Update: Van Elslander Mansion Sells

Did I ever get around to mentioning this? Art Van Elselander's spectacular Michigan mansion, which had been on the market for some time, finally sold. At an auction. At a bargain price.

Originally priced at over $15.9 million, easily the most expensive listing in Michigan at the time, it ended up selling for a relatively bargain price of $3.75 million, which is like going to an Art Van store for a new sofa and finding one for $100 in the Clearance Center in the back.

That price is amazingly low. Mr. and Mrs. James Anderson got themselves quite a deal. Hey, if I'd have known it would go for that cheap, I would have put in a bid in the auction. Then again, I would have needed to come up with the money to buy it, so maybe not.


Link:
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2014/12/19/art-van-elslander-mansion-sold/20672827/

Suh Selling Super Southeast Michigan Place

Ndamukong Suh is putting his Birmingham residence on the market, now that he is no longer playing for the Detroit Lions. If you have $3.45 million available and are looking for a great place, here it is.

The place sits on over an acre close to downtown Birmingham, which doubtless helps raise the price significantly. It includes a workout room and a message room, as well as five bedrooms, four baths, three half-baths and a pool among its almost 7400 square feet.


Link: http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2015/05/19/lions-suh-sells-home-birmingham/27569951/

Bam! The House Won't Sell!

Poor Emeril Lagasse.  His New Orleans mansion has been on the market since March of 2013, cut the asking price several times, and still has not sold.  You can read my own theory on why after the jump.

I know you want to see what the kitchen looks like.  Here it is.

6700 square feet, great location, four bedrooms, four baths, three first floor powder rooms, a 1500 sq. ft. kitchen (bigger than many people's entire houses), this place has it all.  And yet, from the initial ask of $1.625 million dropping down to $1,45 mil, nary a purchaser in sight.

Bam!  Living Room is kicked up a notch!

Kelly Ripa Sells Her NY Place

Living room of the penthouse, featuring a great staircase.

Kelly Ripa and her husband have sold their New York penthouse for $20 million.  I'm not going to go into all of the details (that's what links are for), but I will put up a gratuitous picture of Kelly.

Link:
http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2014/09/22/kelly-ripas-nyc-penthouse-sells-for-20-million/?cps=gravity

Florida Mansion is Most Expensive Listing in USA

I could not resist.  I had such fun last year covering a Greenwich, CT listing (Copper Beech Farm) which, at $140 million, was the most expensive listing in the country at the time.  I told our intrepid readers when it had a Black Friday sale moment.  I shared when it finally sold.

In my mind, part of the value of that property was the location.  This new mansion seems to be priced more on the basis of the building itself, although to be sure it is still an awesome location with a lot of oceanfront.

Island Home in Michigan

The Detroit Free Press has some great pictures of this Oakland County house, which is in an awesome setting. It is fair to say that it is also an awesome house, even if it were not on a one-acre island in Lotus Lake which you get to by taking a boat ride of 100 feet or walking across the ice in the winter.


Link:
http://www.freep.com/article/20140720/BLOG46/307200012/House-envy-lotus-island-Michigan

North Branch Tudor has Russian Flair

Even the floors are awesome in this room.

Ed May, a businessman who spent time each year in Russia on business, bought this 7,000 square foot house in 1973 and has constantly been changing and upgrading it.  The result is a house filled with detailed workmanship with a Russian accent.

Some listing-type details: 38 acres of land in North Branch, Michigan.  Heated five-car garage plus two other garages.  Guesthouse with six bedrooms.  Outdoor pool with a cabana.  Sauna in a separate building. Fishing pond on the property.  All-glass atrium.  Asking price a shade below $3 million.

But this house requires a specific buyer, one who is willing to accept someone else's decorating, because there are so many details in the design of this house.

Take the Brazilian cherry floors in the living room, for example.  That's not too unusual, but it is in a herringbone pattern, which is spectacular.  The ceiling has hand-painted highlights.  There are painted and wood details all over the house.

This kind of extreme detailing is common here.

May and his wife are pictured in a painting on one wall in a sleigh with St. Peter nearby.  It's going to be tough for the next buyer to paint over that, so you're probably looking at the old owners while you live there.

Tudor Estate is Worth a Look

Imagine coming home from a long day at the office to this.  Kinda makes it all worth it, huh?  Could it be more perfect?

Actually, it could.  It is also on Walnut Lake in West Bloomfield.

And it has...a...lighthouse.

Bruce Willis, Sun Valley, Cheaper

Bruce Willis has reduced the asking price on his Sun Valley, California home.  Before you call your local realtor, it is still $8.8 million.

For that, you get 20 acres and 8 bedrooms.  It was originally listed for $15 million back in 2011, but Bruce has kept cutting the ask to try to unload it.  At this point, it is almost half price.

We don't show enough master closets in places like this.  Here's this one.

Link:
http://www.zillow.com/blog/bruce-willis-cuts-sun-valley-price-148389

Ten Pro Wrestler's Mansions

What with Wrestlemania coming up this weekend, now would be a good time to see how the really successful pro wrestler's live.  Here are ten of the most successful, or at least their homes.




Link:
http://whatculture.com/wwe/wwe-10-mansions-wrestlings-biggest-superstars-live.php/2

Mansion Tuesday: Bring the Horses, Too

If part of your wealthy lifestyle includes horses, this is the place for you.

Set in Livingston County (Arcadia Township), this estate includes a 6400 square foot house with eight bedrooms.  From the front, you can tell this is a wonderful property on 44 acres.  It is currently for sale for $795,000.



The kitchen is awesome.  the house features lots of Brazilian Cherry and Tigerwood flooring.

Mariah Carey Wants You...To Buy Her House

All she wants for Christmas is you...really.

Mariah Carey, she still has one of the best singing voices of all time in pop music.  Go ahead, listen to her first album again.  I'll still be here when you come back.

See, wasn't that great?  Well, she and husband Nick Cannon are selling their house in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles for a shade under $13 million.  Keep in mind, they paid less than $7 million for the place in 2008 and have not really done major renovations.  Is this entirely market driven?  Perhaps.

Dick Clark's Malibu Home Copied the Flintstones

Now we're wondering why Pebbles and Bam Bam (they had a band when they were teenagers, remember?) were never on American Bandstand.  Clearly, Dick Clark was thinking of Bedrock when he built this place.  And the best part is, it is for sale!

Apparently, the outside had to blend with nature in order to be built on the hilltop and still comply with the zoning, but the inside is all Clark's doing.  Perhaps Wilma served as his muse.  

From afar, it must look like part of the hills.

Celebrity Home: Shakira

Now that The Voice is back for a new season, we have an excuse to feature judge Shakira's Miami home, which was put on the market last year.  She bought it for under $4 million, put on additions, and had it for sale for $15 million.  Does it matter to your life if it sold or not?



Follow the link to more pictures (of the house, silly!) and even a video (of the house!).



Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/31/shakira-miami-mansion_n_3682368.html

The World is Yours At This Scarface Mansion

How much would Tony Montana's place be worth these days?  David Cross and the Movoto blog try to figure it out.

Montana, outrageously successful drug dealer until his sudden demise, sure had a banging pad.  Place for the lions to live, an office with a balcony and a hidden gun closet, awe-inspiring stairway in the foyer, no extravagance was spared.

On the other hand, there was too much neon and garish decor.  And do you really want lions where you live?  Plus all of those outdated security devices will need a major upgrade.  All of this before we even start talking about vacuuming up all of the white powder that is EVERYWHERE in the place.

I only have two things in this life, and one of them is not a vacuum.

Oh well, those are all things that can be fixed.  What you need to know is that the place used in the movie was not actually in Coral Cables, Florida, but was in California.  So, putting a price on the place is a matter of transferring the specs and charging the square foot price of Coral Cables ($1,115!) and that gives you $11 million or so.

Link:
http://www.movoto.com/blog/novelty-real-estate/scarface-mansion/

Mansion Tuesday: George Washington Did Not Sleep Here

But the garden of this Bingham Farms house is patterned after Mt. Vernon, so Washington would have felt right at home.  If the decor is any indication, there is probably a picture of him up on a wall somewhere, too.



This place, currently for sale for a hair under three million, is featured by the Freep.  I thought it worth passing along.

One interesting story in the article is about a previous owner coming back to review changes to the property.  But you can click through to read about that.

Link:
http://www.freep.com/article/20140209/BLOG46/302090035/Michigan-House-Envy-Bingham-Farms-mansion-mimics-Mt-Vernon

Magnum P.I. Slept Here, Now You Can

The house used in the beloved eighties show "Magnum, P.I." is up for sale.  And if you remember the show, you know this is not just some run-of-the-mill property.  This is Robin's Nest.  Actually, it's name is Pahonu (means "Turtle Enclosure").

Nope, this is in Hawaii, for starters.  Specifically Waimanalo.  Since real estate there is worth it's weight in pineapples, any house for sale costs an arm and a leg.  Then you put it on the ocean with great views.  Hit the multiplier button for the price.  Add in that it is a luxury estate and that a popular tv show filmed there and it becomes downright expensive.

Mansion Tuesday: Grosse Ile With a River View is Available

Mansion Tuesday at the Downriver Homes and Real Estate Blog frequently looks at places in Beverly Hills or New York City, places owned by celebrities like Nigella Lawson, Brandon Inge,  Tom Hanks, Drew Barrymore, or Frank Sinatra.

This week, we're going local.  This place is on Grosse Ile, right here in Downriver, Michigan.  Located at 22220 East River Road, it offers a great view of the Detroit River and Canada.  Watch the freighters go by from the comfort of your living room.

Venus Williams Selling Her House (No Tennis Court?)

Venus Williams bought this home in the Hollywood Hills thinking that she would use it as a staging point for all of the L.A. socializing she would do.  But, it turns out, she'd rather be in Florida.  So, this house is for sale.

3 bedrooms, 2 baths, with a view and a pool.  No tennis court, but I'm sure she was using a private club nearby.

Mansion Tuesday: David Cassidy Slept Here

The man best known as Keith Partridge (and role model for Justin Bieber) is selling his Ft. Lauderdale, Florida house.  Originally on the market for $4.495 million, it is now available "24 hours a Day" for only $3.9 million.



Five bedrooms, including a guest suite.  Six full and one half bath.  Exercise room.

My cousin had this poster on her bedroom wall.