It's always funny to me how styles from decades ago are recycled again and what was once out of fashion is back in style. Hellos seems to harbor a certain fondness for the 70's and its 'flower power' designs especially when creating their new modular LED radiator called Daisy. Projecting both warmth and artistic appeal this exuberant heat source also offers chromotherapy with a myriad of color choices and aluminum finishes to suit your fancy. The individual daisies can be arranged in a pattern that fits your space and also features cleverly hidden valves and a backlit design.
On a day like today when it is only in the single-digits outside the appeal of convenient fireplaces certainly increases in my mind. I'm especially taken with the portability and sleek design of the FIREBO-X from Schulte Design. Perfect for any space, no matter how compact, both indoors and out the FIREBO-X brings ambiance, warmth and style to any place. If you don't want to leave it out you can easily store it as well. Schulte also offers a slightly larger version featuring a reflective back panel to enhance the mood and two low-profile drawers for storage. Wish I knew the price but on a day like today it would be hard to say "no" to extra heat no matter the cost.
I loves these old homes in Charleston, South Carolina. 36 Chapel was built in 1809 by Anthony Vanderhorst Toomer and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The home is located in the historic district of Wraggborough and is surrounding by fencing and mature plantings including a formal parterre garden with rare Drake elms in front, with a private bricked patio and fountain in the rear. The restored home has an entry hall that opens to spacious formal living and dining rooms, leading to an open kitchen with marble counters and island, breakfast area with wet bar, and Wolf and SubZero appliances tucked into brick arches. There is a covered porch off the kitchen which provides easy access to the rear courtyard and features sun and privacy shutters. The family room has a gas-log fireplace and plasma screen television. The second floor master suite includes a private office or nursery room, large walk-in closet and a spacious bath with garden tub and separate shower. There is also awood-paneled library with fireplace on this level; as well as a sunroom which opens onto the upstairs rear piazza. The two guest bedrooms and a full bath are found on the third floor. The entire ground floor is a separate one-bedroom apartment or guest suite with a full kitchen and bath. This home is listed at $2.1 million.
Offering luxury watches that can only be described as unique, deLaCour releases is newest model, the Iridium Sagra Triplex watch. Here is a watch with true armor plating - being the first watch to make use of iridium metal plates. Iridium is probably the most corrosion resistant metal around, repelling the effects of acid and other corrosive chemicals. The metal is placed within the platinum group of metals meaning that it is exceedingly rare, difficult to machine, and expensive. When cast, iridium has a yellowish hue that you can make out in the images, making it look like a dull gold. The Iridium Sagra Triplex has a large case made of mostly titanium with the iridium 'armor' plates screwed to the surface.
Inside is a large flying tourbillon-based manually wound movement that displays three time zones. The main dial displays time in a standard 12 hour format, while two subsidiary dials show two other time zones, each in 24 hour time. The watch also features a power reserve indicator that is likely located on the rear of the watch. The impressively sized timepiece will be offered in limited numbers with a rubber or alligator strap. The design desperately wants to be futuristic, especially with the phrase "Since Tomorrow" written on the dial. My feelings are that the design is a bit retro techie if anything, but the use of iridium in the case is certainly a progressive feature that deLaCour can boast about with Iridium Sagra Triplex timepiece.
Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.
Jewelry sales are down across the board so maybe adding a heavy does of sex appeal will help. The Sun, London's newspaper has featured topless pictures of models as a daily feature for decades. Now the Page 3 girls have their own jewelry line. The line includes watches, charms, dogtags, earrings and more in gold and silver with diamonds and other gemstones. The pieces have a cutesy, kitschy appeal similar to Playboy jewelry here in the U.S. I'm wondering though if more newspapers are considering ancillary projects like these to help boost revenue. We've already got the Wall Street Journal's wine club which makes me wonder what's next.
I usually hear these "found in a barn" stories when it comes to art but it happens with rare cars too. A rare 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante was found in the barn of Dr. Harold Carr. The car is one of a limited run of 17 examples, and a quarter of them are housed in a museum in rural France. This one went missing half a century ago before ending up in Dr. Carr's garage. The car will be auctioned off in Paris on February 7 as part of the Bonhams Retromobile sale. The estimated value has been listed as high as £6 million (about $8.8 million). The car has an odometer reading of just 26,284. Since it has been garaged for so long it is in need of some restoration but it will be a true find for a lucky collector.
You've probably seen the TV commercials for gold-buying companies such as Cash4Gold and The Gold Kit. For those who are interested in selling their luxury jewels and watches, The Estate Buyer operates on the same concept -- mail your items in the provided, insured envelope, get back cash. Here's information on what the company purchases. And here are the FAQs. I haven't used this service so I can't vouch for it, but with a new year comes a chance to clean out, and maybe clean up at the same time, as gold prices remain strong.
The latest luxury project to ruffle feathers on the shores of Lake Tahoe is the Tahoe Beach Club. The new development is a planned project of condos and estate homes to be located on the site of the existing Tahoe Shores Mobile Home Park, a fact that upsets and uproots the 30 remaining residents of the park. The developers, who plan to sell the 124 condominiums at over $1 million each, are constructing a green-friendly project that will include a water treatment system. The $200 million to $250 million project will have stone-and-wood lodges with lofts and porches and there will be a private beach club including a fitness center, snack bars, restaurant and a private sandy beach. The residents of the trailer park have been offered various buyout plans including a $5,000 payment, a move to another park or the fair appraised value of their trailers but are currently holding firm even though they know they will inevitably be forced to move.
It was only in November that Donald Trump finally got approval for his billion dollar golf resort development in Scotland but there are already rumors of trouble. At the tail end of 2008 a flurry of reports came out saying that the housing component of the resort, 500 luxury homes, was on hold due to the global economic crisis. But an George Sorial, managing director for international development for the Trump Organization says this is untrue. He says the project was always going to be done in phases and the residential part was already planned to be the last part. He says that it is schedule this way because the A90 road needs to be widened in order first in order to avoid potential traffic issues. In fact, he says it's a great time to be building because labor is plentiful and the cost of materials is going down. Some wonder though, given Trump's recent troubles, if this isn't just a lot of bluster.
Back in May I wrote about the plans to create an international village inside the U.S. embassy complex in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. Now a new five-star hotel is planned for the Green Zone. Rotana Hotels has signed an agreement with Summit Hotels to manage a five-star hotel that will open in early 2012. The new Rotana property will have 250 rooms and suites, Club Rotana Executive floors, several restaurants and bars, banqueting and conference facilities, a fitness club and a swimming pool. Rotana a Middle Eastern brand based in the United Arab Emirates with a wide variety of properties across the Middle East.
In the past couple of months I have acquired a bit of an obsession for berry tones so this bag was a hit at first sight for me. The Burberry Cartridge Pleat Tote features a red-berry patent leather with cartridge pleating throughout and a detachable shoulder strap on a day when you're carrying a bit more around. This colorful carry-all can definitely hold all your essentials for the day job or a big night out. I like its structure and multi-purpose use...and that gorgeous purple hue which makes it worth the $2,595 in my eyes. (16" x 7" x 11" with 8" handle drop)
New Zealand-based designer Alex Hodge has come up with a super-cool concept vehicle called the Hawk (above) that offers the performance of a motorcycle with the comfort of a luxury sportscar and the styling of a fighter jet. The three-wheeled (19-inch alloy), fiberglass-bodied conveyance has a pod-style cabin accessed by folding back the curved glass hood, and is trimmed in a blend of lightweight plastics and leather, the UK Auto Expressreports. Power comes from a 999cc Honda RC51 V-twin engine producing 120 HP and a top speed of 144 mph. No word yet on a production date or price for this predatory-looking beast.
Minnesota artist Gary Lundstrom has created a new line of art lamps that celebrate Minnesota style and history. Great Lake Design. The lantern-style lamps are based on the white pnes that line the north shore of Lake Superior, and have stained glass interior lights and solid oak bases. The lamps cost $1200 a piece and part of the money from each sale will go to the Saint Louis County Historical Society in the Duluth Depot.
It's nice to see that green can be mixed with luxury and the end product is still chic and high-quality. Zegna's Sport line has just come out with their Solar Ski Jacket embedding small solar panels into the neoprene collar of the jacket so the alpine adventurer in you can still have fully-charged phones, mp3 players and other gadgets. They haven't sacrificed any style to accomplish this eco-minded shell but have given the wearer more flexibility on the slopes. I could have used this last week as skiing in the Rockies sometimes means leaving phones on 'roam' between signal areas and my battery kept dying. Just four or five hours of direct sunlight, which Colorado has a lot of, would have done the trick. This sport-savvy coat will cost you $2,250 so you better ski a bunch this season in order justify its pricetag.
Today's home in Southampton, New York was designed by Grosvenor Atterbury and has been given a flawless modern makeover. The home sits on three landscaped acres in the estate section of Southampton. The turn-of-the-century English country manor has been expanded to fit modern times and now has 11 bedrooms, nine fireplaces, sweeping staircases, and luxurious family and entertaining areas filled with nondescript furniture and modern art. South-facing French doors open out to brick patios, green lawns, a gunite pool, and a pool house. This home is listed at $22 million.
