Richard Gere Sells His Hamptons Home for $5.9M

Speaking of the Hamptons . . . Forever handsome Richard Gere and his lovely wife, actress Carey Lowell, recently sold their home in the Hamptons for $5.9 million.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the new owner paid about a third less than the asking price.  Fortunately for us, the WSJ has a slideshow allowing us to peek inside this 7BR home, which sits on 1.2 acres in Water Mill, NY.

The approaching winter clearly has us obsessed with fireplaces right now.  We hated the one in Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons' NJ estate.  But we loved the fireplaces in Barefoot Contessa/Ina Garten and Jason Winer's homes.  And we love the one in this bedroom below:

Okay, so it's not glamorous, but it has a rustic country feel that we like.

Likewise for the kitchen above and dining room below.

Mismatched chairs always make us feel like we can relax. This looks like a perfect spot for Thanksgiving dinner--something else that's also on our minds lately!

Tell us what you think.  Would you prefer an informal dining room like Richard and Carey's or a more formal dining room for Thanksgiving?

Top photo from The Insider.  House photos from Saunders Associates.

The Barefoot Contessa's Barn

With Thankgiving only one week away, our thoughts are naturally turning to cooking and entertaining.  We've always loved the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks by Ina Garten, who also has her own show of the same name on the Food Network.  She has a beautiful home in East Hampton and recently built a barn(!) for entertaining her friends.

Ina's barn houses a large multi-purpose room with a wonderful open kitchen and dining area.  The visible rafters give it that barn-like feel, yet it is still so remarkably cozy!  We think the fireplace (top photo) makes a huge difference.   We also like that she included comfy arm chairs at the dining table so that it can double as a reading space.

The barn also serves as a guest house, with a beautifully simple approach to decor.  We love the mottled mirror over the sofa in the entry.  The objects located across from it make it appear as if it is a painting.

The bedroom and bath are likewise peaceful and simple:

Can you believe all of this is inside this inconspicuous looking building below?!!!

We love it!  If you want to see more barn photos, check out the House Beautiful slideshow. 

Also, the folks at House Beautiful liked Ina's barn so much, they asked her to recreate it in Rockefeller Plaza and named it their 2009 Kitchen of the Year.  Check out the video here:

We love it too!

VIDEO: Forbes on Celebrity Real Estate Woes

Here's something we ran across on Twitter:  a Forbes video discussing how celebrities aren't immune from the problems in the real estate market.  It offers glimses inside the homes of Nicholas Cage, Ellen DeGeneres, Eddie Murphy, and other celebs who have had to slash sales prices drastically.  The video also mentions LaToya Jackson, Stephen Baldwin, Toni Braxton and other celebs facing foreclosure.

We posted or tweeted many of these stories over the past several months.  In fact, we tweet LOTS of stories when we don't have time to write about them ourselves.  So if you want to read about more celebrity homes than those you see here, please FOLLOW US ON TWITTER:  @CelebrityDigsHQ.

In the meantime, watch the video and tell us what you think!  Are you sympathetic?  After all, celebs are human just like us.  Or, do you think these celebs tried to live too lavishly?

For Sale: TV Executive Producer Jason Winer's Hollywood Loft

As seen in our post on Sigrid Olsen, you can have a fabulous lifestyle without living in a mansion.  Take this home, which belongs to Jason Winer, executive producer of ABC's hilarious new TV show Modern Family (starring our favorite Married With Children Alum, Ed O'Neill a/k/a Al Bundy).  It's a charming little 2BR loft that looks large, but really isn't.  And it's for sale!

The 3-story condo/townhouse/loft is part of an 8-unit property built by Paramount in the 1920's as a bungalow for their writers.  So you have a chance to own a little slice of Hollywood history.  The asking price is $599,000.

Now, some of the rooms are a little tiny--like the kitchen and dining room above, and the bedroom below:

But that's part of the charm!  The creative types always seem to find their genius in small spaces like this.  Remember, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone's bungalow in Berkeley?

Plus, the 18ft ceilings in the living room and the airy loft upstairs offer breathing room and make up for the lack of space in other rooms.  We love it!

All photos from Sotheby's International Realty.  For more information and to see more photos, check out the listing here.

Mystery Monday: Which Rock Star Calls This L.A. Pad Home?

We bet you're wondering who lives in this well-curated apartment with fabulous views of the City of Angels.  We'll give you a hint:  It's a famous musician known for his flamboyance.  Okay, maybe that doesn't narrow things down much! 

MAKE THE JUMP BELOW TO FIND OUT WHO AND SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS HOME