Category Archives: Homes

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Travel, Videos

NYC Penthouse Video: 40th Floor, 3-Story Modern Design Near Central Park

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This modern glass-wrapped triplex penthouse was masterfully designed for both grand scale entertaining and comfortable family living. With entertaining in mind, this home features a stunning corner great room with 25’+/- ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, a fireplace, and direct access to a 41’ long terrace with wide open Hudson River and city views.

Additionally, the home features two dramatic sculptural floating staircases, an owner’s kitchen, a separate catering kitchen, and a wet bar with a fully equipped beverage center. Guests will enjoy light-flooded views by day, gorgeous river-view sunsets in the evening, and dazzling views of all the lights of the Broadway Theater District by night.

The Costas Kondylis designed Platinum Condominium is located in one of Manhattan’s most exciting and vibrant neighborhoods – a short distance to Central Park, and just moments away from all Broadway Theaters, world-class dining, cafes, shops, and public transit hub. The Platinum features a sleek and modern lobby with a soothing Zen-like water feature, and a 26’ long fireplace.

Five-star building amenities include 24-hour concierge and doorman security; residents lounge with pool tables, and a vast landscaped terrace with fireplace; spa lounge with experiential massage showers, sauna, and treatment rooms; state of the art health club with indoor and outdoor yoga studios; state of the art golf simulator; and onsite enclosed parking.

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Home Design, Homes, Living

Best New Tiny Homes: ‘The Natura’ – Tiny Housing Co.

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The Natura features wood paneling on the exterior, a thick corkboard layer on the front to add a defining feature that doubles as a breathable, fire-retardant area by the bedroom.

Inside, we’ve paired the natural aesthetics of the exterior, with luxury fixtures and fittings – tonnes of light floods the rooms to ensure you feel like you’re practically outside. Our architects have applied a whole host of space-saving features, from tucked away hidden storage under the stairs, between walls and under the bed.

The Key Features

  • 1-bed tiny home
  • 7m long X 2.4m wide x 3.95m high (23.25m2 total floorspace)
  • 1 loft bedroom fitted with a multi-functional kingsize bed (storage under the bed)
  • Thick insulation in the walls, floor and roof, to increase the U-value of your home to near-passive house standards using, EPS, XPS boards and corkboard.
  • Fully-fitted kitchen with A++ energy-efficient appliances ( 2-hob induction cooker, fridge freezer, electric oven, extractor fan, under-sink water filter).
  • Fully-fitted bathroom with large shower, toilet, cabinets and vanity.
  • 1000w solar panels pre-installed with inverter and li-ion 24v or 48v battery bank.
  • Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) – This helps to remove excess humidity, filters the air and removes stale air whilst keeping your home warm.
  • Optional extras: 3000w solar panels, wood-burning stove connected to underfloor heating.

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Architecture, History, Homes, Videos

French Castle Video Tour: 14th C. ‘Chateau Pechrigal’

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The 14th-century Château de Pechrigal – where composer, poet and author Léo Ferré lived from1963 until 1968 – stands three kilometres outside the village of Gourdon.

Pech-Rigal means royal hill in old local French dialect, befitting its hilltop position.

The 67-hectare plot includes meadows, tennis courts, a pool and half a hectare of Merlot vineyards, giving 4,000 bottles of wine a year.

The chateau, a grand affair of 17 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, guard house, pigeonnier, wine cellar, restored farmhouse and two outhouses, was bought and renovated by a Frenchman in 1998.

He transformed the crumbling property into a luxurious second home, occasionally used for private events and weddings.

It had fallen into disrepair after rebel composer Ferré left it unlived-in for 25 years.

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Homes, Travel, Videos

Italian Villa Tour: ’18th C. Tuscan Estate, Pisa’ (Video)

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The first historical evidence related to this wonderful Tuscan estate with over three hundred hectares of grounds for sale are in a document dated 8 November 1044, found in Pisa’s State Archives.

Since then, this villa has seen a number of prestigious owners, including noble families such as the Counts Mastiani-Brunacci and Della Gherardesca, who gave their contribution into maintaining this property’s splendour throughout the centuries. The villa we see today dates back to the 17th century and includes a Renaissance garden that was carefully renovated and brought back to utmost splendour, framing what is currently a wonderful luxury resort equipped with all comforts.

The property is in the middle of a vast fauna and game reserve measuring 320 hectares and featuring unsoiled forests and stunning expanses of olive trees, besides being home to a big number of buildings that measure 18,000 sqm overall, part of which have beed restored and fit for residential use, while others are currently into disuse but may be rebuilt or renovated. The resort has been completely renovated and is home to two suites with jacuzzi and to ten bedrooms that have been carefully furnished in a Tuscan style with unique pieces.

Each room offers a wonderful view of its surroundings, the Italian-style garden, the villages nearby and leafy hills. The main body includes several warehouses, apartments of the agritourism resort and garages, but there are also a wonderful swimming pool measuring 140 sqm, a tennis court, an Italian-style garden and a park. Some extraordinary features of this Tuscan estate for sale are its private grass airport, with a hangar to store plane, a hangar for helicopters and a pad, a lake used for fishing and watering fields, and a private hunting reserve measuring over 300 hectares.

Architecture, Books, Design, Home Design, Homes

Interior Design: ‘Inside Marrakesh – Enchanting Homes And Gardens’ (2020)

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Contemporary design meets Marrakesh’s splendid artistic heritage in a fresh burst of color, form, and texture through a panoply of sensual houses and gardens. Noted designer Meryanne Loum-Martin provides entrée into the extraordinary residences of this fabled city’s leading tastemakers.



This exquisite book showcases the stunning properties of the world’s leading design connoisseurs, including Jasper Conran, Lynn Guinness, Vanessa Branson, and Helen and Brice Marden, who have transformed Marrakesh’s exotic style into unexpected but elegant expressions.

The story of design in Marrakesh begins with the contributions of Bill Willis, Yves Saint Laurent, and Pierre Bergé, who fearlessly fused Moroccan elements–zellige tilework, rugs, pottery, fountains, woodwork, metalwork, and tadelakt wall treatments–with a luxuriant mix of furnishings from around the world. We are invited into such lush private places as the gardens of the Villa Oasis, designed by Madison Cox, and the Bulgaris’ tranquil riad.

Full of personal insights, Loum-Martin explores how international design-savvy individuals continue to incorporate such exuberant designs in their work.

Today’s Marrakesh style appeals to a wide variety of tastes–from formal to quirky, from rustic to refined–and is suitable for diverse settings. Eco-friendly materials, including earthenware and natural fibers, contribute to these appealing interiors and gardens. Superbly photographed, Inside Marrakesh abounds with a wealth of unique design ideas.

About The Author

International tastemaker Meryanne Loum-Martin is the proprietor of the award-winning Jnane Tamsna boutique hotel in Marrakesh’s Palmeraie district. Lauded in publications such as Town & Country and Architectural Digest, she has designed porcelain dinnerware for Meissen and an outdoor furniture collection. Award-winning lifestyle and food photographer Jean Cazals‘s work has been published in numerous magazines and cookbooks.

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Arts & Literature, Homes

English Country Homes: ‘Ponden Hall’ – Inspiration For “WUTHERING HEIGHTS” By Emily Brontë In 1847

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In the early 19th century the house kept an extensive library, and the Brontës were regular visitors; many details of the house, particularly the interior, suggest fairly clearly that it was the inspiration for the Lintons’ home, Thrushcross Grange. Anne Brontë was just as inspired as Emily, incidentally: Ponden is also the model for the titular house in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Ponden Hall is in the village of Stanbury and is even accessed via a lane with a suitably Gothic name:  Scar Top Road. It’s huge: there are eight bedrooms, a paddock, four acres of land and a further two-bedroom annexe — ideal for the Nelly who looks after your family, or for use as a potential holiday let to Brontë-mad tourists.

The oldest parts of the hall date to 1541, but most of the house as it stands today goes back to 1634 — and the evidence of its great age is plain to see.

The beams, walls, floors, ceilings, fireplaces and windows are gloriously authentic — and the owners have doubled-down on the effect with some wonderfully inspired furniture choices, especially with the beds. Don’t fret about the fact that you’d struggle to find similar pieces yourself: the vendors are apparently happy sell it on via separate negotiation.

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Homes, Travel, Videos

Italian Estate Tour Video: ‘Villa Padronale Arezzo’

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Just outside Arezzo, in a panoramic position with direct view over the historic center, beautiful manor villa with Italian garden and gatehouse. The villa and the gatehouse have been finely restored and offer a total of 11 bedrooms and 982 sqm of livable surface. The garden, elegant and well-maintained, is the ideal background for events, thanks to the beautiful view over Arezzo.

Architecture, Books, Home Design, Homes

American Architecture: Evolution Of Indiana Houses In Photographs

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In the early nineteenth century, Indiana was at the intersection of ideas from the East and the frontier – resulting in a unique opportunity to express creative adaptions of residential architectural styles in America.

Industrialization later in the century created a new wealth to build extraordinary houses outside of cities; by the early twentieth century, Americans had created their own distinctive residential architecture with the Prairie Style.

This 288 page compendium includes over ninety houses in Indiana which are representative of the finest American residential architecture, from the Federal and Classical Revival style to Modern. The fascinating story of the evolution of residential architecture elaborates on the character defining features of each period, including the exterior form, massing, details as well as interiors – all beautifully illustrated in large format black and white photographs.

Authors: Craig Kuhner and Alan Ward

American Residential Architecture
Oscar Riera Ojeda Publications
Photographs of the Evolution of Indiana Houses

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Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Travel, Videos

Top Home Design Videos: ‘Tear Of God’ In Crete (WSJ)

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For his home on Crete, Greece’s largest island, George Kalykakis wanted something unique. He got a sculptural structure, nicknamed the “Tear of God,” designed to keep the harsh sun in check through a series of cuts. Kalykakis gives us a tour.