Perched atop the new Pendry Residences West Hollywood, this nearly completed terrace estate offers the five-star treatment with curated interiors and exterior amenities such as a private terrace and spa. Designed by Martin Brudnizki in collaboration with Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects, the showplace-in-the-sky features honed marble finishes, eye-catching fixtures and walls of windows that take in the cityscape. For a night in, forget DoorDash; owners have access to the adjacent Pendry hotels amenities including new restaurants by Wolfgang Puck.

Location: 8430 Sunset Blvd., Unit 803, West Hollywood, 90069

Asking price: $13 million

Built: 2020

Living area: 2,827 square feet, three bedrooms, 3.25 bathrooms

Exterior space: 2,908 square feet

Features: Panoramic views; designer finishes; custom built-ins; private terrace with full kitchen; fire pit; hot tub

About the area: In the 90069 ZIP Code, based on 13 sales, the median price for single-family homes in July was $2.55 million, a 1.3% increase year over year, according to CoreLogic.

Agents: Paul Stukin, Pendry Residences West Hollywood, (310) 779-2595

To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send high-resolution color photos via Dropbox.com, permission from the photographer to publish the images and a description of the house to jack.flemming@latimes.com.

Read more:
Home of the Week: Going top shelf in West Hollywood - Los Angeles Times

REVIEW: Some people love to live dangerously. Even if it means theyre always keeping a watchful eye on the weather in case a storm is brewing out to sea. In case waves literally swamp the house.

Like the couple undertaking the beachfront build that features in the latest episode of Grand Designs NZ.

Mark and Pip Pennington have chosen to build right beside the sea on the Kpiti Coast at Paekkriki, an exposed location where coastal erosion is accelerating with climate change. You can tell its a problem just by looking at the effort put in by the locals to keep the sea out of their homes massive rock and timber retaining walls line the beach.

MEDIAWORKS

Pip and Mark Pennington stand amid the detritus of the last storm to hit these Kpiti Coast shores. They hope their new gambion stone walls will stop a wall of water from hitting their new Paekkriki beach house.

And even then, the high tide comes roaring right up to the walls, which begs the question, What happens in a storm?.

READ MORE:* Grand Designs NZ: Extreme Piha beach-house build highlights stress of underestimating cost* Grand Designs NZ: Massive build inserts $6m penthouse into former Farmers tearooms* Grand Designs NZ: Ode to classic Kiwi bach

Yep, these are the builds we love to watch, and this latest one is a beauty. Grand Designs NZ presenter Chris Moller describes this slice of the coastline as a challenging place to live, not somewhere perhaps in this day and age youd think of building.

The coast is really being eaten away on a daily basis, he says. And Mark and Pip are going to be building right on the coast, almost with their feet in the water. Now, would you call that brave, or would you have to use a different word?

MEDIAWORKS

There's an easy flow outdoors to a large deck facing the sea.

The couple admit the locals think theyre crazy. And right at the start of this episode, theres a shot of them scrambling back up the beach to escape a wave that rolls right up to the wall. And that was no storm surge.

Mark, an industrial designer and a mentor of Mollers, acknowledges theyre living on the edge, but he says instead of being threatening, he finds the location invigorating and exciting. Pip, a microbiologist, says shes not mad on the storms, to which Mark replies, Youve got to hold on.

Hold on to what? Each other? Your sanity? The tree?

MEDAWORKS

Chris Moller enjoys a little sun with Pip and Mark outside the main living space.

You always say exciting, and I say frightening, Pip says to Mark, who loves the wildness and the fury of the waves. Hes doing this because he wants this thrill in his life. And we get that, but do you really need the added stress of potential danger to life and property?

Now retired, these two want a warm, comfortable beach house to replace the old brick bungalow on the site. And keeping costs down is essential. So they opt for a modular build designed by architect Geoff Fletcher. Its very low-key, simple and unpretentious, a house that sits lightly on the sand dune.

Two rectangular, black-clad pavilions will be joined by a transparent linking element. The front pavilion will be elevated to float on steel poles to provide a little more height above sea level. So far, so good. Thats exactly what this site needs. It sounds like the perfect bach.

MEDIAWORKS

There's a strong industrial aesthetic to the architecture, the soft furnishings make it comfortable and inviting.

MEDIAWORKS

There's a lovely plywood kitchen with stainless steel benchtops, which is just what Pip ordered. The dining chairs feature recycled plastic.

The modular design is a highly efficient, sustainable approach that should keep costs down. All the modules are standardised, and Moller notes they will give the house an elegance and pared-back beauty.

Mark loves the idea of the tension between solidity of the back pavilion and lightness of the floating living pavilion that opens out to the view.

And the budget? $550,000, with a six-month time-frame. Moller is sceptical about both of those. But, unsurprisingly, hes more sceptical about the sea. The Penningtons admit during the last cyclone before the build started, the sea came over the wall and surrounded the old bach, depositing large pieces of driftwood on their front lawn.

MEDIAWORKS

This is the main bedroom. The couple did not want a window on the left side, which, which would have given them a sea view.

Before work on the house starts, the builders strengthen the retaining wall on the beach with gabion blocks cages containing rocks, each weighing a tonne. Thats to stop the land (and house) washing away.

Mark is nostalgic about demolishing the old house, and even more so about removing a brick garage that is the sole-remaining link to a famous former owner renowned classical composer Douglas Lilburn, who lived there in the 50s. We hear his music played on the piano in the house by concert pianist Mary Gow (who lives in the same street), while the surf roars outside, and its a magical moment.

There are the usual hold-ups with supplies, but the build progresses well under Nick Robbers. And how cool that Mark, who designed the famous Life office chair, is ordering new dining chairs made from recycled fishing nets.

MEDIAWORKS

And this is the guest suite in the back pavilion, which opens out to a private deck.

We keep seeing drone shots of the house and the sea just rolling right up towards it the house seems so small and vulnerable next to this incredible surf (on a normal day).

Moller turns up for the reveal and its all calm.

It feels like the sea is just coming right into the house, he says as he walks in. Well, hopefully not, the others joke. We hope thats not prophetic.

The house is beautiful light, architecturally minimalist and simple inside. The furnishings balance the more industrial elements. And the large outdoor room with the old fireplace beside the old garage makes a super deck. We love the idea of the core modules with the kitchen and bathrooms in the centre of the pavilion leaving long walkways on either side.

MEDIAWORKS

Chris Moller gets contemplative in one of the passageways - the sea is always changing.

Pip got her plywood kitchen and stainless steel benchtop, and its perfectly bachy. Were still not sure about the wall that blocks the sea view from the main bedroom suite, however. Wouldnt it be great to be able to lie in bed and look out at that. Or maybe privacy is an issue.

A guest retreat occupies the back pavilion, and theres another deck out there, too.

They are rightly thrilled. And the budget? They went over by 20 per cent to just over $600,000.

Moller, more than once, says he feels its like a contemporary Greek temple beside the sea.

MEDIAWORKS

A lone macrocarpa tree has survived the full force of the storms that come across the Tasman.

We know what could happen we know climate change increases the frequency of big storms. There WILL be a storm that breaches the retaining walls. But would we want to live there?

YES, YES, YES. We love the ideal of living on the edge in paradise.

Our bet is this home will have a lifespan in this location, and then, when things get a little too hairy (they might get 10 to 20 years), it may well get moved off to sit a little higher somewhere else.

Grand Designs NZ screens on Three on Mondays at 7.30pm

View post:
Grand Designs NZ: Will this new bach on an eroding beachfront defy the tide and storms? - Stuff.co.nz

It all starts with a web site

I started my real estate career in the mid-1990s and from the first day, I focused on one thing: prospecting for listings. I was fortunate to align myself with a top coaching company and I committed to following their system. It workedI ended up creating a huge business. It was common that I would list more than 20 homes per month, doing hundreds of deals with just a few staff.

But I did one thing that, looking back now, I regret. I referred all of my buyer leads away.

About 15 years ago, a friend convinced me I needed a website and I was introduced to Jan, a web designer. She liked the friendliness of the Real Geeks platform, so I followed her lead.

We started building city pages. Its a best practice now, but I had no idea I would end up ranking for those city names and organically generating more leads for myself. Then I decided I would build a team, add a few buyer agents, and start taking online lead generation seriously.

Next-level localization made simple

Once we had every city represented on my site, we went further and built out pages for each condo building and neighborhood in my market. As we did, I started to rank highly in organic search for those pages and leads started to pour in. All the while, the Real Geeks platform made it extremely easy to scaleand Google liked it, too, because we were ranking at the top for nearly every page we built.

Years later, I had over 900 community pages and another 800 condo building pages. Plus I had multiple city pages and informational pages. I refer to that as the first stage of my Real Geeks experience. At that time, my site was generating over 400 leads per week organically and I had no ad budget whatsoever.

As the platform grows, so does my business

Today, we have gone way beyond organic lead generation. We have strategies in place to generate online buyer and seller leads using the extended suite of Real Geeks tools:

Currently, I have nine Real Geeks sites spread over three different markets. I have roughly 200 agents working the leads and we close around 3500 sales per year. There is no doubt that our success comes from a combination of old school listing strategies coupled with new school tech and automation strategies.

Last but not least, a best-in-class CRM

To top it all off, we could not manage this volume of leads if the Real Geeks CRM wasnt top of the class. We have created custom workflows to help nurture leads for the short and long term. Thousands of people receive Market Activity Reports and Sold Reports in addition to all of the new property alerts that go out as they hit the market. We use the CRM to help monetize our database.

In order to scale your real estate business or even experience growth while maintaining a life-work balance, you must leverage automation. Between the Real Geeks lead capture capabilities and the CRM where we transform our database to a databank, I have never used a tech platform that has produced a better ROI.

Leveraging technology and automation will save you time, make you more money, and make life easier.

Visit link:
The platform that powers my success - Inman

Integrating functional spaces with great design, Martin Modern, a development by GuocoLand, is like a vertical oasis in the city

As we plan ahead for a post-pandemic landscape, our homes will become definitive extensions of our lifestyles; here are the property trends to note if you're searching for a new abode

Sign up for our newsletters to get all our top stories delivered.

You've Successfully Subscribed

What is a dream home? The concept has undergone a significant evolution across the agesfrom the Paleolithic era when it was simply a shelter from the elements to a place that reflects how far one has come in life. But in a world waking up to a new reality created by the Covid-19 pandemic, it appears to centre around the idea that dominated during the industrial revolution.

Your home is your sanctuary is a notion that will influence the post-pandemic landscape, according to Victoria Garrett, head of residential for Asia Pacific at real estate consultancy firm, Knight Frank. Covid-19 has completely changed the way most of us view our homesthey now need to encompass many diverse atmospheres under one roof, becoming not only our places of rest but also our office, gym, and cinema, agrees Victoria Edwards, design director at the Singapore office of international interior architectural practice Wilson Associates.

Being cloistered from the outside world has also led to introspection. The crisis created a moment for people to focus inwards on those nearest and dearest, and to simplify their lives, says Edwards.

People are going to get even more particular about where they want to live. Beyond considering how best to preserve their wealth, high-net-worth investors will also be evaluating appropriate means to protect their families.

While in the past, wealthy clients sought to establish an alternative citizenship or residence in countries that provided the best access, resources and opportunities; now, some of them are considering coronavirus response and pandemic preparedness in general, among other criteria, says Dominic Volek, managing partner at Henley & Partners, which operates exclusively in the investment migration industry.

As the curtain lifts, people will seek to move from poorly governed and ill-prepared places to more proactive countries with greater resilience and better standards of medical care. This behaviour pattern will help Singapore maintain its position as a migration hotspot in the Asia Pacific region.

On a micro level, the consideration would be proximity to amenities such as supermarkets, as well as easy access to close familyif not living with themadds Jeremy Tay, director of homegrown studio Prestige Global Designs. Location has been and still will be a very important consideration, says the interior designer.

Read also: Designer Budji Layug And Architect Royal Pineda On The Design Philosophies That Influence Their Craft

Telecommuting also looks set to become the norm. In a country where employers still value face time with their staff, companies are realising the associated benefitsand employees appreciate having greater freedom over their work hours and location. Considering that the average person in Singapore spends a minimum of 45 hours a week at work, eliminating a couple of hours a day on commuting lends a lot to work-life balance.

The need for a larger area to carve out a proper workspace will be crucial as we spend more time working from home, says Larry Lim, managing partner of interior design firm Summerhaus Dzign. Having a formal area for long periods of work, conferences and online meetings will be a ubiquitous requirement as opposed to doing occasional work with our laptops at the dining table or in the living room, he adds.

This is a trend that interior designers say has been on the rise in recent years, even before the pandemic. But Shermaine Ong, co-founder of local design firm MOW Interior feels that clients will give the concept more consideration now. I think this effect will be here to stay; some of our clients have recently altered their designs to fit in a more formal workspace, she adds, recalling a recent renovation where the owners requested for specific demarcations of their open-plan space to create more intimate nooks, along with an integrated home-office.

But as Dora Chng, general manager of the residential segment at property management company GuocoLand, puts it, there is a marked shift in priorities. Prior to Covid-19, property buyers were more focused on aspects such as price, layout, tenure, location and the developers track record. But now, with the work-from-home trend firmly settling in, buyers have started to focus a bit more on how the property will be able to accommodate the imminent changes in their lifestyle.

As people spend longer hours at home, more homeowners will plan on maximising and improving the use of every square inch of their abodes. We will see a shift towards more bespoke features as clients focus on customised cabinetry to ensure they appreciate the extended hours they are spending in their homes, says Tay. Apart from having a home office, there will be a need for more built-in storage and a good, functional kitchen.

Edwards agrees: Most of us, myself included, have gotten bitten by the cooking bug in recent months, and I see this translating in an increased demand for kitchens adjacent to dining spaces, where homecooks can create delectable dishes while entertaining their guests.

Read also: Urban Farming, Plant Parenting & Gardening Tips From Expert Nicolo Aberasturi Of Down To Earth Farms

The emphasis will be on design and layouts that offer flexibility, as the trend moves further towards e-commerce and telecommuting. For example, a dual-income family will now put a lot more thought into setting up a conducive workspace within the apartment or even two or more workspaces, when there are school-age children, adds Chng. An appropriate background for online meetings, a certain degree of isolation and soundproofing, especially for families with young children, will become common criteria, says Lim.

As adaptability becomes the winning hand, property developers may look towards making condominiums more self-sufficient and better suited to home-based working, says Garrett. Co-working spaces and business lounges overlooking the swimming pool and caf areasread: impressive backgrounds for Zoom callsmay become mainstays.

In a time marred by uncertainty, if anything has emerged a winner, it is technology. Property walk-throughs via video calls are now as commonplace as Internet banking, online shopping and self-service counters at supermarkets. Virtual reality (VR) technology is not new to the property industry; developers in Singapore have been using it to give online tours of their developments to prospective buyers for a few years now.

But it is not until the present time that it has become the only option available. Although the trend may soften as things return to normalcy, many homeowners may still opt for virtual viewings during the initial stages of their search. Smart-home upgrades will likely encompass the ability to coordinate services without requiring human contact. The increased demand for contactless home deliveries will make concierge services even more crucial and is a feature that developers such as GuocoLand already offer in some of their high-end properties.

In addition, some people may even choose to avoid using communal facilities altogether, and instead spend more time in their homes by investing in personal amenities such as a fitness room or entertainment den with cinema-like features.

As we observe a move from shared facilities to personal ones, we will also see a rise in demand for zen-corners where homeowners can hit the mat for some yoga, or simply take a quiet break from the rest of the house, says Edwards. Amid the digital transformation that the pandemic has spurred, we cannot ignore the existential dialogue it has brought to the fore, which is a stronger argument for sustainability. How were living, how it looks in the next generation and what were handing down are going to be key takeaways from the pandemic, says Garrett.

As homeowners move even further away from cookie-cutter features, they are also going to be looking at the long-term implications of their decisions. As terrifying as Covid-19 has been, hearing of nature creeping back into our cities has been magical and should perhaps remind us to tread more lightly and make more room in our planning for wildlife, says Matthew Potter, director of UK architecture practice WilkinsonEyres Asia office.

Read also: New Normal Home Improvement Tips: Cynthia Almario On Multifinctional Spaces

The presence of greenery and improving the flow of natural ventilation and daylight in houses and residential towers alike will be as significantthese elements make our homes more liveable and appealing, and have also been proven to improve our wellbeing. Making sure we use natural daylight as much as possible should be a key objective, says Potter.

Used in a controlled way, windows can be deployed without heat gain; you can see the change in light when clouds cross the sky as well as the position of the sun changing through the day.

Although this is not the first pandemic that Singapore has faced, it is possibly the first that has necessitated such strict measures and lockdowns. But the housing market will continue to move ahead, and developers will launch new properties.

I think in the new normal, we may see design firms engaging more locally based contractors to avoid time delays in the event of further border closures, at least for the rest of this year, says Ong. Going forward, Lim also anticipates stricter rules in place for workers, including restrictions on the number of labourers and teams per construction project, which will stretch completion timelinesand costs may be passed on to consumers as a result.

Pre- or post-pandemic, that emotional, tactile connection we desire in our homes continues to be integral to the design process. Ultimately, designers and architects alike believe in the uplifting effect of design and how it can improve our lives, even in these unprecedented times.

The power of beautiful spaces to affect our mood and behaviour remains unchangedthe challenge now is how we can incorporate a layer of post-pandemic practicality so that people will continue to feel comfortable and enthused in the spaces we create, says Edwards.

Here is the original post:
Real Estate In The Time Of Covid-19: 7 Property Trends To Watch For 2021 - Tatler Philippines

The planners insisted on a traditional house that sat politely with its neighbours on this tree-lined street in a conservation area of north London. But the design-minded owners of this expansive new-build, Afsaneh and Ebbi Farsian, had more ambitious ideas. They envisaged a modern, open-plan family home basking in natural light. The result? Not a tentative fudge of new and old, but a house that confounds expectations: traditional on the outside, and contemporary inside.

The eight-bedroom home, which was designed and built by Finkernagel Ross, an architectural and interior design company, replaced a lacklustre 19th-century building.

Before we moved here we were living in another part of north London, says Ebbi, who grew up in the house opposite. When our daughters got into the local school, we thought wed take a look at my old street. By chance, this house was up for sale.

The previous owners had lived here for 40 years. It was untouched and very dark. But we knew it had potential, he continues. We considered renovating it. But it turned out that it was cheaper to knock it down and build a new house.

Behind the neo-classical brick facade, which the planners insisted on, Catherine and Felix Finkernagel were given almost free rein to do what they liked to the 9,000 sq ft interior.

When you arrive here you feel like a time traveller, stepping from the 19th into the 21st century, says Iranian-born Ebbi, who works in the motor vehicle industry. For him and Afsaneh, a curator, it was important that the house paid homage to their cultural reverence for sunlight, especially in the darker basement areas.

This was achieved by digging down to create a courtyard that brings light to the subterranean pool and gym at the back. From here, the hillside garden rises in a series of terraces, designed for eating, socialising or quiet contemplation. The olive trees in pots and expanses of limestone underfoot add a Mediterranean feel. During lockdown its been just the enviable ticket.

When you close the front door behind you it feels as if youre checking into a hotel, says Ebbi.

By contrast, the top storey of the detached house has a classical appearance, with dormer windows set snugly into the sloping, red-tiled roof. It was designed as a deliberate visual foil to the glazed lower storeys of the house that frame the courtyard, like one of those modernist homes you might find clinging to the hillsides of California.

These main living areas all overlook the garden through wide, floor-to-ceiling windows. The couple were keen on an open-plan layout: the kitchen flows to the dining room and the sitting room where the low stone fireplace is embraced by curving ochre sofas. The addition of sliding pocket doors between the different rooms allows for privacy without formality, as Afsaneh puts it. Further rooms include a home office and a TV den, as well as a boot room with a separate entrance.

An immaculate pump room houses the ground-source heat pump. Upstairs, there are seven pared-back bedrooms and a large, peaceful area for reading on the top floor.

At the front, the striking three-storey height entrance hall rises up to a skylight so that you feel as if you have stepped into the atrium of a contemporary art gallery. To connect the different levels, the architects designed the scene-stealing staircase, which twirls upwards like a black ribbon or, as Ebbi puts it, a strand of DNA. The steel structure was so large that it had to be craned into place through the roof during the last days of construction. It was made by Littlehampton Welding, the metal fabrication firm that has realised work for designer Thomas Heatherwick and sculptor Anthony Caro.

We like their work because it bridges the gap between architecture and sculpture, says Catherine Finkernagel, who likes to compare the house to a series of experiences First theres the entrance hall, which has an almost monastic feel. Then theres the drama of the staircase. And after that, there are the living areas, which are more intimate and snug.

The detail-conscious Farsians were closely involved with every stage of the project. They also travelled to Iran to source the stone marble, limestone, travertine which brings a weightiness to the restrained decoration. Its the closest youll get to being on Iranian soil without a visa, jokes Ebbi.

Afsaneh, whose business, Noor, specialises in homewares sustainably made from stone offcuts, chose the slabs herself. Each one is bookmatched so that the inherent, sparkling patterns combine to form dancing motifs, like the abstract designs in a Persian rug.

Having inspected several of their architects projects, the couple were also set on a gallery finish no skirtings or cornices, for a seamless effect. Mouldings exist to conceal annoying gaps between floors and walls, so the builders were unenthusiastic. It did mean that the work took slightly longer because everything had to be perfectly level. But we feel it was worth it, Afsaneh says.

Apart from a scattering of the couples antiques and heirlooms, almost all the furniture and artworks were bought specially for the interior. Black and white photographs of Iran sit with mid-century classics such as the Saarinen Knoll Tulip table. The muted tones of Persian rugs are offset by vibrant contemporary paintings: old juxtaposed with new for companionable effect.

noor-curated.com

Read the original:
Trapping the light fantastic: a new-build home that confounds expectations - The Guardian

The Record

Despite the economic challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, Shearwater has continued to experience robust growth and strong home sales. Since the start of the outbreak this spring, the northern St. Johns County master-planned community has developed two new neighborhoods, received a coveted Gold Nugget Merit Award, expanded its community management team and continued to offer safe recreational programming for residents.

We are seeing a significant trend in more people making remote working situations permanent, which allows families to move to locations where they actually want to live, said Suzanne Maddalon, vice president of marketing at Freehold Communities. St. Johns County, widely known for its great school district and high quality of life, has seen a serious increase in housing demand in master-planned communities. We are pleased that Shearwater strengthens this appeal by offering a community with all of the qualities and conveniences of an established town combined with a desirable selection of new homes and a rich mix of resort-style amenities and lifestyle programming.

Shearwater also reported increased home sales since the onset of the pandemic, putting them on track to outperform 2019sales. With increased buyer interest in master plans, Shearwater has expanded exponentially to keep up with the demand.

Lennar and David Weekley Homes began development on two neighborhoods in Shearwater this summer, expanding upon the communitys current quality home designs from six leading builders.

In the new Timberline neighborhood, Lennar is selling two-story luxury townhomes ranging in size from approximately 1,611 to1,751 square feet of thoughtfully designed living space. Potential buyers have four different floor plans to choose from, each featuring two to three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. The townhomes also offer Lennars signature Everythings Includedprogram with upgraded features at no extra cost. Pricing starts from the $250s.

Award-winning builder David Weekley Homes is selling two distinct series of homes in The Hammocks. Priced from the $270s, the Discovery Series offers one- and two-story homes situated on 40-foot homesites. The open-concept homes range in size from approximately 1,613 to 2,374 square feet with rear-loading garages, three to five bedrooms and two to three and a half bathrooms.

Buyers have seven different floor plan options to choose from, each featuring LifeDesign benefits.

One- and two-story homes in the Designer Series offer five different award-winning floor plans situated on 40-foot homesites. Priced from the $280s, the homes range in size from approximately 1,797-2,340 square feet with two to five bedrooms and two to three and a half bathrooms. Each of the homes feature front-load garages, open concept living spaces and spacious lanais.

A panel of top industry experts named Shearwater an Award of Merit winner for Best Community Land Plan in the 2020 Gold Nugget Awards. The annual awards program is the largest and most prestigious of its kind in the nation, honoring innovative architecture, planning and construction concepts that solve fundamental building industry needs to improve communities.

In the programs 57th year, judges selected grand and merit winners in more than 50 categories from a field of roughly 575 U.S. and international entries, including single-family productions, custom homes, interior design, commercial, renovated projects, mixed-use, affordable, multifamily and site planning. The winners showcase the most exciting trends in design, planning and building.

Expanded management team

Due to community growth and an increased number of households, Shearwater expanded its community management team with the appointment of Dylan Read to assistant manager. He previously served as lifestyle director and now assists in handling community operations, including covenants enforcement, design review and facility maintenance.

To fill Reads vacated role, Remy Pugh was hired as the new lifestyle director. She is responsible for year-round community lifestyle programming, encouraging homeowners to engage with their neighbors and motivating residents to build long-lasting relationships. Pugh is also tasked with ensuring the highest level of satisfaction amongst residents.

Meticulously designed for modern-day living, Shearwaters resort-style amenities and vibrant lifestyle programming have remained front and center throughout the pandemic.

At the start of stay-at-home orders, Shearwater utilized social media, virtual platforms and other resources to help residents stay connected and offer support during the public health crisis. Since those restrictions have started to lift, the community has shifted gears to resume hosting some socially distanced community events with new precautions and safety protocols in place.

Most recently, Shearwater delivered a variety of kits for residents to enjoy on their own, including build-your-own-cocktail kits, lifestyle busy kits and relaxation kits for parents as kids head back to school. Shearwater also hosted a movie night on the lawn and a blood drive event with local food trucks. Additional programming is confirmed for the remainder of the year.

Located at 100 Kayak Way in St. Augustine, Shearwateroffers home designs from Drees Homes, David Weekley Homes, Lennar, MasterCraft Builder Group, Dream Finders Homes and Toll Brothers.To learn more, visit ShearwaterLiving.com.

Original post:
Alive and thriving: Shearwater continues robust growth amid pandemic - St. Augustine Record

From Veranda

Ah, blue and white: classic and timeless, traditional or modern, jaunty yet soothing. When it comes to contemporary interiors, the color combination is perhaps most associated with California designer Mark D. Sikes, who achieved acclaim early on in his design career for his use of blue and white at his own Hollywood Hills home, featured on the cover of House Beautiful in 2012 and then, after being redone, in VERANDA in 2014.

It seems only fitting, then, that Sikes would pay tribute to perhaps the most famous blue-and-white room in design history: the living room at La Fiorentina in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France. Good news, design history enthusiasts: that moment has come, at the inaugural Kips Bay Dallas Decorator Show House, which is open to the public from September 25 through October 25 with limited in-person and virtual tour options available.

Photo credit: Stephen Karlisch

Assigned the show house's living room, which Sikes has dubbed "Casa Fiorentina," the designer was struck by how certain elements of the space's existing architecture (its sweep of French doors and the dramatic dark stone fireplace surround) recalled similarities to the iconic living room on the Cte d'Azur.

"It's one of my favorite homes of all time, not just how beautiful it is but all of the amazing designers, from Rory Cameron, Billy Baldwin, David Hickseven Hubert de Givenchy and Bunny Mellonwho are a part of the story," says Sikes. "It was such a glamorous place."

Photo credit: Courtesy of Mark D. Sikes

"My interpretation honors the essence of the timeless La Fiorentina while being reimagined with a Texas twist," says Sikes. "It continues the tradition of casual ease and elegance its namesake is known for."

According to Alexandra Lloyd Properties, La Fiorentina was built in 1917 by the Countess Therese de Beauchamp on a vast piece of land [that] occupies the extreme end of the Saint Hospice point of the Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat peninsula. In partnership with Harold Peto, architects Aaron and Gaston Messiah began the work on the Palladian-style villa; it was completed by Ferdinand Bac before being sold first to Sir Edmund Davis, then Lady Kenmare in 1939.

Lady Kenmare's son, Roderick "Rory" Cameron, was the first designer to truly put his personal stamp on La Fiorentina, from its interiors to its gardens. While he and his mother were there, the villa became one of the most glamorous destinations in the world, a must-stop for the most stylish people of the day.

Story continues

Photo credit: Henry Clarke

Photo credit: Henry Clarke

In 1969, La Fiorentina changed hands once again when Lady Kenmare sold it to advertising executive Mary Wells Lawrence and her husband, Harding Lawrence, president of Braniff International Airlines, who hired decorator Billy Baldwin to revitalize the seaside villa.

Baldwin's redecoration of La Fiorentina has been the most influential of the villa's many periods, yet his touch was rather light. The iconic American decorator, who kept many of the furnishings, including the mirror over the living room fireplace, said of his work, "We have simply reshot it in color."

It was that shot of colorclear, sky blue cotton slipcovered upholstery; a darker blue-and-white checkerboard French woven rug; blue-and-white Chinese porcelainsthat continues to influence designers today.

Photo credit: Stephen Karlisch

Photo credit: Stephen Karlisch

In Sikes's Dallas tribute, pleated ivory curtains with tiebacks trimmed in blue tape (all fabricated by The Shade Store) and lantern lighting (by Paul Ferrante) are pages from Cameron's style playbook for La Fiorentina, but the sky blue slipcovers, scaled-up geometric rug, Chinese porcelain collections, and French baskets are pure Baldwin.

Of course, any tribute worth its salt includes a few new elements, and Sikes's rendition is no different. Covering the walls with an Iksel wallpaper that mimics the look of blue-and-white tiles infuses a layered, and perhaps more traditional, twist into the Baldwin-inspired scheme.

Furthermore, Sikes's incorporation of antique mahogany and walnut furniture and a massive 17th-century Italian painting over the sofa lends a decidedly old-world air and a certain gravitas that stands in contrast to Baldwin's breezy, modern design.

Photo credit: Horst P. Horst

Sikes is by no means the first designer to be inspired by the French villa, particularly Baldwin's design for its living room. One of the most beautifully executed rooms with nods to Baldwin's La Fiorentina is designer Bunny Williams's living room at La Colina, her iconic-in-its-own-right home in the Dominican Republic.

Jacksonville- and Atlanta-based designer Phoebe Howard, well known for her own brilliant command of blues, has also paid homage to La Fiorentina in several rooms, including the living room featured on the cover of her book Room by Room (Abrams, 2015).

You Might Also Like

View post:
Is This the Most Influential Room Ever Designed? - Yahoo Lifestyle

A dream home is, for many of us, a waterfront home in a warm location. It's no wonder so many luxury properties that have 'dream home' written all over them are located in the Sunshine State. After all, Florida has some of the most beautiful beaches in the US and Disney...

(Image credit: The Carroll Group)

But we also think that a dream home is somewhere that's all ready for moving in; just turn the key, and you're in a perfectly furnished, beautifully decorated space that works with the building and the surrounding landscape. Which is why this collection of bright and airy waterfront townhouses in Hollywood, FL is so special.

(Image credit: The Carroll Group)

Step inside and be amazed by the luxurious furnishings by Missoni and Roche Bobois. Roche Bobois is everyone's favorite contemporary furniture brand, understated yet oh, so opulent. Missoni, on the other hand, are known for an eye for colourful, shimmering abstract prints (we wish we could get our hands on one of their knitted polo shirts). Here, custom Missoni prints are used to a stunning effect for wall fabrics.

(Image credit: The Carroll Group)

The five-story residence features a sky deck with summer kitchen, jacuzzi and entertainment area and of course Missoni outdoor furnishings. Custom finishes include Italkraft and Gaggenau appliances, porcelain floors, a glass enclosed elevator and more. The residence also comes with its own yacht slip at the propertys private marina for the ultimate luxury lifestyle. No special brownies for counting how many yachts you can fit in there.

(Image credit: The Carroll Group)

Excerpt from:
This Florida dream home has an amazing outdoor kitchen and designer touches - Real Homes

Wine enthusiasts nationwide can enjoy a curated Coastal California wine tasting & gastronomical experience in the intimacy of their homes.

September 25, 2020 (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) In celebration ofCalifornia Wine Month, TolosaWinery has launchedTolosa Tonight, a curated gastronomical experience available to culinary and wine enthusiasts in the intimacy of their own homes. Wine and food devotees across the country can order an event kit and prepare excellent three course meals paired with select Tolosa wines, all included in the kit. Acclaimed Tolosa WinemakerFrederic Delivert, Ember Chef/OwnerBrian Collins, andAmber Karson, co-owner of Karson Butler Events, will provide the guidance needed to host a true wine country dinner. Tolosa Tonight premieres September 25 and is available on demand through October 2020, at the price of$250 for Tolosa wine club members and $290 for general access. To reserve a kit, please visitTolosa Tonight.

We want wine and food enthusiasts to experience our amazing wine country lifestyle, which is especially exciting during harvest, regardless of any restrictions on travel or gatherings. So we curated a virtual experience that consumers can replicate at home with their loved ones, said President & CEO, June McIvor.

Delivert will share his coveted single vineyard wines paired with Collins recipes. The first course, Bacon Wrapped Scallop Skewer, Sweet Italian Peppers and Stone Fruit Mostarda, will be enjoyed with a bottle of Poletti-Edna Ranch Chardonnay Edna Valley 2018. The main course, perfect for a fall dinner, is Coq au Vin, Shell Bean Heirloom Tomato Panzanella, Grilled Leeks, and Lardons paired with Tolosas flagship wine, Primera 2018. Dessert will include Red Wine Poached Figs, Goat Cheese Panna Cotta with Almond Cookie, paired with the Solomon Hills Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley 2018.

Chef Collins will help enthusiasts prepare the elegant meal by providing a shopping list, recipes and a step-by-step cooking demonstration video of Coq au Vin. The package includes the full pairing menu, shopping list and recipes. Revered Event Designer Butler will demonstrate how to create stunning tablescapes with insider recommendations via video link. And Winemaker Delivert will guide dinner guests through each wine virtually, on demand.

Tolosa also invites qualified media to look behind the curtain at the winery with a tasting of the wines and the Tolosa Tonight kit. For media inquiries, please contact: [emailprotected].

About Tolosa

Cowboy dreams of owning a cattle ranch brought Robin Baggett to Californias Edna Valley over 40 years ago. The cold Pacific wind and soils from ancient seabed to limestone made him realize he was on a frontier of a different sort. Tolosa is the expression of his commitment to spare no effort to craft Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines of distinctive character to rival any in the world. Founded in 1998 and guided by the core values of integrity, teamwork and meticulous craftsmanship, Tolosa is committed to creating complex, balanced and nuanced wines that are the purest expressions of Edna Valley. The Tolosa winemaking team combines traditional winemaking techniques and cutting-edge technology to achieve the purest translation of place to taste. Tolosa supports numerous environmental and philanthropic initiatives and is an active member of the Central Coast community, welcoming guests daily to enjoy its trademark gracious hospitality and a variety of luxury tasting experiences surrounded by its Sustainability in Practice (SIP) Certified vineyard, Edna Ranch. Tolosa is open daily at 4910 Edna Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. You can find them onFacebook,InstagramandTwitteror visit the website attolosawinery.com.

Link:
Wine Enthusiasts Nationwide Can Enjoy a Curated Coastal California Experience in the Intimacy of Their Own Homes with "Tolosa Tonight" -...

An Algerian palace built in the mid-19th century tells the tale of occupation and resistance

Published date: 25 September 2020 09:51 UTC | Last update: 25 sec ago

The Ahmed Bey palace in Constantine, northeastern Algeria, is one of the last examples of Algerian Ottoman architecture built before the French occupation of the country.Named after the buildings architect and designer Ahmed Bey ben Mohamed Sherif, the last Ottoman Bey(or governor) of Constantine, the structure was built over nine years and was completed in 1835, two years before Frances colonial rule began in 1837.

Born around 1784 in Constantine, Ahmed Bey served under the Ottoman Regency of Algiers and was one of the central figures of resistance to French occupation, keeping them out of eastern Algeria for seven years.(All images by Kays Djilali from his book,Constantine: memoire, patrimoine et passion,courtesy of Chihab Editions)

In designing a palace he was only able to reside in for two years, (18351837, before French occupation), Ahmed Bey imported columns and other marble pieces from Italy by mule and camel, withthe rest of the materials comingfrom the Netherlands and Spain. Here we havea row of exquisitely carved white marble columns, some of the 266 that prop up lancet arches and porticoes that open onto the gardens like cloisters.

Traditional earthenware tiles called zelij- 47,000 in total - cover the walls of the palace. They were taken from the wealthy homes of Constantine, but also came from Tunisia, Syria and even cities on the northern shore of the Mediterranean, such as Marseille, where Ahmed Bey travelled to find them.

The palacemurals depictingAhmed Beys travels are both a major tourist attraction and a valuable historical document. Covering more than 2,000 square meters, the walls tell the story of his pilgrimage to Islams holy places, as well as tales of battles fought alongside the ruler of the regency of Algiers under the Ottoman Empire. On his journey to Mecca and Medina in 1818, which lasted 15 months, Ahmed Bey also visited Tunis, Tripoli, the port of Alexandria and Cairo.

Set in carved marble porticoes, the inner doors of the palace were made by local craftsmen. Each door is a work of art in its own right. Like much of the palaces architecture the polychrome doors made of cedar wood from the Aures and Kabylia regions in the northeast of the country, have been restored. The doors indicate the luxurious tastes of the palaces former resident.

One intricately carved door leads to the apartments of the harem, a section of the palace where the governors concubines once resided. Ahmed Bey had a large harem in addition to his six wives, and the presence of women filled the palace apartments, which numbered 40 rooms. To honour his favourite wives, Lalla Khadoudj, Lalla Aichouche, Lalla Fattoum, and a fourth whose identity is said to have been kept secret, Ahmed Bey had a palm tree planted in each of the four corners of the main garden.

Gardens and water fountains feature heavily in the palaces design as in the image above,the spray of a sculpted marble fountain spills into a nearly two-hundred-year-old basinin the shade of orange trees and myrtles.

Leopold II of Belgiumand Napoleon III of France are just two of the distinguished guests who once stayed at the palace in the 19th century. In 1934, the palace was classified as a historic monument. It wasn't until 2003 that a four year restoration project began, including landscaping and roof renovation. Today, it is home to Algerias National Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions.

Read the original post:
In pictures: Inside the home of the last Ottoman Bey of Constantine - Middle East Eye