I would have taken bets that Donald Trump wouldn't get his $100 million price for the home he's been trying to sell in Palm Beach, Florida for two years but I would have lost. The Palm Beach Post reports that Trump has sold the property he bought in 2004 from Abe Gosman for his desired price. Trump bought the home for $41.35 million and spent another $25 million in a renovation headed by Kendra Todd, winner of the third season of The Apprentice. He first put it on the market for $125 million which made it the most expensive home for sale in the U.S. but even Trump knew that price was optimistic and predicted three years ago that it would go for $100 million.

The home has nine bedrooms, a ballroom and a conservatory as party of its 62,000 square foot expanse. It also has a 48-car garage. Believe it or not, the unnamed buyer might tear down the huge mansion and subdivide. The waterfront property has been a prized piece of land for over 100 years and has the current house, Maison de L'Amitié, was only built in 1990. The property is appraised at $58 million by the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office, meaning the 2007 tax bill at $980,033, is higher than the price of many homes in America. Trump's sale comes after a rash of big home sales in Palm Beach including Jones Apparel Group founder Sidney Kimmel who recently sold his home in the area for its $81.5 million list price.

I don't have great pictures or a lot of details on this one but it's special enough to cover based on size alone. This is the home of the Craven family, who owns Craven Original, a company that creates fine home gardening products and pottery. The home is an Italian-style villa on a whopping 1,410 acres at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in a small town north of Atlanta, Georgia. There are currently seven homes on the property. It took the Craven family 28 years to collect the property which is also home to 850 cows, 450 of which have calves. There are 20 barns and sheds for hay storage. The property includes miles of fencing and gates spread out over three counties. The land also includes five ponds and three miles of Chandler Creek that could maintain a 250 acre lake to produce power and water for municipalities. The land itself is zoned for 2400 plus homes, golf course, retail center or can be left as a horse and cattle ranch.

The main home is 18,000 square feet and is built on a grand scale with 16 to 32 foot ceilings and 317 arches and a 540,000 artistically laid brick, tile roof, two eight-foot by 16-foot chandeliers in the great hall. All the architectural details such as cupolas, balustrades, fountains and statues were sculpted and cast by Craven Original. Much of it such as the ironwork was manufactured by members of the Craven family. I'm told that the property is appraised at $49 million, but is available for $31 million.

If you want a lot of space for your dollar the Midwest is often the best place to be. Check out today's home in Hartland, Wisconsin. This mansion has 18,000 square feet of space including a home theater, seven bedrooms and heated floors that include marble, bamboo and slate. The home is wired for the latest in state-of-the art technology and also has a 17th Century wood panel fireplace from England that flows into the gourmet kitchen with granite counters. Outside there is a sports court, a nine-car garagae, indoor and outdoor pools and fountains. It is listed at $6.75 million.

[Thanks, Don!]

Forget the winery fantasy for a moment, let's return to the bed and breakfast fantasy. Imagine owning this piece of real estate and being the owner of a small inn in Key West, Florida. The Southernmost Point Guest House is located on Duval Street in the heart of Key West's tourist area near the official southernmost point of the Continental United States. The historic mansion is on a corner lot with gardens leading to the pool, parking, trellised patio and a wide porch that wraps around the building. There are 10 bedrooms and eight bathrooms and seven spacious apartment units in two buildings. According to the Southernmost Point Guest House website, some of the apartment condos are for sale for $650.000. This beautiful spot is listed at $4.25 million.

Usually we find the European style grand homes on the East Coast but Stonebrook Court is located in Los Altos Hills, CA. The home was built in 1914 and restored by its owner during the last seven years. This mansion is approximately 30,000 square feet and is on 7.5 acres. The English English Tudor and Jacobean revival style exterior is bisected by a porte cochere separating the living quarters and a grand ballroom. The interior is done in modernized Renaissance Italian style with 12-foot wood ceilings, a an antique carved marble fireplace, a ballroom with 16th Century gilded Venetian ceiling paintings said to be from the Palazzo Grimani. The library has mahogany bookcases and a secret room with wet bar and beer taps and the breakfast room features new Gothic arch windows. The main residences has seven bedrooms and there is also a gym, garden building, a caretaker's house, and a 3 car garage.

The home is now wired for state-of-the-art security, audio, phone, internet and all other modern features including a heating system covering 16 zones. The garden which includes follies, rolling lawns, knot garden, boxwood parterres and long perennial borders filled with roses. The pool features a stone fountain/spa surmounted by an antique bronze statue of Neptune. No wonder this has mansion has been host to many weddings.

A 2005 article in the Los Altos Crier reveals more details on this home including that it was formerly known as Morgan Manor (it was the home of Percy and Daisy Morgan) and has serves as both a popular brothel and an elite day school at different times in its past. It took a team that numbered in the thousands and a lot of money from owners Kelly and Christina Porter to restore the home back to its former glory. It is simply one of the most stunning homes available on the West Coast. It is listed at $45 million.

It's almost time for the 2008 version of the Kips Bay Decorator Show and although it's as eagerly awaited as always there is something very different about this year's event: the "Show Houses" aren't houses at all, they're a group of high-rise apartments.

The chosen New York address is The Manhattan House at 200 E 66 St. and the month long show will include 6 units and two floors of the building. The extra publicity works out well for both the property (it's in the middle of being remodeled into luxury condos), the designers (they are only compensated for their efforts with the exposure), and of course the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club which the whole thing benefits. The show runs from April 24th through May 22nd and tickets cost $30.

Three centuries worth of New England's magnificent houses and mansions are collected in an equally grand new book from Rizzoli: Great Houses of New England, by Roderic H. Blackburn (text) and Geoffrey Gross (photography). Spanning a wide range of styles, these stately houses are the originals from which many of today's McMansions have been copied. They're more than just artifacts, however; as Blackburn writes, "Through the architecture and decorative arts we see the development of a people and their region."

Among the more splendid examples in the book is the Jeremiah Lee Mansion in Marblehead, Mass., dating from 1767 (pictured here), the impressiveness of which is "conveyed by its subdued monumentality," Blackburn notes. Lee, a shipping merchant, built it to emulate aristocratic estates in England, so you might say not all that much has changed. Also of note are the beautiful brick Georgian Macpheadris-Warner House in Portsmouth, N.H., dating from 1716; Rosecliff, a palatial McKim, Mead & White mansion which was the setting for the movie version of The Great Gasby; and Brookside, a gracious Greek Revival in Orwell, VT. See the gallery for more.

This contemporary villa located in the European playground of St Jean Cap Ferrat was created by designers Lazzarini Pickering and is a stunning contemporary residence which has beautiful ocean views. The home is located on the exclusive Avenue de Rothschild in this Mediterranean resort of the wealthy. There is a large main villa with views along the French Riviera and living areas on three floors. The main villa can be purchased separately or with two smaller three bedroom guest houses and a staff apartment. The property also includes gardens, a terrace, swimming pool, wine cellar and parking for two cars. This home is listed at $23.5 million.

Oh wow, NFL cornerback and occasional aspiring wrestler Adam "Pacman" Jones is another athlete hoping for a big sale on his house. The flamboyant former Nashville Titan has moved on to the Dallas Cowboys and so he has put his Franklin, Tennessee home up for sale. And reading the blurb on the Real Estalker I knew I was in for a doozy. I've never seen quite so many gargantuan televisions in one place outside of a sports bar. The five-bedroom home is on 30 acres (the property website is called 30 acres and a lake). I'm not sure quite what to make of this one-- a big brick arch in the middle of a room for no good reason, a bedroom that appears to have a set of home theater seats plunked in front of a massive screen, a bathroom that seems to be designed based on the health clubs and gyms that Pacman Jones has likely seen a few of-- all these things combine to make a home that is many things but welcoming is not one of them. The property includes an eight-stall horse barn and a bucolic dock and lake spoiled by the addition of fountains. No pool but there is an above ground hot tub plunked onto the back deck. There are also two other homes on the property. Jones picked up the home in 2006 from an actress and a producer for $1.575 million and has listed it for $1,799,950 which the listing calls "priced well below market value." Maybe, but it will still be a hard sell.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--A look at the planned Nobu Hotel and Residences in the Financial District. The project, in which Robert De Niro is an investor, is a 62-story glass tower at 45 Broad Street that will include 77 "super-luxury" condos, a 128-room hotel, retail space and a Nobu restaurant on the third floor.
--Hillary Clinton's communications director Howard Wolfson and his wife, Terri McCullough, who's chief of staff for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have sold their condo at 455 Central Park West for $1.91 million. Not much of a profit, they bought the condo in 2005 for just under $1.8 million.
--Former Mets and Yankees pitcher David Cone is looking for an in-town apartment. He was recently spotted in the Miraval Living condominium sales office on the Upper East Side.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Baron Eric de Rothschild just bought his painter wife, Maria-Beatrice Caracciolo Di Forino, a Village penthouse where she can do some work whenever they're staying in New York. According to deeds, they paid $1.15 million for the one-bedroom, 1,050-square-foot co-op at 40 West 12th Street.
--Hotelier Jeff Klein has sold his house at 153 West 18th Street for $5.95 million.
--The listing for the late Brooke Astor's duplex at 778 Park Avenue is finally online, we covered it as our estate of the day on Friday.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Melissa Etheridge has sold a six-bedroom house in Hidden Hills for an undisclosed price after it had been listed for $4,995,000. The home was purchased by a two trusts (the Olivers Estate Trust and the Veronica Matsui Trust) which may indicate the home was purchased by a celebrity (the Real Estalker says Michael Bolton and Nicolette Sheridan are
--Actress and former MTV VJ Kari Wuhrer has sold a Craftsman-style house in Los Angeles' Windsor Square area for $1.7 million.
--Comedian Carlos Mencia and his wife, Amy, purchased an Encino, CA home in November from actor Eddie Cibrian for an official purchase price of $4.3 million.
--via the Observer, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and her NFL husband Tim have paid $3,25 million. for a condo on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

From the Real Estalker:
--The Real Estalker Mama drops a tasty blind item that a mystery billionaire will be bidding on the Kaufmann house auction that will be part of the Christie's auction on May 13.
--Action actor Jason Statham has been spotted checking out the Devlin Drive home, shown above, recently put on the market by Christina Aguilera for $7.995 million. The virtual tour of this amazing home is here.
--Former CSI: Miami actress Khandi Alexander has cut the price again on her Hollywood Hills home. It was ginally listed at $4,495,000 but is now down to $2,995,000 which is not much more than the $2,850,000 she paid back in January of 2006. The listing says "huge $1 million price reduction" in bold block letters with an army of exclamation points.
--Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance have dropped the price on their Hancock Park home from $5.999 million to $4.6 million. The listing is here.
--Britney Spears has been spotted touring a 7,350 square foot house on Tara Drive in the Clark Gable community of Encino.
--Dishonored Lord Conrad Black and Barbara Amiel are quietly putting their Palm Beach, Florida home on the market. No listing price yet but in 2007, the Palm Beach assessor valued the estate at $27,980,115 so we are likely looking at a fairly big number here.
--Football player Pacman Jones has listed Tennessee home, it's our estate of the day later today.
--Once again, Michael Jackson has forestalled foreclosure on Neverland.
--Louwana, a grand old Palm Beach, Florida estate has been listed for sale for $30 million. The listing is here.
--Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn have put their Malibu home for summer rent again for $95,000.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--More background on Roman Abramovich's purchase of Wildcat Ridge. Abramovich also bought another home in the area for $11.8 million in February.
--Baseball great Henry "Hank" Aaron has listed his West Palm Beach, Fla., home that borders a golf course for $900,000.
--A home in Corona del Mar, California has sold for about $28 million, a record for an Orange County off-water property, local brokers say.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Former NHL player Ken Belanger has put his three-bedroom Manhattan Beach townhouse on the market for $1.125 million. It is listed with Ed Kaminsky.

Beaumere has an enviable spot on the water in Larchmont Harbor (in Larchmont, NY, thanks,designer38305495) with water on three sides. The home sits on over four acres and has 6,720 square feet of space with an additional 2,261 square-foot two-bedroom guest apartment. The property includes an in ground swimming pool with 2 cabanas each equipped with dressing room and new bath with adjoining kitchenette and bar, a carriage house with a large garage, a grass tennis court and a gazebo that overlooks the long private dock. The home was listed at $25 million in mid 2007, had gone down to $22 million by the time Elite Choice covered it in December and now is listed at $18 million.

[Thanks, Steven!]

The listing for the much-talked-about Brooke Astor apartment has hit the market. Mrs. Astor, who died at the age of 105 last year was one of the grand dames of New York society. Her home at 778 Park Avenue is considered to be an exceedingly prime New York co-op. The five-bedroom apartment has high ceilings, six terraces and five wood-burning fireplaces. A reception gallery with a wet bar, leads to a living room with a wood-burning fireplace and views up and down Park Avenue. The famed corner library has gleaming red laquer walls (the Real Estalker Mama chillingly described them as looking as if they are "dripping the blood of the under-privileged"), a wood-burning fireplace and French doors opening onto two terraces. The formal dining room also has a wood-burning fireplace and French doors leading out to a terrace. The kitchen includes a pantry, service hall, and three maid's rooms, a set-up which worked well in Mrs. Astor's days but might now be reconfigured into a large eat-in kitchen and family room for today's owner. There is an additional bedroom that can be used as a maid's room or reconfigured to be a second bedroom with ensuite bath. The private quarters include a sitting room with terrace, a separate powder room, and guest bedroom. At the end of the hall is in a corner room with a lovely wood-burning fireplace, terrace, and views toward Central Park. There are 20 closets. This co-op is listed at $46 million.

Only the very, very wealthy can apply to get into the Rosario-Candela-designed 778 Park Avenue co-op. As Max Abelson of the NY Observer pointed out, any potential owner will have to put 100% down and show more than enough cash to pay the steep monthly maintenance of $17,251.

Madonna recently bought some more space in her New York City co-op building and now it looks like she's set to divest herself of some real estate. The Sun reports that Madonna is looking to sell Ashcombe, her English country house in Wiltshire. She and Guy Ritchie bought the home in 2001 for £9 million and are now hoping to put it on the market for £12 million. The eight-bedroom home is listed as a Grade II structure by English Heritage. It was originally part of a larger building and was restored in the 1930s and 1940s by the photographer Cecil Beaton. Madonna and Guy are reportedly selling because they do not spend enough time at the estate especially since Madonna has been recording and touring again. We wish them luck, this is certainly not the best time to be selling England's housing slump is starting to rival the problem we have had in the States.

[Thanks, Lana]

A classic piece of Virginia acreage has just hit the market. Green Plains is a 642-acre estate in Virginia's Matthews County located 30 miles from Williamsburg. The property has a long history. It is believed Green Plains was established in the 18th century with a Colonial King's Deed (the original documents were burned in Richmond during the Civil War). The property has been owned by just four families including the Cabots, one of Boston's first families, and former Texaco CEO and Chairman Augustus C. Long. The property is now held in The Augustus C. Long Trust, his daughter Dorothy Long is sole trustee and beneficiary of the property.

The property includes three miles along the North River in Mobjack Bay and it has deep water access via a 360-foot-long private pier. The main house is a red brick Georgian mansion with seven bedrooms. No interior pictures of the home unfortunately so we can't speculate on how the shape it is in. The property includes a four-foot wall which surrounds an acre of gardens and orchards. There are five Cape-Cod style cottages and three equestrian barns with 20 stalls and fenced paddocks. The property also includes property for hunting and fishing. Green Plains estate is listed at $22 million.

Free-spending Russian billion Roman Abramovich is at it again. Just a week after we learned that he is working on a home that will be the most expensive private residence in Britain, we learn he's also picked up an Aspen home. This isn't just any Aspen home, this is Wildcat Ridge, the modern home of Leon Hirsch. We've been following Hirsch's struggle to sell this home since February of 2005. Back then Hirsch listed his home for $35 million. Since then he's switched real estate brokers a couple of times and has even put it up for actuion a couple of times with no luck. Another man might have dropped his price looking for a sale but Hirsch's stubbornness seems to have paid off, he sold to Abramovich for $36.375 million.

Abramovich is getting quite a home. Wildcat Ridge has 11 bedrooms is perched at an elevation of 9,200 feet on Wildcat Ridge offering views for miles. The home, designed by Voorsanger Architects, has a dramatic folded plate roof and a large moss rock wall dividing the east and west wings of the building. The home gets its energy from 60 geothermal wells so that it is virtually self sufficient. The wells heat the home, driveway and pool during the winter months and provide cooling in the summer. It also comes with 32 pieces of furniture custom designed for the home.

[via Wealth Bulletin]
[Thanks, Ben]