Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor: May 2015

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Neverland is Up for Sale | Bedford Hills Real Estate

Michael Jackson paid $19.5 million for the ranch in 1987 and lived there more than 15 years.

The California ranch once known as “Neverland” and owned by late pop star Michael Jackson is going on the market for $100 million.

The Los Olivos property, about 40 miles from Santa Barbara, is now called “Sycamore Valley Ranch,” said Suzanne Perkins of Sotheby’s International Realty, who shares the listing with Harry Kolb of Sotheby’s and Jeffrey Hyland of Hilton & Hyland. The amusement park rides are gone, the agents said, as are the orangutans and elephant, though there is currently a llama on the property. The iconic floral clock, which spells out “Neverland,” is still there, and so is the building that once housed the “Neverland Valley Fire Department,” although it’s no longer staffed by full-time firefighters. But the railroad tracks and train station created at Jackson’s behest are still there.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/michael-jacksons-onetime-neverland-lists-for-100-million-2015-05-28-15103153?dist=afterbell

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Glass House Kicks Off Season With Summer Party | Pound Ridge Real Estate

The Glass House in New Canaan will be celebrating the start of the summer season with its annual Summer Party on June 13, from noon to 4 p.m.

Space is limited, so buy your tickets now.

Supported by Swarovski, the event features a festive picnic by Campagna, the restaurant of The Bedford Post Inn.

Enjoy a performance by Lucky Dragons and listen to DJs Timo + Alan play the perfect blend of summer hits while trying your hand at classic lawn games such as croquet and ping-pong.

Stop by the Design Within Reach photo booth to capture the moment or lounge on one of their chaise lounges.

If you are more leisure-minded, enjoy a glass of Taittinger champagne and explore the early paintings and graphic design work of Elaine Lustig Cohen in the Painting Gallery, or Highlights from the Sculpture Gallery, featuring Robert Morris' "Untitled (Nine Fiberglass Sleeves)," 1967, on view to the public for the first time in Da Monsta.

http://newcanaan.dailyvoice.com/events/glass-house-kicks-season-summer-party-new-canaan

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Experts Split on Loosening Lending Standards | Bedford Real Estate

Almost half (46 percent) of the real estate economists and experts surveyed in Zillow’s latest Home Price Expectations Survey believe mortgage underwriting standards are about right today, but an equal number, 47 percent, said they are too still restrictive.

Though the experts couldn’t agree on where standards should be, most agreed on where they are going.

More than 60 percent expect regulations to loosen more than they have, with some panelists expressing concern about a return to bubble-era lending policies. Some 4 percent said mortgage restrictions will become too lax in the next year, and 25 percent said they will become too lax within the next five years.

Panelists in the quarterly survey, which polls more than 100 housing experts, predicted slowing home value appreciation and looser lending restrictions in the next year. Despite that, 44 percent said they thought renter households would continue to outpace homeowner households, largely because of financial barriers, such as large debt burdens and slow wage growth.

Another 42 percent of the experts surveyed said looser credit restrictions, an improving economy, and the rising cost of renting would drive more people to buy in the next one to two years.

“Renters face several challenges,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. “They need enough money on hand to start to buy homes. Even as mortgage credit becomes easier to obtain and home prices level off, renters are confronted with slow income growth and high rental rates. In addition, they face sometimes fierce competition for very few available homes in the market.”

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/05/

F. Scott Fitzgerald's Party House Lists | Pound Ridge Real Estate

If F. Scott Fitzgerald was right that we’re “borne back ceaselessly into the past,” then it’s fortunate when there are photographs to go with those backward glances.

And there are photos to accompany the $3,888,888 listing of the Long Island estate where Fitzgerald began writing “The Great Gatsby,” as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

He and his wife, Zelda, rented the now-remodeled 7-bedroom, 6.5-bath home for two years in the early 1920s.

Zelda called it “our nifty little Babbit-home at Great Neck,” and it became their base for parties and visits to even more luxurious homes in the vicinity, which eventually became the class-conscious West Egg and East Egg of “Gatsby.”

The Fitzgeralds’ raucous parties here spurred the writing of half-facetious house rules such as, “Visitors are requested not to break down doors in search of liquor, even when authorized to do so by the host and hostess,” according to Andrew Turnbull’s biography of Scott Fitzgerald.

http://www.zillow.com/blog/

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Med Revival Palm Beach Estate | Bedford Corners Real Estate

This 9,400 square foot Mediterranean Revival house, built in 1928 by architect John Volk, wants $13.95 million and isn't afraid to strut its stuff to get it. Gushing with original stonework, ironwork, and pecky cyprus ceilings, the house has a central courtyard with a pool that's regally lined with palms and designed to look more like a reflecting pool than one to swim in.