The Big News this week is that apartment prices are softening so much that Rupert Murdoch - who you wouldn't think would need the money - was willing to smile for a closeup in an effort to sell his stunning downtown pad. Nice smile, but we think his wife would have done a better job. On another note, Martha crosses the Rubicon (if she hasn't already) with this priceless quote:
"Let's face it, everybody wants to live in one of my homes. You see one of them and you don't want to leave."
TOP STORIES
- Make an Offer: Murdoch's 9300 sq/ft SoHo pad is stunning, which is totally thanks to Christian Liaigre, and the interview is refreshingly feisty, thanks to Motoko Rich. Great pics here.
- Marthatown: Living in the Bubble: Is the NYTimes saying Martha's living in a bubble? Wow. If they can say it, we can at least think it after reading this story about Martha's new house branding deal with KB Home. It's not just towels any more, Dorothy.
- The Monoliths Next Door: Ever thought of building a replica of Stonehenge in your backyard? Really? Then probably you came to the same conclusion that we did, that your ego and your money were not big enough. In Connecticut, Jonathan Rothberg didn't have those problems. By the incomparable Penelope Green.
- Why Wash the Dishes if the Kitchen Will Disappear? The owners of Artecnica, Enrico Bressan and Tahmineh Javanbakht, do some really nice work to the LA home, and we get to see it. Hiding the kitchen is not for everyone, but their inventiveness with materials is inspiring. Better pics in the paper, as they stripped some out online.
- Peronal Shopper - Cozy Things for Cold Weather: Pure eye-candy for cold weather and better pics online than in the paper. Including beautiful sheets from Garnet Hill (above).
- Q. How can I update a fireplace with a 1970's red-brick border?
- Furniture Prices Heading Up: "Furniture prices...are likely to increase by more than 10 percent in the coming months, because of recent rises in the price of oil and the disruption of petroleum supplies." 'Nuff said.
CURRENTS
- Poster Boy, Marcel Wanders, has finished his design work for Thor (The Hotel on Rivington). From the looks of it, it's time for another trip over there.
- M. S. Rau Antiques has relocated from New Orleans to the Big Apple. They have taken temporary space on University.
- The exhibition, "Prairie Skyscraper: Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower," is open in Oklahoma and goes to Yale in January.
- Tom Atwood's new book, "Kings in Their Castles," is out, exploring the domestic lives of gay men. Time for a survey.
- The Scaletta chair by Pieracci. Seen lately on Craigslist, here is the original, maybe.
Martha's McMansions give me the heeby-jeebies, but they are going to sell like hotcakes.
Can't believe she didn't trot this out before.
Celebrity tie-in houses have failed before. There was a Thomas Kincade-themed subdivision in the San Francisco-area boondocks circa 2003, and it didn't do very well. There hasn't been a second one.
I saw the Times yesterday and of course, they show more photos than they do online. One photo in the paper was another angle of the "disappearing kitchen". One BIG flaw, IMHO, was that the frig is on one side of the bifold doors and the counter is on the other. There's no place to set down anything from the frig unless you walk around the open bifold. Hated it!
BTW, what's up with these numbers we have to type in before sending??
Hey Maxwell--
You scooped the Times again on that Ameico fireplace (one of the items on the Personal Shopper section)
And, um, are people voting the Marcel vs Todd issue based on THESE pictures? If so, I REALLY don't understand the voting...!
First thing I thought when I saw the monolith shot:
Derek Smalls: Can I ask a practical question at this point? Are we gonna do Stonehenge tomorrow night?
David St. Hubbins: No of course we're not going to do fking Stonehenge tomorrow night!
Thank you, Spinal Tap.
I hear the fatal flaw with the Thomas Kincade subdivison was that the effect only worked if the homeowners slept with all the lights on.
Doug--
That made me laugh out loud.
Everybody join me for a big pity party for the Murdoch's.
Awwwwllll!
Also, patrick (the other one), I'm with you on the Marcel Wanders vs. Todd Oldham issue. No contest!
Although, I can just hear my mother saying, (in that distinctive Woody Allen way: her face hovering above Manhattan) "Now, now. I think they both have that SPECIAL something that we ALL have"
Well, MJ, if they BOTH have a "SPECIAL something" now I REALLY am interested!!! ;)