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After 2016 smashed records for the planet’s biggest deals, this year was not far behind. There was a noticeable flurry of activity in the aptly named Golden State of California where the rich and famous – and we’re talking the likes of Beyoncé and Jay Z – flocked to snap up a piece of prime LA luxury. But three of the most expensive homes were all inside one development in Hong Kong. — The Spaces
The McMansion style, built between 2001 and 2007 and averaging 3,000 to 5,000 square feet, lacks the appeal with today's buyers compared to old vintage homes or large freshly built homes.
The realization is especially hard on homeowners trying to sell because when they bought the giant homes in the early 2000s, they thought of them as great investments, Feinstein said.
Then, the idea was that bigger was better because prices presumably would keep going up.
— Chicago Tribune
Now, housing analysts say the day of the McMansion has come and gone. An analysis just completed by Trulia shows that the amount buyers are willing to pay for McMansions over other homes has fallen 26 percent in just four years. As homes in general have been regaining value, McMansions have been... View full entry
The couple claims the firm Pereiras Architects Ubiquitous and property owners Daniella and Ari Schwartz accessed their exclusive plans in property records last August through the Lawrence buildings department — without their permission.
“There is no doubt that you have accessed and intentionally copied the plans of the Fortgang residence intending to create a replica of our clients’ home and distinctive exterior,” the Fortgang’s lawyer Steven Stern wrote in a cease-and-desist letter
— nypost.com
Rivka and Seth Fortgang from Long Island had their custom 4,400 square foot house built in 2004, in the neighborhood of Five Towns. After learning Pereiras Architects Ubiquitous were building a very similar looking house a mile away, the Forgangs sued. Rivka Fortgang, an interior and exterior... View full entry
Despite the themes of the video, nothing was shot in New Orleans...The concept and quick turnaround required Tobman and the rest of the crew to convert [the Fenyes Mansion in Pasadena into a] fitting Southern Gothic set...A Beaux Arts mansion commissioned by and built for Dr. Adalbert Fenyes and his wife Eva Scott Muse Fenyes in 1905, there was nothing really Southern about architect Robert D. Farquhar's design — Curbed
If you're still bumpin' the Queen Bey's latest hard-hitting single, get a glimpse of the history behind the Fenyes Mansion in Pasadena, where parts of the song's impressive music video were filmed.More music-related goodness on Archinect:LA mayor Eric Garcetti slow-jams 101 freeway closure... View full entry
According to celebrity gossip juggernaut TMZ, the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles is soon to go up for sale and the owner — Playboy Enterprises and not Hugh Hefner — hopes for a brazenly quixotic and international publicity assuring sale price “somewhere north of $200 million.”
[...] should someone sign on the dotted line they will be required to accept a lifetime tenancy by Mister Hefner, now 89 years old and married since 2012 to 29-year-old former Playmate of the Month Crystal Harris.
— variety.com
Better call the carpet cleaner first.Related stories in the Archinect news:Un-haunting a house: the art of selling a building with a grisly pastLos Angeles to declare homelessness in the city an 'emergency' and pledge $100 millionLow-income housing in Los Angeles: A look at the past, present and... View full entry
Here's a line I never thought I'd have the pleasure of writing:
Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez is sparring with elderly Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary over the pending sale of the nuns' former convent in Los Feliz to international superstar singer Katy Perry.
— latimes.com
One of the biggest homes in U.S. history is rising on a Los Angeles hilltop, and the developer hopes to sell it for a record $500 million.
Nile Niami, a film producer and speculative residential developer, is pouring concrete in L.A.’s Bel Air neighborhood for a compound with a 74,000-square-foot (6,900-square-meter) main residence and three smaller homes, according to city records. [...] including a 5,000-square-foot master bedroom, a 30-car garage and a “Monaco-style casino,” Niami said.
— bloomberg.com
Rendering of the "largest home built in the U.S. this century." (Image: McClean Design; via bloomberg.com) Previously: The Biggest House in the US (according to Curbed) is Now Underway in Bel Air View full entry
“For 10 or so of these important properties to come on the market at the same time, that matters a lot,” - Gregory J. Heym, an executive vice president and the chief economist for Halstead Property and Brown Harris Stevens — NYT
Earlier this month Robin Finn, looked at one trend in Manhattan's luxury/high-end real estate market. Given the less than 2,000 single-family homes in Manhattan, a recent influx of historic mansions and townhouses into the market, offers buyers a rare opportunity to avoid co-ops and condos.Some... View full entry
Six years ago, Los Angeles politicians imposed new limits on the size of new and renovated houses, promising to rein in what they called "homes on steroids" dwarfing blocks of smaller buildings.
But as the housing market rebounds and construction picks up, many homeowners complain that "mansionization" has revved up — reigniting long-standing policy battles and sometimes bitter fence fights over the face and feel of L.A.'s neighborhoods.
— latimes.com
The owner of Hill House is Scott Croyle, senior vice president of design at HTC. At two bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths and a study, the home is just large enough to share with his wife and son. Its modest scale allowed Bernstein to emphasize quality materials over quantity of space.
"It's almost a negative value in that (tech) community," said Bernstein of over-the-top homes. "There's a real emphasis on not seeking a mansion right away."
— sfgate.com
North of the Berkeley Hills, nestled in the quiet community of Kensington, lies an abandoned mansion called the Blake House. At the end of a short gravel path, the home historically reserved for the UC president lies behind two wrought iron gates.
But the 13,200-square-foot Mediterranean-style mansion — with an elevator, two kitchens, a massive library and panoramic views — has been empty for more than five years.
— dailycal.org
