Celebrity Real Estate: The New York Observer dug up...

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On the Market: Now's Your Chance to Purchase One of the Very Few Pieces of Celebrity Real Estate in San Francisco

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Friday, July 20, 2012, by Sally Kuchar We gave you the heads up on Wednesday that Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin and his husband Christopher Turner would be putting their home on the market this week, and here it is in all its glory. The couple is moving to Santa Fe. The 3-bed, 2-bath, 1,606 square foot shingled Craftsman/Edwardian-style abode was built in 1906. Mr. Maupin picked it up in 1993, when he purchased it for $615,000. He's asking $1,198,000. The Parnassus Heights location is perched high atop San Francisco, so the home has views galore of downtown, Marin, and the Bay. It was in this home that Maupin wrote three New York Times bestselling novels. Maupin's most autobiographical novel, The Night Listener, published in 2000, is largely set at 27 Belmont Avenue, as described in this excerpt:

Out of habit I approached the house from the sidewalk across the street, where I could see it in context: three narrow stories noticed into the wooden slope. Its new cedar shingles were still too pallid for its dark green trim, but another season or two of rain would turn them into tarnished silver. I'd be eagerly awaiting that. I'd wanted the place to look ancestral, as if we had lived there forever.

Want to see it in person? There's an open house on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4PM.
· Author Armistead Maupin is About to List [Curbed SF]
· Armistead Maupin Sells in San Francisco [The Real Estalker]
· 27 Belmont [Redfin] 27 Belmont Avenue, San Francisco, CA

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Celebrity Real Estate: Swimming Tour de Force Michael Phelps Lists in B'More

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Monday, March 12, 2012, by Sarah Firshein

Swimming sensation Michael Phelps has put his 4,000-square-foot Baltimore condo on the market, reports The Real Estalker. The three-bedroom is one in a row of prim townhouses at an upscale community in Fells Point, the city's cute harbor neighborhood, and has views of the marina from an upper-floor balcony as well as thoroughly modern interiors comprised of brick, steel, glass, and gleaming hardwood. Phelps bought the property for $1.699M in 2007—right before Beijing—and might have had one helluva time navigating that slick, stylish staircase, with its none-too-tall landings. He's apparently trying to flip the place and move out to a more spacious place in the 'burbs—no surprise that a man with a 6'7" wingspan finds living in a townhouse too confining. While the exact ask is positioned as the ever-murky "price upon request," The Real Estalker guesses Phelps wants between $1.075M and $1.475M—will the 26-year-old with 16 Olympic medals under his belt really and readily accept a loss? Let's not forget that another local notable, former-First Daughter Jenna Bush Hager, failed to find a buyer for her nearby Federal Hill home last year and instead turned to renting it out.

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Celebrity Real Estate: Now that she's fled the $65K/month...

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Thursday, March 15, 2012, by Sarah Firshein

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Celebrity Real Estate: Inside Kim Kardashian's Rumored New $40K/Month Rental

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Friday, March 2, 2012, by Sarah Firshein

News from the SoCal rumor mill: Kim Kardahian is paying $40K a month to live in a four-bedroom mansion in Beverly Hills. Listed for $10.95M, the "Craftsman-Asian fused" mansion was built in 2003 and has been on the market for more than a year; inside there's Lagos Azul limestone flooring, mahogany kitchen cabinetry, a family room stocked with five flat-screen TVs, and a master suite with a three-sided concrete-faced fireplace, not to mention patios and lounge areas galore outside. Kardashian's apparently been shacking up in the resort-like mansion in order to hide out from ex-husband Kris Humphries; no word yet as to whether the reality TV star will remain long enough to overhaul the predominantly beige decor with pieces from the forthcoming Kardashian Kollection Home line.

· Your Mama Hears... [The Real Estalker]
· 13937 Durham Road, Beverly Hills [Zillow]
· Kardashian Sisters to Launch Kardashian Kollection Home [Curbed National]

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Celebrity Real Estate: While British actress Minnie Driver may...

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Celebrity Real Estate: Inside Matthew McConaughey's Tony New Austin Estate

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, February 15, 2012, by Sarah Firshein Photos via Zillow Blog

Chilled-out über-celebrity Matthew McConaughey has reportedly scooped up a nine-acre estate near Austin. The 10,000-square-foot Spanish Med-style mansion was built in 1997 in the style of midcentury architect Addizon Mizner, has seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a carved wood staircase, a two-island kitchen, tiled floors throughout, an elevator, verandas, terraces, pergolas, a courtyard with a water fountain, a stone guesthouse with its own covered porch, and seven boat slips on the lake. According to a tipster, that McConaughey has already moved with his supermodel fiancée Camila Alves has not deterred neighborhood soccer moms, many of whom have been jogging by the house in hopes of catching the actor doing yoga, say, shirtless on the front lawn. (As he's known to do these days.) About what he paid: the property was originally listed for close to $7M but it had been PriceChopped to some $4M by Nov. 2010 and then taken off the market last month—it's likely that it closed for somewhere near the low end of the spectrum.

· Your Mama Hears... [The Real Estalker]

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Celebrity Real Estate: Heiress Petra Ecclestone Opens Up About Her $85M House

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Friday, February 17, 2012, by Rob Bear

Photo: W

Remember that sort of no-name 23-year-old heiress who spent $85M on Candy Spelling's L.A. manor last year? Well, following her $19M wedding to "gold mine owner" James Stunt, the Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone was finally ready to let the glossy magazine W behind the gates at the manor and in doing so managed to embarrass herself to no end. Curbed LA has the full rundown of the absurd items in the article, but we can't help but mention a few: She enlisted no fewer than 500 people to install her new furnishings over the course of nine weeks; she has a brand-new coat of arms designed by her decorator; she invites over insufferable fellow heir Brandon Davis; and, for when she's visiting daddy in England, she just turned around and spent $87M on a house in London's Chelsea neighborhood. For the rest, head to W.
· Lady of the Manor [W]
· 15 Ridiculous Things Petra Ecclestone Brought to The Manor [Curbed LA]
· Spelling's $150M Megamansion Finds Appropriately Absurd Buyer [Curbed National]

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Celebrity Real Estate: In more celeb news, the Manhattan...

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Thursday, February 16, 2012, by Rob Bear

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Celebrity Real Estate: NFL Stars Hope for Hail Mary Sale with Over-The-Top Digs

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, January 31, 2012, by Rob Bear

Known best for their domination on the field, the following NFL stars also attempted to master the world of real estate, building elaborate personal palaces that match their stardom. Then, of course, as the contracts and salaries run dry—or they leave to build another luxurious spread—the opulent houses are tossed onto the market with some jaw-dropping price tags. This one, the extravagant Texas home of former NFL cornerback and current NFL commentator Deion Sanders, sits on 109 acres and includes a private football field and a lake. Sanders first listed it for $21M in 2009, but pulled it off the market following some extreme water damage in the media room last February. Perhaps he's fixing it up, or maybe he's just waiting for the photos of the carnage to work their way down his Twitter feed.

? Not to be outdone by his younger brethren, legendary Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman has listed Texas's most expensive house, a $24M mansion in Dallas that measures 10,500 square feet and includes five bedrooms, eight total bathrooms, a swimming pool, and tennis court. Rumor has it he's got his sights set on a smaller house next door.

? Another Cowboy, this one the currently active, highest-paid-ever DeMarcus Ware, lives in a much more modestly priced house near Dallas in Coreyville, Texas. Then again, he might be looking to trade up soon, as he's got the decked-out 9,300-square-foot mansion listed for $2.2M. It'll be hard to top these amenities though: "seven fireplaces, a trophy-stocked billiards room, and a wine porch, not to mention a dedicated turf practice area, a putting green, a pool/spa, pavilion, and a trampoline on the grounds."

? Out in Calistoga, Calif., near the city that gained him so much fame, iconic San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana has built an absurdly over-the-top estate for himself and his family. Set on 500 acres of Napa Valley, the 9,700-square-foot main house with "full equestrian facilities, a skeet shooting station, an olive farm, a swimming pool and spa, a private pond, a basketball court, and a bocce ball court" was previously listed for $49M, but was recently chopped down to a much more reasonable $35M.

? New England Patriots QB Tom Brady might not yet be retired, but he's certainly planning ahead for cushy twilight years. He and his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen—who reportedly pulls down more moolah each year than he does—decided to build a $20M megamanse in the hills of Los Angeles, despite making no public plans to leave New England any time soon. To help pay for the SoCal boondoggle Brady and Bundchen have their three-bed Boston duplex penthouse up for sale for the locally-almost-unheard-of price of $10.5M. The listing is lacking in interior photos, but at this price point, who needs 'em.

· Deion Sanders Takes $21 Million, 29,000 Square Foot Mansion OFF Market [Candy's Dirt]
· Troy Aikman Punts on His Palatial Digs, Now Texas's Priciest [Curbed National]
· Inside Cowboy DeMarcus Ware's Over-the-Top Texan Manse [Curbed National]
· 49ers Legend Joe Montana's Outlandish Napa Estate Chopped [Curbed National]
· Will Tom Brady's L.A. Plans Spur Back Bay PH Sale? [Curbed Boston]

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Celebrity (?) Real Estate: Pimping out celebrity connections to listed...

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The Celebrity Real Estate Heat Map: Celebrity real estate is a dime...

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Celebrity Real Estate: Inside Jennifer Aniston's Sleek New Piece of Starchitecture

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, January 24, 2012, by Sarah Firshein

Looks like it's time to update the Celebrity Real Estate Heat Map: A-lister of A-listers Jennifer Aniston has reportedly scooped up new mansion for herself in Bel-Air, Calif. The pristine 8,500-square-foot four-bedroom was designed in 1965 by noted Los Angeles modernist architect A. Quincy Jones; after first hitting the market for $29M in 2008, the house was reduced to some $24M, at which point Aniston swooped in and scored it for even less: $21M. And as if this lucky lady didn't already have enough of them, here are yet some more perks: more than three acres of land, views of the city and ocean, a pool, a guesthouse, a wine cellar, and—last but certainly not least—a vineyard. Let's not forget to look inside: those distinctly midcentury-feeling interiors boasts gleaming wood floors, full-wall expanses of glass, and some pretty stunning fireplace detail.

Aniston's had quite an impressive year in terms of real estate. The actress listed and then sold her spectacular Ohana estate, a Beverly Hills beaut that was once featured on the cover of Architectural Digest. She swiftly found another Beverly Hills estate in which to shack up with new beau Justin Theroux. Let's not forget her East Coast accommodations, either: her new SoCal new pad is located just a plane ride away from her nest overlooking Central Park. In short: life looks pretty fine when you're her.

· All Jennifer Aniston coverage [Curbed National]
· JENNIFER ANISTON Buys SICKEST Mansion Ever!!! [TMZ]
· New to Market: A. Quincy Jones in Bel Air [Curbed LA]

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Celebrity Real Estate: 49ers Legend Joe Montana's Outlandish Napa Estate Chopped

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Friday, January 20, 2012, by Rob Bear

Set on a sprawling 500 acres in the Napa Valley town of Calistoga, the Villa Montana is the utterly extravagant home of legendary San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana. The stunning estate, capped by a 9,700-square-foot Mediterranean mansion, first went to market for $49M, but it's since been chopped to an ever-so-slightly more reasonable $35M. Montana himself claims he "can't think of a better expression of art, architecture, and celebration of California's Wine Country and equestrian lifestyle than Villa Montana." But take that with a grain of salt, because he's the one who stands to take home $35M if it sells. There's not much trace of a football past here, but plenty of other diversions, including full equestrian facilities, a skeet shooting station, an olive farm, a swimming pool and spa, a private pond, a basketball court, and even a bocce ball court. The views of the surrounding Napa Valley countryside are fabulous, and even more so when you own much of what you see. Can the 49ers' current QB, Alex Smith, ever hope to own such an extravagant estate? Well, that might just hinge on what happens this weekend against the New York Giants in the NFC championship. Even so, probably not.
· 10500 Franz Valley Road [Trulia]

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Curbed Maps: Introducing the Curbed Celebrity Real Estate Heat Map!

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Monday, January 23, 2012, by Rob Bear

Here at Curbed celebrity real estate is a dime a dozen, from tales of woe (ahem, a bankrupt Nic Cage) to multimillion-dollar transactions (Ellen!) to sports stars trading one massive mansion for another. How can one make sense of all these famous people buying and selling properties? Enter the first-ever Celebrity Real Estate Heat Map. Below, please find the 20 hottest stories from the past few months, taking place as close as Connecticut and as far away as Hawaii. Of course, NYC and Los Angeles are veritable epicenters of celebrity real estate madness, so be sure to zoom in on those cities closely. See someone missing? Leave 'em in the comments.

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Celebrity Real Estate: O.J. Simpson's Foreclosed Florida Manse Set for Repossession

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Monday, January 16, 2012, by Rob Bear

Currently serving time in Nevada for kidnapping and armed robbery convictions that stemmed from a memorable memorabilia incident, the widely-reviled former running back O.J. Simpson hasn't been able to keep up with the mortgage payments on his Miami-area home. Even if he doesn't lose this property to the bank, Simpson—who moved to Florida from Los Angeles in 2000 and purchased the four-bed, four-bath house for $575K—may never see the inside of this place again. He's 64 years old and currently serving what could amount to a 33-year sentence. Though they say Florida is a terrific place to live out your twilight years.
· Jailed O.J. Simpson’s Miami House in Foreclosure [Zillow Blog]

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Celebrity Real Estate: CNBC has rounded up a bunch...

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PM Linkage: Most Desirable Celebrity Neighbor; the San Jose A's; Thanking the Berkeley Fire Dept.; More!

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Celebrity Real Estate: Tom Brady and Gisele Near Completion on $20M SoCal Spread

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Thursday, December 22, 2011, by Rob Bear

Photo: Boston Globe

The star quarterback and the (would-be) homecoming queen are almost done assembling their massive dream house in Los Angeles. We knew something big was coming when Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen dropped a heady $11M for a piece of Brentwood hillside. Then the ever rich and good looking duo spent an estimated $9M building out this enormous French-inspired mansion. Not that the pair have ever had any cash flow problems, but the sale of Tom's sprawling condo in NYC's Time Warner Center for $17.5M couldn't have hurt their new house plans. Meanwhile, perhaps to the ire of Patriots fans, the Brady's have listed, and recently price chopped, their Boston penthouse, currently on the market for $10.5M.
&3183; Brady and Bundchen's Brentwood House is Almost Finished [Curbed LA]
· Tom Brady Sells Time Warner Condo to Vermont's Richest Man [Curbed NY]
· Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen Price-Chop Back Bay Manse [Curbed Boston]

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Celebrity Real Estate: Busty Brunette Barbi Benton Lists Her Bel Air Dream House

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, December 20, 2011, by Rob Bear

Former Playboy centerfold Barbi Benton and her husband, the sartorially daring real estate developer George Gradow, currently have their longtime Bel Air, Calif. home listed for $11.95M. Benton, who spent quite a few of her early years living with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, has been splitting her time between Bel Air and Aspen, Colo., where she and Gradow own a spectacular hillside structure. Gradow, who made much of his money through investment in mobile home parks, recently spent a few years in the federal pen, courtesy of a conviction for tax fraud. Soon after his release in 2008, the couple listed this sprawling, 11,600-square-foot mansion for $17.5M, but after a series of price chops (and one price hike) the price is down to a lowly $11.95M. The house looks like it could be a product of the '70s, but was actually built in 1990, and sits on 2.75 acres with views over the nearby hilltops to the city.
· Barbi Benton Lists Los Angeles Dream House [The Real Estalker]

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