Step into Fall's Most Lavish Homes
Supermodel Elle Macpherson, now age 51 and still a sexy glamour girl, has appeared on the covers of Cosmopolitan, Elle, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar and a record breaking five-time covers of Sports lllustrated’s annual swimsuit issue between 1986 and 2006. Time magazine gave Elle the nickname of “The Body” after she appeared on their cover in 1989 and she has appeared as host of Saturday Night Live and in a number of films including Sirens with Hugh Grant, Woody Allen’s Alice, and The Mirror Has Two Faces. As a business woman, she has won awards for developing and promoting her workout series of videos, her lingerie collection and her line of beauty products. Like so many of the super wealthy who tend to congregate in the same playgrounds, Macpherson owns prime real estate in Aspen. Macpherson has put her and billionaire husband, Jeffrey Soffer’s, Aspen mansion on the market which they purchased in 2007 for $36.5 million.
Located in the exclusive gated community of Starwood perched above Aspen on 66 acres, Macpherson’s estate is in McLain Flats with mountain and city views. Built in 2004, the rustic but sophisticated home uses reclaimed aged oak, plenty of granite, white oak paneling and limestone with custom copper shingles. At 14,395 square feet, the interior, with its soaring ceilings in the main living area contains seven bedrooms, thirteen baths, French limestone floors, indoor and outdoor pools, commercial kitchen, steam room, hot tub, juice bar, exercise room and two elevators. Not as pricey as Bill Koch’s $100 million Aspen pad, but very attractive to the billionaire market, the estate is priced at $35 million.
JON BON JOVI’S SOHO PENTHOUSE!
Many people know Jon Bon Jovi’s music, Slippery When Wet and Destination Anywhere, along with his soundtracks for Young Guns II (Blaze of Glory) and Stand Up Guys (Not Running Anymore), not to mention the ten major awards these productions have won. Many of us were also aware of his acting in films such as Moonlight and Valentino and TV appearances on shows such as Sex and the City. But there’s so much more to know.
Jon married his high school sweetheart, Dorothea, almost 25 years ago. They have four children, have stayed married and are one of the country’s most generous couples, very active in the Special Olympics, American Red Cross, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Covenant House, Project H.O.M.E. and the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation. The Bon Jovis have donated millions of their money, and much of their time for charity, then have gone out and worked side by side with the people to execute these projects. Even wielding a hammer or washing a dish where needed. Jon was also appointed by Barack Obama to the new White House Council for Community Solutions. He is not just another rock star.
If a person’s home is the mirror of the person themselves, Jon and Dorothea seem to do everything well. Now up for sale is the Bon Jovi’s 7,452-square-foot New York Soho duplex. With huge glass walls and terraces seen from almost every room, even the kitchen windows will have you looking instead of cooking. Aside from the pure glamour of it all, the layout is unusually well thought out. The family part of the house is on the lower floor with a great room, wood-burning fireplace, marble baths, dining area and a gourmet kitchen. There are five bedrooms on the first floor including the master bedroom suite with rare arched windows.
The upper level includes formal living and dining rooms and access to the home’s grand terraces with lush landscaping and panoramic New York views. Also on the second floor is another kitchen, screening room, guest room, full bath and a powder room. Did we mention the second wood burning fireplace?
The Bon Jovi apartment is located in the New Museum Building. At 12 floors, it is one of the tallest structures in the Lower Manhattan area. The building was constructed in 1897 as offices, became the New Museum of Contemporary Art in 1996, and later converted to condominiums.
In the mid 1900s, Soho was one of New York’s most distressed neighborhoods as its deep industrial base began to erode. Starting in the 1960s, Soho was transformed from the mostly deserted remnants of the city’s big textile factories into artists’ and hipsters’ lofts. Today, it is near the top of any list of U.S. upscale neighborhoods with art galleries, shops and expensive homes. Other celebrity SoHo residents include Kelly Ripa, Justin Timberlake and Ariana Huffington.
Previously asking $42 million, the penthouse, including furniture & great views, is now priced at $37.5 million. Raphael De Niro of Douglas Elliman and Leonard Steinberg of Urban Compass share the listing.
STING’S LONDON TOWNHOUSE!
How did Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, better know as Sting, get to the age of 62? Where did the time go? A whirlwind of musical talent and following his dreams, Sting has made it to the top of the celebrity world. He’s a musician and songwriter who hit the big time in the late 1970s with his band, The Police, and their first hit “Roxanne.” The band’s 1983 tune “Every Breath You Take” was the year’s biggest hit, won a Grammy for Song of the Year and has been a staple at wedding receptions for years. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and has sold almost 100 million records. Sting has been performing solo since the mid 1980s, devoting much of his time to charity, human rights activism and expanding his world of creativity. On June 25th, his musical production, “The Last Ship,” about a group of English shipyard workers, opens in Chicago as an out-of-town tryout before heading to Broadway. Sting grew up in the Swan Hunter Shipyard neighborhood on the River Tyne where many of the world’s largest and fastest ships were built.
Sting and his actress-producer wife, Trudie Styler, are serial real estate collectors. Their love of nature led them to Italy in 1999 when they bought a 600-acre estate in Tuscany, Villa II Palagio where they produce and sell wine, cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, produce and honey. They own or owned an Elizabethan manor house, a 1578 English historic home called the Lake House, a recently sold New York City apartment, a California beach house, a London apartment on the Mall near Hyde Park, homes in the Caribbean and an 18th century London townhouse that is now on the market. He can afford it with a net worth of $300 million, taking in about $2,000 every day in royalties from “Every Breath You Take”.
Just a half-mile from Buckingham Palace, and enclosed in an historical building in the Birdcage Walk conservation area, the 8,500-square-foot townhouse contains seven bedrooms and six bathrooms in stunning contemporary decor from a 2010 redo. With many venues for entertaining, the home has five living areas, a roof terrace and garden terrace with direct access to Birdcage Walk and St. James Park, said to be the finest of the Royal parks. The home has an elevator and formal entry and staircase. Notable, but not for sale, is Sting’s wonderful art collection with a similar Diego Giacometti table that recently sold at auction for a record-breaking $1.76 million.
Sting’s 18th century London townhouse on the market at an undisclosed price, estimated to be in the $32 to $35 million price range.
TYLER PERRY’S ATLANTA HOME!
Tyler Perry is now living the American Dream - a dream he made happen through perseverance and overcoming some long odds. Trapped for many years in an impoverished and abusive childhood including a suicide attempt, Tyler began writing plays to calm the demons - a method he learned from watching his favorite TV program, the Oprah Winfrey Show. He wrote mostly about himself and his relatives and friends but the plays were such financial disasters that he almost gave up. Tyler continued to plug away, doing his shows primarily for African-American audiences on the East Coast until he finally found some success. His plays eventually led to film where he did everything - writing, acting and directing. After he developed his beloved Madea matriarch character, Tyler became one of Hollywood’s top money makers with his own film studio in 2006. He went from being an Oprah fan to an Oprah partner at the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2012.
Tyler is the first filmmaker in history to have five films open at #1 in five years beating the records of Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino. His thirteen most popular films have grossed over $600 million at the box office but cost less than $10 million to make. By being independent with his own studio and filling the major roles himself, Tyler has been able to rake in a larger share of the profits.
With films such as the Madea series, Madea’s Family Reunion and Madea Goes to Jail, and with his new success on Oprah’s network with the blockbuster hit The Haves and Have Nots, his annual income is somewhere between $100 million to $150 million.
During the years of his growing success, Tyler understood the value of real estate and has bought and sold real estate across the country. Currently focusing on the Atlanta area where he lives and found most of his success, Tyler has acquired over 1,000 acres where he plans to build his new home. He recently put his current Atlanta mansion on the market.
The penultimate for the person who has everything but still wants more, Perry’s French provincial mansion is perched atop 17 acres with views over the Chattahoochee River off Paces Ferry Road in the upscale Buckhead community of Atlanta. Palatial in every conceivable aspect, the 34,688-square-foot home has seven bedrooms and fourteen baths, stately formal rooms, a two- story library, resort-style infinity-edge swimming pool, lighted tennis court on top of a two-story parking garage, fully equipped gym, spa, theater, hobby house and an underground ballroom with catering kitchen. There are both formal and informal gardens, an entire estate generator, guard house, caretaker’s suite and presidential-level security system including two gated and secured residential entrances. The home has hosted President Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey among other notables.
Tyler Perry’s impeccable Atlanta estate on the banks of the Chattahoochee River with river views on seventeen private wooded acres - host to President Obama - is now for sale. Priced at $25 million.