Archive for the 'Luxury Indulgences' Category
The Timeless Luxury Home
Sometimes you walk into a home, sense both ageless soul and serenity–and can’t help but smile.
We recently listed such an estate in the beautiful hills of Vista, California. Its current and original owners are a spirited and beautiful international opera singer and her dashing husband, a retired professor of art. With loving attention to detail, it seems nothing was missed in the completion of this luxurious 2003 custom home.
When I first walked into the home, I was struck by the use of old and rich colors, antique woods, the graceful wood and iron staircase, and light classical music that filled the rooms.
At first glance, I knew this home would be exceptional.
The gated hilltop setting offers both ocean and mountain views–as well as quiet privacy. The home’s flexible 4000+ sf floorplan has volume ceilings that carry classical music well, a grand foyer, large living and music rooms, multiple dining areas, and a kitchen Alice Waters might envy.
Upstairs, we discover a substantial master suite with an adjoining study, large dressing room and bath, 
spa tub, and large, organized closets. A romantic trellised balcony overlooks both the mountains and ocean horizon, while the two-way fireplace warms both the bedroom and bath areas. Three other large bedrooms and an open bridge complete the upstairs.
The bones of a home may be magnificent, but inspiring beauty comes from surfaces, windows, doors, lighting, amenities, color and textures. I share clients’ enthusiasm when all of these elements come together.
This home lacks nothing and blends all elements well. It has rich Tuscan colors, art niches and unfluted columns. It beautifully blends the use of stone, iron and woods, and offers contemporary conveniences such as central vacuum and a discreet kitchen vent that captures broom sweepings.
Outdoors is a large covered patio, lawn, gardens and small acreage for hobbies, horses or arborists.
I have often thought that equestrian homeowners in Poway, Rancho Santa Fe and Fallbrook who were displaced by the recent San Diego fires might find this property of interest.
Located on highly-desired Elevado Street in Vista, this estate is reasonably offered at $1.5 million by owners who are anxious to retire in Crete.
We intend to help them accomplish this dream–and look forward to having terrific clients in such a wonderful corner of the world.
read comments (12)Interactive Luxury Home Surfaces?
Much has been written and said about Microsoft’s new surface computing technology.
It is the WOW technology of the year. Sooner than many of us thought possible, this technology will first become a defining feature in luxury homes, and as adoption increases and prices drop, it will likely appear as a builder option in many tract subdivisions.
Imagine interactive coffee tables that wirelessly download photos from your digital camera. Or how about kitchen counters that come to life with not only recipes and schedules–but may also allow you to order groceries, pizzas or Chinese carry-out and pay for it all by laying your credit card on the counter.
Expect to see early adoption of this technology not in luxury homes, but in bars and restaurants.
The possibilities will stagger the imagination.
Luxe Rocks for Luxury Homes
Leave it to Italian designers to create the ultimate in luxury rocks for exterior lightscaping.
These remarkable lighted rocks by Oluce look as if they might have been swiped from the lawn of a distant planet. In reality, though, they were created by Italian designers Marta Laudani and Marco Romanelli with Massimo Noceto. Made from weather-tested polyethelene, these lighted Oluce stones glow with the aid of a screw-in fluorescent bulb.
Dont expect to find these luxe rocks in your local hardware or lighting store though. They are available by special order and then only in œlarge quantities whatever that means. The good news? The price has just been reduced from $513.50 to just $316.00 each. Such a deal!
I hope to seem some of these luminous beauties in San Diego’s luxury homes before too long.
For additional information, you may call ylighting at 866.428.9289 (This is an unpaid, unexpected and unsolicited commercial
)
I wonder if these lighted rocks would attract bugs???
Other fun and imaginative luxuries for the luxury home:
D. Porthault Sheets and Linens
As well as other recent luxury reads:
The Snoring Room
The Self Service Spa (Do it at home?)
Long-Lasting Roses
Induction-Cooktop for the Luxury Kitchen
Ultimate Phone for the Luxury Bath
How to Hide the Bedroom TV
Switchable Mirror Glass Windows
SONOS: The Ultimate Sound System
Haute Refrigerators for Cool Kitchens?
The Overflowing Infinity Tub
Wine Storage for Oenophiles
The Illuminated Bathtub
Wireless Home of the Future?
Imagine a world uplugged!
That future has quietly arrived with the first successful resonant transfer of wireless power over a span of seven feet and carrying enough power to brighten a 60W light bulb.
This humble beginning leads ambitious minds to think of a luxurious home where cell phones, laptop computers, lamps, Roombas and even hair dryers would need no cords to operate.
The Genius behind this exciting development is a wizardy team of scientists from MITs Department of Physics, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies.
They call this concept œWiTricity, which should not be confused with radio waves, which transmits information wirelessly and in all directions. WiTricity, on the other hand, involves using coupled resonant objects. In other words (and as I understand it), the transmitter and the receiver would be operating on the same resonant frequency which would not interfere with other wireless devices.
This might also be what separates it from the Tesla Effect, which allows farmers, for example, to gather electricity via coils of wire laid beneath power transmission lines on their property.
Sometimes astounding discoveries have simple beginnings. The initial inspiration for this development came several years ago when MIT Professor Marin Soljacic grew tired of hearing his phone beeping to let him know he had forgotten to charge it and began to wonder about the possibility of a self-charging cell phone.
And isnt that a frustration we have all experienced?
It is fun to imagine the wireless possibilities in homes of the future–and the technology would likely be seen first in the top end luxury home market (Bill Gates or Larry Ellison’s homes perhaps?)
A tip of the top hat to Bob Nagel for the find and to PhysOrg for the reporting.
Luxury Home Management: Ask for the Butler
The Butler is back in demand-and in short supply.
The worlds growing number of plutocrats with their enormous mansions and expansive lifestyles are actively seeking household managers to oversee the care of their luxury homes and lifestyles. These enormous residences require ongoing care, along with coordination of property and grounds service providers ranging from pool service technicians, to dog groomers and trainers, to maids, gardeners and arborists.
Contemporary butlers, or Household Managers as many are called today, are better educated than their historic peers. Todays servant is likely to possess accounting, computer, and technology skills along with knowledge of property maintenance, home entertainment, menus, cooking, clothing care, and the ability to attend to the care of antiques, fine china, silver, art, automobiles, home and personal security, communications and a score of others details.
A college degree might be helpful, as would specific training in Household Management. One of the better-known butler training programs would be that offered by the Starkey International Institute for Household Management in Denver, Colorado.
Benefits of employment in this home management field might include free room and board at the luxury residence, possible travel, and annual salaries that range from around $70,000 to over $200,000.
A tip of the top hat to Robert Frank and The Wall Street Journal.
You may also wish to read:
Variable Range Pricing for Homes
Easy Feng Shui Tips for the Luxury Home
