Friday, September 4, 2009

Celebrity Home of the Week: Madoff's Beach House


On behalf of all the victims of Bernie Madoff, we declare his beach house our Celebrity Home of the Week.

It's not glamorous. In fact, it's a great fixer-upper, with a little character and a great view. Let's get it sold so that perhaps the victims can get some of their money back!

CHOW & Ciao!

Ben Stiller's Mediterranean House Up For Sale

Funny film star Ben Stiller has placed his Spanish mediterranean style Hollywood Hills home on the market for $12.5M. He shares this home with his wife, actress Christine Taylor (above) -- who co-starred with him in Dodgeball, Zoolander, and Tropic Thunder -- and their two kids.

Although the listing provides few glimpses of the home's interior, we dug up some interior shots on our own. It just so happens that their home was featured in the book, So Chic: Glamorous Lives, Stylish Spaces by Margaret Russell, editor in chief of Elle Decor magazine.

Check out the study above and the living room below:

We must admit we never particularly cared for the interior design of this home. We always thought it was a little too dark. Looks like they were trying for some sort of moorish/moroccan feel, which contributed to the overall darkness.

Nevertheless, we bet it's a very relaxing environment. There are lots of outdoor spaces like this to unwind:
If you want to see more photos of the outside, definitely check out the listing. The grounds are especially lush!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Real OC Housewife Is a Squatter!

This b!tch has some nerve! We previously reported to you that Jane Curtin of Bravo TV's Real Housewives of Orange County was evicted from the home she rents on the show. Well, TMZ is reporting that she won't get out!

So the owner is now forced to ask the sheriff's office to physically throw her a$$ out!

The crazy thing is Curtin only owes $12,000--which isn't a heckuva a lot of money. What gives?

DJ AM Dies, Mom Wants to Close Real Estate Deal

Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein, who along with Blink 182's Travis Barker famously survived a Learjet crash that killed four others nearly a year ago, was found dead last Friday in his New York City apartment. It has yet to be determined whether it was a drug overdose or suicide.

TMZ recently reported that Goldstein's mom wants to be named special administrator of his estate so she can sell his house in Los Angeles.
For more on the story and photos of the house, go here: DJ AM's Mom Wants to Close Real Estate Deal

R.I.P. DJ AM

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Will Whitney Houston's New Album Sales Keep the Mortgage Paid?

Unless you've been under a rock, you know by now that Whitney Houston's new album, I Look to You, dropped this week. So far, it's been met with lukewarm reviews.

We listened to a little of the footage of her concert in Central Park yesterday, which aired this morning on ABC's Good Morning America. Whitney was still not quite at the top of her game to us.

No matter though. Judging by all the fans who showed up, her album sales will be through the roof!

Good thing. Because Whitney could apparently use the money. Living with a drug addiction and that co-dependent husband Bobby Brown is what put her on the road to nearly losing both of her homes to foreclosure.

Back in 2006, her $1.39M mansion (above) in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Georgia -- where Whitney and Bobby filmed their TV reality show Being Bobby Brown -- was in foreclosure. Luckily she was able to sell it for $1.19M before the bank got around to it.

But who can forget this photo below from the National Enquirer of that bathroom in her house during the drug days?


Then, there were the reports that her $6M estate (below) in Mendham, New Jersey, was also in foreclosure for a period in 2006 because she owed more than $1M in back taxes.


Now that she's ditched her two DH's -- her Drug Habit and her Deadbeat Husband -- it looks like she's on the road to an amazing comeback. Let's hope that voice comes back too!


Good luck Whitney!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Feds Prepare to Sell Bernie Madoff's Beach House in Montauk

Various news outlets report today that the U.S. Marshals are preparing to sell Bernie Madoff's Long Island beach house, located in Montauk, New York. The home was seized by the feds after Madoff was convicted of swindling investors out of billions of dollars. CNN reports that the feds hope to fetch about $7 million for the home, which CNN describes as unremarkable except for its views of the Atlantic Ocean.

So let's see if CNN is right:

Well, yeah, the living room decor (above) is indeed pretty tired. Judging from the taupe leather sofa "collection," it looks like the home was last updated in the 1980's. And too bad someone cut a giant hole for a TV into that beautiful stone fireplace. Guess it happened before the invention of flat screen TVs.
And, yeah, the kitchen (above) is dated too. Just look at those appliances. But after all, it is just a beach house. Casual is the goal.
Nevertheless, the circular dining room (above) with windows galore is simple, rustic, and frankly perfect for the setting.

Perhaps all the U.S. Marshals need to do is hire an interior designer (or at least a home stager) to bring out the best features of this beach house.

UPDATE: If you want to see a slideshow with additional, larger-sized photos, please go here.


Monday, August 31, 2009

Eunice Kennedy Shriver's Home Sold

The Zillow blog reports that Eunice Kennedy Shriver's Georgian-style estate in Rockville, Maryland, recently sold for $7.81 million. The home, which has 10 bedrooms and 11.5 baths. was sold to the MA Center, an international humanitarian organization.
We always felt remiss that we didn't do a tribute to Eunice Shriver. She died at age 88 on August 11th, exactly two weeks before her younger and more famous brother Ted Kennedy. Her life was no less remarkable.

Most notably, Eunice Shriver launched the Special Olympics and actively campaigned for her elder brother John F. Kennedy in his successful bid for the U.S. presidency. As you may recall, we previously reported on the home she shared with him when he was still a congressman.

Eunice was married to Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., the former U.S. ambassador to France, who founded the Peace Corps and was the Democratic vice presidential candidate in the 1972 election.

They had five children. Probably the most famous one is their daughter, Maria Shriver (top photo, r, with her mom), a former NBC news correspondent and the current First Lady of California. (Maria's husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is the governor of California.)

R.I.P.

Real Housewife Lisa Hartwell's Not-So-New House

Access Atlanta recently reported that Lisa Wu Hartwell of Bravo Television's Real Housewives of Atlanta and her husband Ed Hartwell have moved to a home in Hoschton, Georgia (Gwinnett County). We reported to you previously that the Hartwells lost their generic McMansion in the distant Atlanta suburb of Duluth in a "short sale" after failing to make their mortgage payments.

Looks like they had enough paper in the bank to keep another smaller McMansion on reserve. The Hartwells have owned this house (above) since 2005. It has six bedrooms, six baths, and a home theater. It sits on nearly 9 acres with a lake on the property. Inexplicably, this home is listed as for sale at $1.4M, even though Ed says it is NOT for sale. And he should know since it's HIS real estate firm!

We dug up the listing of this allegedly NOT-FOR-SALE home and only found the single photo above. There are no additional photos and the listing says "must see to appreciate." Indeed. There's not much to appreciate on the outside. It's just a regular-looking house.

Anyway, the town of Hoschton is so far away, we don't even see how anyone could even call it a suburb of Atlanta. Maybe it's time to rename the show to the Real Housewives of the Freakin' Boonies!!!
Related Posts with Thumbnails