Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Architectural Experiments of Terunobu Fujimori




Some of his works may not even look like real houses, but Terunobu Fujimori is one of the worlds most acclaimed architectural designers. His unconventional works have been displayed all around the world, and, believe it or not, people actually want to live in his houses. A historian by trade, Terunobu Fujimori started designing buildings late in his life, when he was 44. He was asked to design a history museum for a family from his local village, near Nagano, who had ancient ties to that place. He decided to build something completely uncobventional, in order to avoid being criticized for lack of originality, and his creation was a success. Since then, Terunobu Fujimori has been delivering one fascinating house after another, at a rate of a house per year. Using his knowledge of Japanese architectural history and his designer talents, Terunobu Fujimori manages to create unique buildings that are ecologically sensitive and energy efficient.






The way Terunobu Fujimori designs and builds his houses is as unconventional as they look. He simply takes a tree stump and starts hacking away at it with a Chainsaw, until he gets a rough model of what he plans to build. Then he invites his clients to his Too-High Tea House, standing 20 meters into the air, on two forked tree trunks, and shows them his designs. If they don’t like them, he simply shakes the house until he gets a positive answer. Galleries have offered to buy his tree stump models, but he always refused to sell them. Although he relies on professionals for the structural and electrical installations on his houses, he handles most of the interior design, with a team of friends. He never pays them for their work, as that would be labor.  







Nicole Kidman's house

Nicole Kidman 


In a Big Time Listings exclusive, we can report that Kidman and Urban’s house, at 15 Bancroft Place in the gated Green Hills area of Nashville, sold on November 5 for $90,000 below their asking price. The deal was recorded on November 6, according to public records. We previously had written on November 2 about Kidman and Urban having gone to contract to sell the house, which had had an asking price of $2,450,000. The buyer is a songwriter for Christian and country music (but not really a celebrity) and her husband, according to public records.



Features in the house include five and a half baths, public areas opening to a covered terrace, a pool, a spa, and a three-car garage, according to listing information. The house is either 7,047 square feet (according to listing information) or 8,715 square feet (according to public records), and it’s either on a 2.03-acre parcel (according to public records) or a 2.49-acre parcel (according to listing information). Urban, who married Kidman in 2006, had purchased the house under the name of his money manager, Mary Ann McCready, in 2005 for $1,720,967, according to public records.



Where are Kidman and Urban living now? There of course has been plenty of chatter about the couple buying land on which they plan to build a “40-acre farm” in the Nashville area, but no one yet has reported much in the way of details on that new property.




 We, however, can exclusively report that they purchased two adjacent parcels totaling 36 acres on Old Hillsboro Road in Franklin, Tenn. This would confirm — at least partly — a showbizspy.com report last month reporting on the couple’s purchase of “a 40-acre farm near Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee,” since their new acreage is indeed close to Leiper’s Fork.




Public records show that the name of Kidman and Urban’s money manager, Mary Ann McCready, who manages many celebrities and whose name was on the deed of the couple’s Bancroft Place house in Nashville, appeared on the deeds of Urban and Kidman’s two recent purchases of property on Old Hillsboro Road in Franklin: 

 –First, on September 27 (and recorded the following day), the couple purchased — for exactly $2,000,000 — of a 3,963-square-foot house on a 27.8-acre tract at 2032 Old Hillsboro Road in Franklin;
–And second, on October 1 (and recorded on October 4), the couple paid $450,000 for a 3,168-square-foot house on an 8.2-acre parcel at 2040 Old Hillsboro Road.
Interestingly, Urban is not even the only country star living on his street. Records show that country singer-songwriter Jo Dee Messina, who’s also repped by McCready, lives up the road, at 1572 Old Hillsboro Road, in a 3,754-square-foot house on 10 acres that she purchased in 2001 for $750,000 from celebrated writer Jay McInerney, according to public records. 

On top of all of that, Urban clearly loves that area of the world so much that it’s his second time owning property on Old Hillsboro Road! Records show that back in the middle part of this decade, he and his then-steady, supermodel Niki Taylor, for a time had owned the 6,854-square-foot house on 15.63 acres at 3063 Old Hillsboro Road. However, in 2004, concurrent with their break-up, Urban deeded the house at 3063 Old Hillsboro to Taylor. She eventually sold the property.


 









  As for Kidman, it’s been a long time now, but we have fond memories of the final (and only) Los Angeles-area property that she ever owned: a 7,597-square-foot house on nearly an acre at 1525 Sorrento Drive in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades area that she sold in December 2002 for $10,250,000, according to public records. That property was Kidman and then-husband Tom Cruise’s marital abode before they split up in 2000, driving Tom to his longtime 6,685-square-foot rental on 2.71 acres at 918 N. Alpine Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Scarlet Johnson;s house

Scarlett Johansson








Not even A-LIST CELEBRITIES are impervious to the topsy-turvy real estate market. According to CNN MONEY and the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, Scarlett Johansson bought a stunning Spanish style villa in Hollywood Hills in 2007 for $7 million, threw down even more cash to remodel it to her exacting specifications—and now it’s being listed by SOTHEBY;S for over $2 million less than what she paid. We’ve got snapshots and more details here.

The interiors are lovely, albeit surprisingly laid-back for a star who’s known for being so va-va-voom (not that we were expecting pin-up girl posters or anything, but the décor does feel sweeter and more approachable than we would have guessed coming from someone we always associate with big-time glamour).

The main floor of the gated four-bedroom house opens up to a light-flooded atrium—or in fancy (and somewhat preposterous) real estate terms, a “romantic loggia”—which ScarJo outfitted with cushy white slip covered sofas, JUTE RUGS, and an old-fashioned piano. The kitchen is done in a similarly homey style, featuring charmingly retro lemon yellow “Big Chill” dishwasher, a wide farmhouse sink and pretty, colorful Spanish tiles. Clearly the 25 year-old got the memo on how to turn her bathroom into a spa—hers is tricked out with soft, moody lighting and gleaming, perfectly uncluttered marble countertops (and also boasts his-and-hers sinks for her and her husband Ryan Reynolds). To take full advantage of its sunny Southern California location, the eco-conscious actress installed solar panels to keep the home powered naturally. And to round out the estate, there’s a lap pool, and lush, beautifully landscaped terraces, patios, and cascading gardens. All yours for $4.95 million.






Saturday, September 25, 2010

Falling Water House




I'm absolutely sure that this house is one of the most incredible houses I've ever seen. Of course, the pictures help a lot, but the shapes, the straight lines, the use of a few materials, elements that I believe are main points on the contemporary architecture, are all too evident on that house in La Finca, Spain.
This is just one of hundreds of houses inside a complex and exclusive house development. A place with lots of green areas, lakes and wonderful houses designed by A-cero, an architecture studio in Madri. A-cero did a particular great job on this house: with simple and rectangular shapes working together with huge windows they have built a perfect exemple of modern architecture.
And what to say about the interior?! Each bedroom following the same style with strong colors and the same space composition. And to complete this architectonic poetry, water mirrors and a beautiful pool help turn make pleasant every space on this house and easy to contemplate the emotions that a good architecture can transmit.














Worlds Most Beautiful House



I'm absolutely sure that this house is one of the most incredible houses I've ever seen. Of course, the pictures help a lot, but the shapes, the straight lines, the use of a few materials, elements that I believe are main points on the contemporary architecture, are all too evident on that house in La Finca, Spain.
This is just one of hundreds of houses inside a complex and exclusive house development. A place with lots of green areas, lakes and wonderful houses designed by A-cero, an architecture studio in Madri. A-cero did a particular great job on this house: with simple and rectangular shapes working together with huge windows they have built a perfect exemple of modern architecture.
And what to say about the interior?! Each bedroom following the same style with strong colors and the same space composition. And to complete this architectonic poetry, water mirrors and a beautiful pool help turn make pleasant every space on this house and easy to contemplate the emotions that a good architecture can transmit.

















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