Saturday, January 22, 2011

Weekend Wrap Up

1.
Now that heiress and budding real estate tycoon Ivanka Trump and media mogul huzband Jared Kushner–he owns the New York Observer in case y'all didn't know–have a bun in the oven they're shuffling the holdings their real estate portfolio. Mister Kushner recently put his doo-plex bachelor pad that overlooks Astor Place in New York City's East Village on the market with an asking price of $4,100,000 and the couple are rumored and reported to be moving to much larger more family friendly digs uptown.

It was reported in the New York Post a couple weeks ago that the youthful power pair peeped at a number of possible downtown digs in non-Trump-owned buildings such as a $25,000 per month 3-bedroom unit at the fancy-schmancy 55 Thompson building. However, the same publication now reports that the Kushner-Trumps are actually about to sign on the deed's dotted line for a sprawling 4-bedroom spread at, natch, the Trump Park Avenue. The approximately 4,200 square foot unit, according to the report, was first on the market with an asking price of $20,800,000 but has more recently been shopped around off-market for a much lower but still skin-scorching $16,000,000.

This is the same building, not surprisingly, where Ivanka's bachelorette pad is located. Records show that Missus Kushner–then Miss Trump–paid $1,527,375 for 2 bedroom and 2 pooper place that spans a modest-for-a-woman-of-her-means 1,549 square feet.

2.
The New York Post also reported this week that Beverly Hills-based rom-com queen Jennifer Aniston was spied peeping around a triplex penthouse in New York's Greenwich Village. The 5 bedrooms and 4 pooper penthouse was first listed in early 2007 with an asking price of $14,500,000. By mid-2009 the price had plummeted to $9,995,000. But alas, there were no real estate takers and the dramatic apartment was taken off the market. It's now back on the market with a new and much lower asking price of $8,750,000. The unit offers a 40-foot high sky-lit atrium space, a 17 foot ceiling in the living room, a glass and steel staircase, walls of glass, 360 degree views, sound-proof windows with UV protection, two terraces and four balconies.

Miss Aniston currently lives in an exquisitely recently renovated mansion in Beverly Hills originally designed by genius architect Hal Levitt and recently featured in Architectural Digest.

3.
The fine folks at Luxist reported yesterday that bullet hole riddled rapper and budding tycoon 50-Cent has lowered the asking price of his monster-sized (and monstrous) mansion in the unlikely community of Farmington, CT. Mister Cent–who may or may not be getting down with comedienne Chelsea Handler–bought the behemoth house for $4,100,000 from the ex-wife of boxer Mike Tyson. Fiddy says he spent another six million on renovations. He listed the 52-room residence on 17 acres way back in 2007 with a pie-in-the-sky asking price of $18,500,000. Three and some years later the new and improved price now is the ree-donkulously complicated $9,999,999, otherwise known to sane people at ten million clams.

4.
Gossip juggernaut TMZ reported this week that one-legged icon Zsa Zsa Gabor's huzband, Prince Somethingoranother, is telling people that her long-time mansion in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles will soon be put on the market for more than $25,000,000. First TMZ had photos and now they have a video of Prince Somthingoranother looking silly in a track suit and a fat cigar giving a brief tour of the mansion's lavish but somewhat threadbare living and dining rooms. He then takes the cameras out to the motor court where he explains just who all the neighbors are–they include Kirk Kerkorian and Quincy Jones–and what sort of private security they have. It's all very bizarre and fascinating partick if you imagine poor Miz Gabor upstairs in a gilded Rococo style bed none the wiser that her "Prince" of a huzband is touring a tabloid through her house.

5.
Curbed put together a whole piece on the homes of catwalking string beans like Jessica Stam, Adriana Lima (who is married to some professional athlete of some sort), Cindy Crawford, Miranda Kerr and Gisele Bundchen (who is married to another professional athlete, Tom Brady).

6.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Kyle Richards and her real estate agent huzband Mauricio Umansky have been trying to sell their Los Angeles, CA abode for quite some time. They bought the house in June of 2004 for $1,935,000 according to property records and first listed it with an optimistic asking price of $3,450,000. The price eventually fell to $2,395,000 and, bully for them, it's finally under contract.

Now that their old house is about to be someone else's new house, the Richards-Umansky clan are free to close on their new house, located just around the corner from their old house. The couple's new crib, according to listing information Your Mama teased up out of the interweb, shows it was first listed at $3,750,000 and last listed with an asking price of $3,395,000. The traditional two-story house sits on an odd-shaped lot at the tail end of a quiet cul-de-sac in an area of swanky-swank Bel Air that's actually far closer to Sherman Oaks that to Beverly Hills.
The new house (above) measures 6,229 square feet and includes 6 bedrooms and 6.5 poopers plus another bedroom and bath for staff. That should be plenty of room for their 72 kids and Miz Richards' sister Kim who, the wee shivering lamb, seems a little down on her luck and heels lately.

The new private quarters of hunky and good-natured Mister Umansky and his worry-wart wife Miz Richards–a ladee who fools with her Brazilian blow out far far far too much–includes a sitting area, fireplace, his and her walk-in closets and a large but ghastly bathroom outfitted with steam shower and, jeezis help Your Mama's weak decorative stomach, wall-to-wall carpeting. Ugh. Who does that? Who puts wall-to-wall carpeting in the damn bathroom? It's positively and inexcusably revolting. The couple plan to renovate extensively, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and we believe deep in our cold dark heart that both Mister and Missus Umansky know better than to keep the mold-making wall-to-wall carpeting in the master pooper.

Additional features and amenities include vaulted ceilings, 5 fireplaces, lots of built-in cabinetry, a giant gore-may kitchen, wine closet, media room with TXH surround sound system, a salt-water swimming pool and spa, built-in Viking brand barbecue and a lighted sport court.

The children might find it inneresting to known that property records reveal the non-celebrity sellers–a Beverly Hills surgeon and his wife–purchased the property way back in 1986 for just $800,000. Can y'all say "ka-ching!"

14 comments:

The Devoted Classicist said...

It is going to take more than just removing the bathroom carpet to make anything out of this mess.

Jeannified said...

I LOVE the house they are selling. I don't know why in the world they would want to buy this blah gray mess of a place! Hideous! (I DO love that show, though!)

WinstonC said...

"Three and some years later the new and improved price now is the ree-donkulously complicated $999,999,999, otherwise known to sane people at ten million clams."

Really? That looks like a billion to me...

Anonymous said...

Dear Mama: Some people lose it when they get to sixes and sevens. You, a bit more resilient, lose it only when you get to nines. A dollar short of ten million would be $9,999,999, not $999,999,999. You seem to have pecked out an extra two nines due to hand spasm or somethin'.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the short tour of Zsa Zsa's house, or at least of the dining womb. It was good to know that it has lots of wombs, including several bathwombs and bedwombs, one of which is doubtless occupied by the lady herself. Pity the chairs that seated important people are not for sale. One would give a lot for a chair that might have some residual deposit on it from the behind of the Queen or Prince Philip.

Anonymous said...

I feel like there are some missing pieces in the story of Mauricio and Kyle. He seems to be involved in some of the biggest listings on the West Side, including a bunch, past and present, in Beverly Park, but yet they can't seem to get out of these sort of mediocre houses (relatively speaking). If anyone would have knowledge of a great house, great deal, I would think it would be him.
Regardless, Mauricio is a real dream boat. All the other husbands are seriously creepy, including the soon to be ex of Camille, but most especially the guy that Taylor is married to. When those two come on, I have to fast forward through the scene because they make me too uncomfortable. But as far as I'm concerned, Mauricio should be in every scene.

commentator8 said...

Anonymous 7:01 -

I agree with you about Umansky-Richards. I can't figure it out, either:

A) They are tremendously conservative and live below their means, which if true, would be wildly refreshing both for LA in general and for a Southern California "uber-agent". Maybe they only buy homes all cash so they don't have mortgage worries if the economy and RE market swing and save lots of dough for future, impending early retirement, etc. If so, kudos. Or,

B) He has scads of giant listings that never sell, so in reality he really doesn't make much more than the average successful RE agent in his market, probably averaging $500,000 a year in commissions - which would match home purchases in the $2-$3M range.

Compare him to Kurt Rappaport who also lists $20-$50M mansions, but lives in $10-$20M homes.

Anonymous said...

Although I'm familiar with salt water pools, most that I've seen are hotel pools, near the ocean and I always supposed they piped in ocean water.[probably wrong on that one] How exactly does one make salt water (yes, I know, adding salt to water] for a home pool? What is the draw of having salt water, which I find personally irritating, over fresh water in a pool?

And remember, there's no such thing as a stupid question.

Anonymous said...

i have a salt water pool. it's cheaper, less chemicals and less upkeep. you can change a chlorine pool to salt for relatively cheap. mine was about $1200 to do. then you literally just dump salt into your pool. a lot less work and a lot less money and it keeps the water clearer for longer.

Anonymous said...

Went into the Hilton and Hyland site and MauricioUmansky.com, which is the site for his team.
Some interesting information includes that he was born in Mexico City but moved to Bel Air in 1976. Wouldn't be surprised to find out that he grew up in the very same set of streets they're living in now. Since he just had his 40th birthday on the show in 2010, that would have been when he was 6. No mention of schooling at all as apparently that's not relevant, although the schooling of his associates is noted. The associates are all young, pretty women (well, catty Camille did note that Mauricio loves the women) except for an older man also with the last name Umansky who we have to presume is his father, a former real estate loan officer.
Also he claims to have closed 190m in 2010, over 1 billion in total transactions since joining the firm in 1998, and 8 out of the last 10 in Beverly Park. Who knows how many dollars that has shuffled his way, but it would seem to indicate that what the above commenter suggested about his conservative approach to real estate may be the case.

luke220 said...

The Umansky's are definitely the poor relations judging by the flower arrangement sent by the Hilton's to the niece's graduation party. Kyle was pissed that the Hiltons failed to make an appearance.

I don't get the disconnect between Mauricio's business and their humble homes. Maybe it is the drain of supporting the second wife, Kim? This house is not Beverly Hills, it is pretentious of Kyle to continually refer to herself as the Beverly Hills housewife.

PRAYforZsaZsa said...

Where is Kyle and Mauricio's house exactly? does anyone have the street so I can google it? Thanks lovies!

luke220 said...

The house in question is on Casiano Ct, very close to the intersection of 405 and Mulholland.

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