CasaSugar

This Just In: Nic Cage Is Leaving Las Vegas

CasaSugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:30:30 -0700

Nicolas Cage has put his whopping, 14,306-square-foot, 7-bedroom, 8-bath Las Vegas home on the market for $9,950,000. The listing for the property reads:

Incredible new custom home with outstanding vistas of the Las Vegas Valley and mountains. With over 14,000 square feet of fabulous structure, this magnificent mansion features Crema Marfil slab marble floors with exquisite details, gourmet kitchen with professional appliances, huge great room with surround sound, theater room with built-ins, commercial elevator to all three floors, game room, work out room, 3 fireplaces, and 16-car garage.

Sounds pretty fabulous to me! I've written about Nicolas Cage before, and how he's known for purchasing homes throughout the country as investments. So, there's no telling whether Cage actually lives in this manse. But, if you happen to be a member of the Brady Bunch and have a need for eight bathrooms, and you've got $10 mill. to spare, maybe you can!
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The Card Shop: Vegas Bachelorette Invites

CasaSugar — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:00:41 -0700

I must preface this post by saying, "Yes, this invite is rather kitschy." But, Vegas is kitschy too, so I whole-heartedly embrace it! Despite the rhinestones, the Beyond Design Custom Vegas Bachelorette Party Invitation ($4.75) is actually well-designed, affordable, and seems to be good quality. The custom invitation includes the invite with ribbon, poker chip and matching envelopes, and you have the option of having custom poker chip necklaces made for an additional $12. But, honestly, I'd save the extra 12 bucks for the slot machines! Would you send this for a friend's Vegas bachelorette party?

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Vivienne Tam Launches Upholstery Furniture Collection

CasaSugar — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:15:39 -0700

Fashion force Vivienne Tam is taking her modern Chinoiserie home - to your home. She's partnered with Rowe Furniture to create a new collection of custom upholstery furniture, including multiple sofa groupings and accent pieces. While designing furniture is a natural extension for many fashion designers, I think Tam's strength lies in textiles, so I'm excited to see a range of exclusive fabric designs used in the collection. "I want to bring beautifully designed prints, fabrics, colors and textures to create a truly unique line with subtle and sophisticated pieces inspired by my Chinese roots," she explains.

As for the furniture designs themselves, I'm most impressed with her Adler Sofa (shown here). There's a really harmonious balance between its sleek legs and plush cushions, blending formality and comfort. The way the rectangular shape of the legs is built into the sofa's arms themselves is very unique, but also derivative of Eastern styles. To see her chair designs and hear more details, read more.

To me, her Peony chair looks too much like a cross between the Artifort Apollo chair and the Ikea Skruvsta - not very original. Her Daniela chair is a slipper chair we've all seen before. And the Greek key arms on her Camelia chair are amiss paired with her cherry blossom print and Chinoiserie-style legs. But I do praise the textiles; each is understated, elegant, and youthful.

The line will start shipping at the beginning of next year, but will be unveiled at the Las Vegas World Market in September as well as the High Point furniture market in October.

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In the News: Green Architecture Has a Ways to Go

CasaSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:15:17 -0700

Interested in getting the lowdown about green architecture? Then I suggest you read the Newsweek article, "The Bad News About Green Architecture." For a good while now, the reporting of green architecture practices has been nothing less than greenwashed, and I've been waiting for a mainstream publication to address our country's problem with its perception and definition of "green" architecture. In "The Bad News About Green Architecture," writer Cathleen McGuigan points out that "LEED rating" is an over-trumpeted catch phrase these days ("more than 16,000 projects are now registered with the U.S. Green Building Council as intending to go for a LEED certification"), and LEED isn't stringent enough with its awards - a long-held truth.
But more importantly, she stresses that building green if you're building big (i.e. McMansions), or unnecessarily, isn't green at all. There are various plans to build green resorts in Las Vegas, including the 8.3-million-square-foot Palazzo Resort Hotel and Casino, likely motivated by the tax rebates that come with passing LEED certification. While that makes a great talking point in local papers, it still takes "tons of jet fuel that will be used to deliver millions more tourists to Vegas each year," and countless un-green materials to keep the place up and running once it's built. To hear more of my thoughts, read more.

Truly green architecture, she says, is "designed to suit their specific environments," such as New Orleans Shotgun houses, which are "built high off the ground to resist flood damage; they are made of local wood that dries out; they have high ceilings and cross ventilation to deal with the stifling summer heat." My favorite point is that "sustainability is about the practical systems of building, not the beauty of great design." Architects need to put aside the current trendiness of green architecture and just build so that ecological solutions aren't a calling card or a feature, but rather, invisible. I whole-heartedly agree with McGuigan, as she writes:

I look forward to a future when green architecture won't be discretionary but required of every architect and builder. Then we could all shut up about it. Sustainable features would become as exciting as the plumbing systems and as essential as a roof that keeps out the rain.

Now, I'll shut up about it.
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Link Time!

CasaSugar — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:00:43 -0800

Get some faux cabin style.- PoppyTalk
The trickiest questions deserve the best answers.- Re-Nest
Las Vegas's McMansions are shrinking.- Charles and Hudson
Learn how to make heart sachets.- Craft
Would you like a feedbag pillow? - Danny Seo
The free market needs to account for sustainability.- Forecast Earth
Check out this awesome 2009 wall calendar.- Shelterrific
Get the lowdown on after-Christmas sales.- Simply Stated

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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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Link Time!

CasaSugar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:00:40 -0700

Grassroots Modern provides a thorough list of modern Las Vegas vendors.
Green Is Sexy kicks the drop in the bucket.
Happy Mundane transports us to Kandinsky Square.
Inhabitat shows us inflatable plastic bag polar bear subway art.
Laissez Faire takes me to an art-filled home away from home.
The Moment rambles about storage in all sorts of places.
NotCot spots a chocolate Eames house. Yum.
Remodelista shares her kitchen faves.
Sfgirlbybay has mantle mania.

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This Just In: Todd Oldham Releases Carpet Series For Durkan

CasaSugar — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:00:00 -0700

Todd Oldham has released a new series of flexible, versatile, carpet designs for Durkan, a division of the Mohawk Group, which will feel right at home in hospitality interiors. TODD: Todd Oldham Designs Durkan, launched at the Hospitality Design Expo 2008 in Las Vegas this month. The Haberdashery Collection pays tribute to menswear by updating classics patterns like argyle, corduroy, plaid, herringbone, hounds-tooth, and checks with contemporary colors and pattern directions, dressing hospitality interiors with design elements that will never go out of style. The Facets Collection was inspired by jewels and chains, sometimes layered or highlighted by texture and color, adding an element of luxury and cohesive distinction. According to Oldham, "These accents effectively and cost efficiently bring an added richness and dimension to the designs that might have previously only been achieved in woven carpet." The Concentrics Collection experiments, "with scale and turning the design elements in different angles," taking "concentric squares in a new direction that can be appreciated and enjoyed by designers looking to achieve any style - from modern contemporary to rustic." I'm really digging some of these designs; I may just have to buy a hotel so I can cover my floors in TODD — dream. Until then, we can keep a look out for these designs the next time we travel to a Home Away From Home!

This Just In: Ken Paves Buys in Beverly Hills

CasaSugar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:00:36 -0700

Ken Paves, aka Jessica Simpson's hairdresser and other half, has purchased a 2,762-square-foot, 3-bedroom, 3.5-bath Cape Cod-style house in Beverly Hills for $1.9 million. The listing for the property reads:

Perched on top of a ridge along prestigious Mulholland Drive sits this elegant Cape Cod contemporary designed by Robert Byrd. Flooded with natural light and surrounded by breathtaking views, this home has been renovated with the finest attention to detail. The large split-level LR is perfect for entertaining with vaulted ceilings, wet bar and French doors that open to an expansive deck. Other features: 3 en-suite bedrooms, 4 fireplaces, brand new kitchen and baths, and parking for 11 cars.

I think it looks charming, functional, and understated. I'm loving the exposed beams and the bright white traditional kitchen, not to mention the stellar view and outdoor space. I wouldn't mind living there year-round, but then again Paves can always visit his bff in Las Vegas if he needs some time away from Cali.

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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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