Archive for the 'Luxury Listings' Category
Del Mar Estate Most Expensive Home in San Diego
We follow luxury listings throughout the world, and when a home listed above $50 million hits the market, it’s NEWS by any stretch of the imagination. And San Diego is just the latest to break that barrier.
Priced at $76 Million, this circa 1937 oceanfront Del Mar trophy estate sits on nearly 5.5 singular acres. The two story home has nine bedrooms and six-and-a-half bathrooms and ocean frontage of 396 feet. It is an oceanfront estate that will appeal to top tier and global real estate collectors–and is a relative bargain compared to other hurricane-prone waterfront estates.
We caught first official details of the story from Michelle Mowad, crack reporter and writer for The San Diego Business Journal. She interviewed agents (listed by Brian Guiltinan with Prudential California Realty) involved in the offering and reveals that the property is owned
by San Diego venture capitalist William “Bill” Stensrud, one of San Diego’s wealthiest residents. He is a partner with Enterprise Partner’s Venture Capital, who recently acquired Muze, Inc.–reportedly purchased the Del Mar property seven years ago for a (then) record-setting $25 million.
This just-listed, private, and gated estate also sits across from the Del Mar Race Track, and is just a short stroll away from Del Mar Village and shopping in Solana Beach.
And given that Del Mar and coastal San Diego County arguably have the finest year round climate in the world as well as a thriving economy–this is one real estate offering that may not last for long.
For additional reading about luxury real estate and listings, read:
World’s Most Expensive Mansion
Luxury Home Management: Ask for the Butler
Montana Luxury Real Estate Coup?
Easy Feng Shui Tips for the Luxury Home
read comments (3)World’s Most Expensive Mansion
This may arguably be the most expensive and tallest private residence ever built.
Indias wealthiest man, Mukesh Ambani, 50, is slated to begin construction of a billion dollar glass and steel skyscraper home in Mumbai City, the financial capital of India. The 27 story building will be designed to house his family of six and staff of 600, with six floors dedicated to the storage and parking of Ambanis 168 automobiles. The top four floors will be set aside for family living.
Ambani is estimated to have a personal wealth hovering at $21 billion, making him the 14th richest man in the world, and the most visible man of wealth in India.
That wealth will also provide Ambani and his family with a full-service spa, fully-equipped gym, multiple floors set aside for visiting guiests and a home theater that can only be imagined.
Completion is estimated to take place in the Fall, 2008.
A tip of the top hat to The Guardian.
Read also:
Luxury Home Management: Ask for the Butler
Variable Range Pricing for Homes
Easy Feng Shui Tips for the Luxury Home
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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
The No Fear Estate
Once in awhile a property comes along that will take your breath away.
And that was the precise intent of an owner who had no budget, no restraint andNo Fear.
You see, that visionary owner was Mark Simo, co-founder and CEO of NO FEAR and Spy Optics in Carlsbad, California as well as the TransWorld Business website that launched in 2005.
Mark Simo sold this La Costa estate several years ago to owners who have maintained the tradition of expensively upgrading the property. It is estimated that replacement cost for this custom estate would be in the $3.5 million range, which is currently offered at $2.695 million.
The Features?
- Stunning gated entry onto very private estate grounds.
- 5700 square feet of elegance with views that would stop a golfers heart along with 150 feet of La Costa Golf Course frontage.
- Bright six-car garage with skylights and glass garage doors. The perfect home for expensive toys!
- Fully equipped outdoor kitchen overlooking the exquisite pool and the golf course lake.
- Limestone, granite and slate free-floating stairs.
- Two-story master suite that defies imagination.
- 4 bedrooms, 4 baths and media room.
- Movie-Star quality throughout.
- Perfect home for both intimate and large-scale entertaining.
The owners will be moving out of the area, and may allow their golf membership to La Costa Resort and Spa to convey with the sale. Please call for details. Listing agents for this home are Scott Warren and Liz Molina.
For an appointment to see this offering, please call Mike or Roberta Murphy at 760 402 9101/9102.
La Costa Chateaus: A Tale of Two Sisters
It was a developers mistake that should have never happened.
Sometime around 1970, the developers of the original La Costa Resort and Spa allowed for the construction and sale of two 48 unit condominium buildings inside what would eventually come to be known as œthe gates of La Costa. These two buildings are the first to be seen by anyone approaching the resort from its main entrance. When built, the 791 square foot studios made a perfect pied a terre for out of area golf and tennis members who wanted a luxurious alternative to hotel rooms for short or extended stays and still wanted the benefits of resort locale as well as limousine and room service.
According to one of the original salespeople, these spacious studios originally sold for just under $30,000. Each unit had one and a half baths, a small kitchenette, two Murphy beds and plenty of room for small-scale entertaining and cocktail parties. Each building had its own pool, spa and underground parking. The French chateau architecture with imposing mansard roofs blended fairly well with the early Rancho La Costa Inn, built in the late 1960s.
The sister builldings stood for almost 35 years unchanged. During those years, the 90 room Rancho La Costa became the famed La Costa Resort and Spa and Americas first full-service spa resort. Over the years, many owners of the Chateaus remodeled their units, converting them to full one bedroom units with full kitchens. Several owners combined two units into one, creating very spacious and luxurious two-bedroom flats.
When KSL Resorts purchased La Costa from Japans Sports Shinko in 2001, the entire resort underwent a $140 million renovation. A new level of luxury was brought not only to Carlsbad, CA., but to the entire San Diego metropolitan area. There simply is no other regional resort that can match La Costas 40,000 square foot spa, two 18 hole championship golf courses, world-class tennis courts, fine dining, beautiful rooms, the Chopra Center and acres of fragrant gardens.
The only drawback?
The two ugly sisters just inside the gate. There was no way to avoid these aging eyesores. And with every million KSL invested in La Costa, the value of the Chateaus continued to climb. Owners continued to improve their units, but nothing had been done to the building exteriors. Moreover, many of the units now served as well-located vacation rentals. In 2005, with the resort renovations almost compete, KSL offered to financially assist the owners in each building, should they renovate the bulding exteriors to blend with the rest of the resorts architecture. Additionally, La Costa took the initiative to immediately improve the front landscaping for each building.
It was an offer that made sense to the owners of the Balboa Chateaus. Their HOA board of directors held numerous open meetings, met with contractors, and commenced construction in January, 2007. A $30,000 assessment was collected for each unit and construction is expected to be completed in July, 2007.
As is often the case, sisters are not always in agreement about facelifts. As of April, 2007 owners of the Cortez Chateau still had not contracted for their buildings renovation. And as each week passes, the two buildings become more dissimilar. No longer could they be mistaken for the twins they once were!
