The Latest: 2019

It’s been almost 60 years since Paul and Helen Olfelt hired iconic American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to build their Minnesota house. Now the couple are in their 90s, and are selling the—totally untouched!—place for $1.295 million. The three bedroom, two bathroom home sits on 3.77 “extremely private acres at the end of a quiet cul de sac” in St. Louis Park, just seven miles from downtown Minneapolis.

They say everything is bigger in Texas, even—nay especially—the boots. Case in point: There’s a cowboy boot so large you can live in it. And it’s available for rent. Located in Huntsville, a city about an hour north of Houston, the footwear inspired house and the adjoining bungalow were designed and built by local artist Dan Phillips, who specializes in constructing homes with recycled and salvaged materials.

If you love mid-century design and also the work of master architect Frank Lloyd Wright, this Texas home is the design mashup you’ve been waiting for. Take a look inside for yourself. David Foster George, who lived to be 100, was a Texas-based architect who was a fan of the Craftsman style and studied under Wright at Taliesin West.

Looking to live that Usonian life? One such home in an Frank Lloyd Wright designed community in Pleasantville, New York is ready to make your dreams come true. Wright used the term Usonian to refer to his vision for the landscape of the US, including city planning and architecture.

Starchitect Zaha Hadid was a tour de force of contemporary architecture and design, creating everything from iconic buildings to vases and tableware—even a sneaker. Now, her Miami Beach condo is on the market, and some of her one of a kind furniture is up for grabs as well. The 2,299 square foot condo at the W Hotel South Beach is almost entirely windows, with stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean. The place comes with three bedrooms, four bathrooms, and as few interior walls as possible.

Wondering what the former President and First Lady have been up to after their much-memed Tropical vacation on Richard Branson’s private island? Well, the answer is house-hunting. Fortunately, for the Obamas, they didn’t have to hunt very far before finding their new dream home. Ok, so “new” might not be entirely the right word. See, the Obamas just purchased the DC-area home they’ve been renting since leaving the White House.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s 150th birthday is this week, and luckily we get to peek inside Tirranna, an astounding private home in Connecticut, that happens to be on the market for $7.2 million. Tirranna—which means “running water” in the language of Australia’s Aboriginal people—is a horseshoe shaped property overlooking the Noroton River in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Ever wonder how Oscar winning actor Natalie Portman relaxes? Based on her latest real estate acquisition, we’re guessing that staring at the ocean factors in heavily. The Jackie star recently purchased a vacation home in Montecito, a town on the California coast northwest of Los Angeles near Santa Barbara. Check out the property for yourself. The modern vacation home, designed by Santa Barbara architect Barton Meyers, set Portman back $6.5 million.

If you’re one of the millions of Americans who start their day with Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie on NBC’s morning show Today, we wouldn’t judge if you feel like you’re already friends. And now, Savannah’s Tribeca loft is on the market, and you can peek inside. The 2,691 square foot condo, which has three bedrooms plus an office and four full bathrooms, was purchased by Guthrie’s husband, political consultant Michael Feldman, in 2012 for $3.8 million.

Oprah Winfrey’s estimated net worth is $3 billion, but one of the properties in her real estate portfolio is surprisingly modest. The media mogul is currently selling a house in Chicago’s nearby Elmwood Park suburb—for under $400,000. The 2,250 square foot brick colonial has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an attached garage. Originally built in 1941, Oprah purchased the property in 2001 for $298,000, but has never lived in it.

When it comes to real estate, Jared Leto is no Joker. The Suicide Squad star just sold his home in the Hollywood Hills for $2.05 million, $50,000 over the asking price. The 4,021 square foot four bedroom, three and a half bath home was built in 1955. Leto purchased the property in March 2006 for $1.65 million. The floor plan shows that there is a master bedroom and two connected guest bedrooms on the first floor, along with the kitchen, dining room, and living room with a fireplace.

A tiny cottage to escape to might be on your wish list, but this one is a bit out of the ordinary. The cedar shingled dwelling is actually on a rooftop in the East Village, and it can be yours—if you have the funds to buy the penthouse below for $3.5 million. Curbed NY was the first to report the story, and while rooftop cottages are a rare New York feature, this isn’t the first one we’ve seen.

Michael Graves’ first ever commission is on the market. The Modernist property in Fort Wayne, Indiana is listed for the (affordable for its pedigree) price of $264,888. Designed for his friends Jay and Lois Hanselmann, the Hanselmann House was completed in 1971, and not much has changed since then.

The legendary Frank Lloyd Wright designed some unique properties in his day, but we’ve never seen one quite like this. Needless to say, the starchitect proved he was a fun guy with this mushroom-esque structure, now for sale for $1.5 million. The Sol Friedman House is part of Wright’s Usonia community in Pleasantville, New York—just 50 minutes north of Manhattan.

Name: Santa and Mrs. Claus Location: North Pole Size: 2,500 square feet, with multiple 150-square=foot cottages on 25 acres Years lived in: 195 years, owned Move over, Martha. When it comes to decorating inspiration for the holidays, there’s only one influencer who truly makes their mark on every home, and his name is Santa Claus. Santa, a toy company entrepreneur and delivery man, works one day a year. The rest of the time, you’ll find him — along with his wife, Mrs.

Our latest peek into the fascinating real estate ventures of celebrities is the recent sale of model-entrepreneur couple Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber’s beachfront Malibu house. The new owner dropped $45 million on the pair’s former digs in a transaction that was finalized last month. Crawford and Gerber originally listed the 3.

We’ve all heard it. If you’re looking to buy, you should always go for the worst house in the best neighborhood. But have many of us ever stopped to question that conventional wisdom? I thought I was bucking convention when I bought one of the lowest priced houses in a neighborhood that many locals steer clear of (and to my eternal frustration that Uber drivers tell my Airbnb guests they should avoid) — but is it true?

Ask real estate agents and they’ll admit that they’re just as frustrated about some quirks in the home buying process as you are. Here, seven things that bother them the most: Usually it’s no one’s business but yours if you’re messy or tidy—but when your place is on the market, your cleanliness habits can affect how quickly your home sells: “It should go without saying, but I have to say it all the time: Tidy up!

When my husband and I finally started looking for a home (after years of renting a barn loft that was short on insulation and long on character), our budget led us to two options: a newer home we would reluctantly call “nice,” or an older home in need of some major updating but one that we could definitely see becoming ours.

Even if you read your lease line-by-line (you deserve a juris doctorate!) when you signed, you’d probably like clarification on some policies and have some questions about your rental—whether you’ve resigned twice or just moved in. Have there ever been bed bugs? Ghosts? If my lease ends at the end of the month, what’s the absolute latest time I can move out? What’s my best option for pizza delivery?! Speaking of deliveries, where do my Amazon Prime packages go?

If you’re thinking about buying a home this year, you’ve probably already come to terms with leaving city life behind to take advantage of those sweet suburban prices. But if you can’t bear to part with walkability, public transportation, a lively food and entertainment scene, or any other of the many benefits to living in a city, there is hope: Some cities are more hospitable to those entering the real estate market than others.

I spend entirely too much of my free time looking at real estate listings—even though looking at them is a good chunk of what I get paid to do here! But even though I know what I’m looking for, even I get lost clicking through dream homes: “I should move to Detroit and buy this $20,000 fixer upper!” or “If I save now, I can totally can afford this $2 million apartment in Brooklyn by the time I’m 30!

If you’ve been patting yourself on the back for living minimally in a studio apartment in the hopes of squirreling away a couple of hundreds of dollars every month for a down payment sometime in the future, brace yourself: I hate to break it to you, but you might actually be losing money. At least according to a new analysis from HotPads, a Zillow company that focuses on apartment searches, the median price for a one-bedroom apartment in most cities is actually cheaper than a studio.

In case you're wondering, they aren't super snobby when it comes to sourcing decor items—they often shop in the same places with an eye on price—just like you!

You’ve saved a good chunk of money, or at least are on a path to do so. Now, you might be wondering what’s better: Invest in real estate or put your money in the stock market? It’s a question you can wrestle with to no end since several factors come into play. Helping to frame the debate and lend advice below are a host of real estate and finance experts. Here are six questions they suggest you ask yourself if you’re exploring your investment options.