operates on a different scale.

The condo is significantly smaller at around 16,500 square feet. Of course, that's still a massive amount of residential space. Personally I wouldn't want to deal with a house that size, nor the environmental impact that such a big home would incur (not to mention the housecleaning bill). However, Ms. Spelling can obviously do exactly as she pleases, and if this downsizing is her idea of home sweet home - even at the cost of $2,848 per square foot - then more power to her.

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This Just In: Kevin Spacey Slices His Tribeca Price Tag

CasaSugar — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:00:25 -0700

According to the New York Post, Kevin Spacey has cut the price of his TriBeCa duplex from approximately $5 million to $4.67 million. The sprawling 2,363-square-foot, 3-bedrooms, 2.5-bath apartment occupies the top two floors in a five apartment boutique condo building. The listing reads:

A complete Crestron system controls the window shades, lighting, entertainment system and internet. The wrap around terrace has open views, built-in grill, planters at every turn, custom lighting, sound system, timed irrigation system and retractable awnings. A perfect oasis for outdoor dinning and lounging.

Perhaps Spacey needs to downsize because he's been losing money at the casinos lately?

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In the News: A Luxury Condo for Fish

CasaSugar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:30:41 -0700

Although the mortgage crisis may be making real estate exchanges difficult for a lot of people these days, luxury condos are actually coming quite easily to some citizens — fish. That's right, fish. Retired New York City subway cars are being shoved off of a barge off the coast of Delaware, according to The New York Times. The cars, or what Jeff Tinsman, artificial reef program manager for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, calls "luxury condominiums for fish," transform "barren stretch of ocean floor into a bountiful oasis, carpeted in sea grasses, walled thick with blue mussels and sponges, and teeming with black sea bass and tautog." While the creation of this artificial reef has spurred "a 400-fold increase in the amount of marine food per square foot in the last seven years," it has also resulted in "theft and sabotage of fishing traps and pots," and competition between other states for the last remaining subway cars, which are limited. Some environmental groups oppose these "fish condos" because they are lined with small levels of asbestos, but state and federal officials have approved their use because, they say, "the asbestos was not a risk for marine life and has to be airborne to pose a threat to humans." What are your thoughts on this housing situation?
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Guess Who?

CasaSugar — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:00:50 -0700

According to a recent New York Times article, a top American designer is the condo board president of this building, 173 Perry Street, New York.

This Just In: Nicole and Joel Call NYC Home

CasaSugar — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:08:58 -0800

According to Page Six, Nicole Richie and Joel Madden quietly purchased "a two-bedroom, two-bath downtown condo on the Bowery" for $999,999 in December. The 1,000-square-foot, 11th-floor pad, which is said to be "very simple, nothing high design," and "was sold unrenovated," will be the primary residence of the family of three. A Corcoran listing for the building says, "The kitchen features stainless steel appliances, granite counters, and Shaker-style maple cabinetry. The baths are finished with marble floors, walls, and vanity."
Page Six notes, "celeb-friendly clubs BLVD and Crash Mansion are on the block." Let's hope baby Harlow gives it a few years before becoming a club kid.

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This Just In: Leonardo DiCaprio To Buy Eco-Friendly Condo

CasaSugar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:00:26 -0700

According to New York magazine, actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio is in the process of buying a unit at Riverhouse, an eco-friendly high rise in New York City. Although the price for Leo's unit is unknown, these units usually sell for between $800,000 to $4 million, depending on the size.

Riverhouse is truly an eco-friendly high rise (and I wouldn't expect anything less in a home purchase from the eco-friendly actor). The 264-unit building was built with only nonpollutant materials and uses solar-powered energy. Its eco features include programmable thermostats, which reduce energy use, around-the-clock filtered air, and a $1 million graywater and black-water treatment facility in the building's basement. The building is attempting to achieve LEED Platinum status, the highest rating through the US Green Building Council, and also features locally quarried bluestone, recovered barn wood. low- or no-VOC adhesives, paints and carpeting, and recycled, salvaged, and biodegradable materials.

The building also includes a children's playroom, an organic bakery, an indoor 50 foot-long lap pool, and an indoor children's Light House. Leo's rep confirmed the condo purchase, saying, “Riverhouse is a prime example of how green technology is both accessible and achievable for new residential developments - it is a groundbreaking building.”

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Coveted Crib: A Bright and Beautiful West Hollywood Condo

CasaSugar — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Blending modern and vintage décor, Hollywood, CA, interior designer Michelle Workman used a green and white color palette to create a bright, clean, and inspiring home look for her Connecticut transplant client. The client's traditional pieces were incorporated into the new design and given California flair.

Michelle explains,

[The client] wanted to change the look she had from back East. She wanted white walls and white furniture, but the rest was up to me! With all of the new furnishings, I went with a modern shape so that the only traditional shapes would be from her previous home. The result was bright, cool, and crisp, yet entirely welcoming. We also gutted the kitchen, which had been very traditional, but without any joie de vivre. The result was a simple, clean space with a splash of ornamentation in the hardware.

To see the sparkling results, read more.

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Link TIme!

CasaSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:00:54 -0700

Make this easy fabric party garland. - Craft
Solar tiles are prettier than panels. - Charles and Hudson
Commission a custom house portrait. - AT:SF
Check out these artsy autism-awareness posters. - PoppyTalk
Gorgeous tiles for your home. - Shelterrific
These WWII bunkers were turned into condos. - ShelterPop
Be safe with these fire-prevention products. - This Old House