Raphael Stevens

More stories

  • 188 Shares189 Views

    in Luxury

    Derek Jeter’s $13 Million Lakefront Castle Has an Infinity Pool Shaped Like a Baseball Diamond

    Just 50 miles from Yankee Stadium sits a four-acre parcel on Greenwood Lake, complete with two castles, owned by Derek Jeter. While it’s not a surprise that he may not be spending much time there, considering his current role 1,300 miles away as CEO of the Miami Marlins, it is a surprise that he would sell the property that has long been part of his life and on which he lavished so much time and money.

    Jeter bought the property in 2002 through a holding company, reportedly for $425,000. It was in rough shape, but it had sentimental value for him: He spent summers there with his maternal grandfather while growing up. The home was originally built in the early 1900s by Dr. Rudolph Gudewill for his wife, according to Toptenrealestatedeals.com. It was later sold to John and Julia Tiedemann, who lived there with their 13 children, one of whom, William “Sonny” Connors, they adopted after his parents died. Connors later married a Tiedemann cousin and was Jeter’s grandfather. The Tiedemann family sold the estate in 1996.

    The living room. 

    Photo: Wright Bros./ TopTenRealEstateDeals.com

    When Jeter took it over, the property needed major work. He reportedly spent $3 million on just stone, fixing up the two castles and the grounds, which include a private lagoon with a rock bridge traversing it. At one time the 12,600 square feet of living space was rumored to have held 33 bedrooms. During Jeter’s massive renovation, that was trimmed back to six bedrooms with seven full baths and five half-bathrooms. He also added some extras, like a game room and bar, an office and a gym. There are four indoor kitchens on-site, with a fifth outdoor kitchen. The dark wood-paneled formal dining room and great room are made for large family gatherings.
    Other special, and unusual, details include a turret with a widow’s walk, a dungeon with a spiral staircase, a replica of the Statue of Liberty, a stone waterfall and medieval battlements. Jeter also renovated a boathouse at the edge of the lake and built a pool house beside an oversized infinity pool that’s in the shape of a baseball diamond.

    The pool. 

    Photo: Wright Bros./ TopTenRealEstateDeals.com

    The five-story home has an elevator (even pro athletes don’t always take the stairs) and a total of 24 rooms between both the main castle and the guest castle. It also has 700 feet of dedicated shoreline on the picturesque Greenwood Lake, which has long been a haven for tourists and celebrities, including another famous Yankee, Babe Ruth, as well as Greta Garbo. The castle was often featured on local postcards.

    Now at its new asking price of $12.75 million, the estate is listed with Mary Lovera of Wright Brothers Real Estate. Check out more photos of it below:

    The kitchen. 

    Photo: Wright Bros./ TopTenRealEstateDeals.com

    The main dining room. 

    Photo: Wright Bros./ TopTenRealEstateDeals.com

    Another view of the expansive compound. 

    Photo: Wright Bros./ TopTenRealEstateDeals.com More

  • 188 Shares179 Views

    in Luxury

    Home of the Week: Tom Cruise’s 320-Acre Winter Wonderland in Colorado Lists for $39.5 Million

    Tom Cruise would like you to show him the money—$39.5 million, to be precise—before taking a tour of his spectacular 320-acre mountain-top Telluride lodge that the Jerry Maguire star has just listed.

    Finding a buyer for the sprawling compound has proved to be something of a mission impossible for Cruise, 58. He reportedly first privately listed the home back in 2014 for an eye-watering $59 million. With no takers, it quietly came off the market two years later.

    Now with the property market in this chic Colorado ski resort on fire, and the actor reportedly rarely visiting, he’s shaved the price by $20 million and listed it with LIV Sotheby’s International Realty in Telluride. Agents Eric Lavey  and Dan Dockray hold the listing.

    “It’s hard to express just how spectacular this property is,” Dockray tells Robb Report. “It offers the most breathtaking, awe-inspiring views you’ll ever see. It is so private and secluded, yet just minutes from the town of Telluride.”

    The front entrance to the home. 

    Courtesy Joshua Johnson for LIV Sotheby’s International Realty

    If the cedar-clad, 10,000-square-foot main lodge looks vaguely familiar, it’s where Cruise famously sat down for a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2008. You can still find it on YouTube.
    As Oprah says as she walks up to the house, gazing at the jagged peaks in the background: “I have never seen anything like this in my life. I swear I want to weep, it’s so beautiful.”
    No doubt inspired by the visit, seven years later Oprah paid $14 million for a five-bedroom Telluride cabin just down the mountain from the property, plus $10 million for a prime piece of land nearby that she’s currently developing.

    The kitchen has a wall of fridges. 

    Courtesy Joshua Johnson for LIV Sotheby’s International Realty

    Surrounded on three sides by national forest land, the Cruise home was, according to the listing, custom-built with privacy in mind. The secluded estate is accessed by a secure, gated entry and a snaking, mile-long driveway through groves of towering aspens.
    Despite its seclusion—the main house sits on an escarpment with panoramic views of the 13,000-foot-high, snow-capped Campbell Peak behind it—it’s only a 10-minute drive from downtown Telluride with its funky shops, restaurants and ski runs.

    The great room has stunning mountain views. 

    Courtesy Joshua Johnson for LIV Sotheby’s International Realty

    Cruise reportedly bought the first parcel of land in 1992 and spent the next two years working on the home’s design and overseeing the construction. It was completed in 1994. Yet, according to Dockray, it wasn’t until 2002 that the actor acquired all the land now included in the estate—five parcels in total—that make up the 320 acres.

    Clad in bleached cedar timber and native stone, the two-story main house has as its centerpiece a magical living room with a huge stone fireplace, exposed rough-hewn beams and wrap-around windows showcasing those million-dollar views.

    The dining room. 

    Courtesy Joshua Johnson for LIV Sotheby’s International Realty

    Close by is the family kitchen with industrial-grade appliances, a trio of fridges and a vast central island with twin sinks. Wooden steps lead up to a rustic dining room with stunning oversized, dove-tailed, timber-planked walls.
    A cozy den for movie watching—the new owner will definitely need a bigger TV —features overstuffed sofas and is lined with rustic bookshelves. Other spaces include a billiards room, library and gym. Upstairs are four ensuite bedrooms, and when guests stop by, the home has a stand-alone,1,700-square-foot, three-bedroom guest house.

    The cozy den. 

    Courtesy Joshua Johnson for LIV Sotheby’s International Realty

    Befitting an action-hero owner, the estate has been designed for outdoor fun. There are dirt bike and all-terrain vehicle trails and snowmobile tracks, along with a labyrinth of hiking and snow-shoeing paths.
    For aircraft-loving Cruise—his upcoming Top Gun: Maverick is set for a July 2 release—the home has added appeal in that its decks are high enough to be able to look down on the private jets flying in and out of Telluride airport. Naturally the estate has its own helipad.

    The billiards room. 

    Courtesy Joshua Johnson for LIV Sotheby’s International Realty

    In recent years, Cruise is believed to have off-loaded many of his trophy properties in Beverly Hills, New York and England to focus on a penthouse in Clearwater, Fla. Close to the headquarters of Scientology, where the actor is a devout follower, the condo is part of a building designed by Mexican property developer and major Scientology donor Moises Agami.
    The penthouse takes up the ninth and tenth floors of The SkyView tower and is said to feature a 39-foot rooftop infinity pool, a private car elevator and a passageway leading to a smaller condo with a flight simulator, office and gym. More

  • 75 Shares129 Views

    in Luxury

    €68 Million Villa In Saint Tropez

    Aerial

    LOCATION: Saint Tropez, Provence-Alpes-Cote D’Azur, France
    SQUARE FOOTAGE: 15,338
    BEDROOMS & BATHROOMS: 7 bedrooms & 14 bathrooms
    PRICE: €68,000,000
    This luxurious villa is located in Saint Tropez, Provence-Alpes-Cote D’Azur, France.

    It features approximately 15,338 square feet of living space with 7 bedrooms, 6 full and 8 half bathrooms, open concept living & dining rooms, gourmet kitchen, breakfast room, home theater, gym, steam room and more.
    Outdoor features include terraces, swimming pool and gardens.
    It is listed at €68,000,000. More

  • 125 Shares179 Views

    in Luxury

    Serena Williams Lists Beverly Hills Home For $7.5 Million (PHOTOS)

    Front Exterior

    LOCATION: 12043 Summit Circle, Beverly Hills, California
    SQUARE FOOTAGE: 6,000
    BEDROOMS & BATHROOMS: 5 bedrooms & 7 bathrooms
    PRICE: $7,495,999
    Tennis superstar Serena Williams has listed her Beverly Hills home for just under $7.5 million. Located at 12043 Summit Circle in the guard-gated Summit Estates, the Spanish Contemporary style home was built in 2017 and is situated on 1/4 of an acre of home.

    It features approximately 6,000 square feet of living space with 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, foyer with staircase, formal living & dining rooms, gourmet kitchen, family room, rec room with wet bar, gym, wine cellar, 2-car garage and more.
    Outdoor features include a gated driveway, covered patio with BBQ and a swimming pool. More

  • 163 Shares159 Views

    in Luxury

    Adam Levine Shells Out $22.7 Million for a Lush, Century-Old Estate in Montecito

    The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has sent Hollywood celebrities like Katy Perry, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Meghan Markle flocking north to the seaside town of Montecito, joining longtime area residents like Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, and Rob Lowe in a slower-paced environment where homeowners have some breathing room, not to mention loads more privacy. The latest high-profile folks to join the herd are Adam Levine and his wife, Victoria’s Secret model Behati Prinsloo—records reveal the pair have shelled out a whopping $22.7 million for a century-old estate that spans nearly 5.2 acres, all of them set near the proverbial heart of town.

    Designed in 1923 by venerated architect George Washington Smith, the stately mansion was built for attorney John A. Jameson, one of Montecito’s founding godfathers, if you will. It subsequently passed to a number of non-famous owners and more recently had been on and off the market for years, initially at a $29.5 million ask, before along came Levine.
    Behind tall gates, a long driveway is shaded by mature oaks. The road winds up through the property’s own mini-forest and past its “seemingly endless expanses of manicured lawns,” as per the listing, before arriving at the Mediterranean villa-style main house. Of course, this is a bonafide classic Montecito compound, with at least four separate structures on the property that include a detached five-car garage with additional staff quarters, a two-bedroom guesthouse, and a so-called “garden cottage” with another spare bedroom. Join those with the main mansion’s five bedrooms, and altogether there are nine bedrooms and a total of 11 full baths on the premises.
    The home was designed in 1923 by venerated architect George Washington Smith.  Realtor.com

    The listing gently hints that the main mansion’s interiors, while well-maintained, could use a decorative refresh. Renderings included with online marketing materials suggest the new owners may want to paint the home’s heavy-handed wood trim a bright white, and replace the tile floors with a medium-toned hardwood, as is the current style.
    Still, the wood and other current details look to be in great condition. An arched front door opens into a step-down foyer; beyond lies a grandly scaled living room with a stone fireplace and multiple sets of arched windows and French doors. The chef’s kitchen has handsome—if somewhat old-fashioned—wooden cabinetry, plus expensive stainless appliances and a boxcar-sized island. The huge upstairs master suite has views of the property’s grounds and ocean glimpses via a private terrace, and somewhere in the 12,000-square-foot main house are a movie theater and wine cellar.

    The swimming pool is privately tucked away from the main house.  Realtor.com

    Outside, the fairytale-like grounds provide numerous outlets for chic recreation, including a putting green, a full-size tennis court with viewing pavilion, and a swimming pool that’s privately tucked well away from the main house, discreetly sited behind hedges and lemon trees. Elsewhere are meandering pathways through the trees, a manmade pond/creek, numerous loggias and patios for al fresco entertaining, and gurgling stone fountains.
    Besides his new Montecito vacation digs, Levine once owned a Tudor-style Beverly Hills mansion that was sold in 2019 for $42.5 million to Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi. (That house is currently back on the market, asking a hefty $53.5 million.) But the Maroon 5 frontman and Prinsloo now primarily bunk up in LA’s posh Pacific Palisades part of town, in a palatial property they bought for $32 million from now-divorced Tinseltowners Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck in 2018.
    Riskin Partners Group at Village Properties repped both sides of the Montecito deal.
    Check out more photos of the property below:
    Realtor.com

    Realtor.com

    Realtor.com

    Realtor.com

    Realtor.com

    Realtor.com

    Realtor.com

    Realtor.com

    Realtor.com More

  • 113 Shares119 Views

    in Luxury

    Pamela Anderson’s Modernist Malibu Hideaway Lists for $15 Million

    It may not be the largest house in Malibu, but it’s owned by one of the beach town’s most famous longtime residents, actor and former Playboy model Pamela Anderson, who recently married her former bodyguard Dan Hayhurst and moved to Vancouver, Canada.
    But some might appreciate that Anderson’s four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath home is on the modest side for Malibu, especially since the price tag is way below the $50 million mark that many of the area’s villas list for. These 5,500-square-foot digs are listed with Tomer Fridman of thefridmangroup.com for $14.9 million.

    Anderson made a name for herself in the seaside enclave while playing an ocean lifeguard on the popular Baywatch TV series in the 1990s, which was filmed at Malibu’s Zuma Beach, just a short hop up the coast from where she later bought this home. She purchased the place in 2000 for $1.8 million after her fame had led to lookie-loos wandering onto a former property that was on the ocean, hoping for a star sighting. That led to a push for privacy with tall hedges and walls, which this home has, a plus for any buyers who crave the same kind of at-home seclusion.
    The modern kitchen is also warm and cozy.  Photo: Shade Degges

    Located in the gated and much-coveted Malibu Colony community, the house backs up to a scenic lagoon with many egrets and other seabirds. Anderson replaced the original structure with the main house and added a one-bedroom guest cottage. Between them sits a terrace with a pool. The home was sustainably built with teak imported from non-conflict areas. It has its own irrigated vegetable gardens and solar power.
    Anderson told The Wall Street Journal that she was inspired by modernist architecture with its wide-open spaces and glass walls when building the home. Glass pocket doors and teak pivot doors open the house to the outdoors. Inside, the sleek white kitchen with its stone countertops is warmed by wood floors. The primary bedroom suite has its own balcony and a sauna. There’s also a rooftop with beautiful views. She says she put an additional $8 million into designing and building the home.
    A floating staircase leads from the great room to the second level.  Photo: The Luxury Level

    Listing broker Tomer Fridman told Robb Report, “The most dramatic and compelling aspect of the house is the design and its organic nature.” He’s most drawn to “the indoor-outdoor combination” and its “flow toward the guest house, which anchors he backyard and adds to the bold aesthetic.”

    Anderson is already living back in her native Canada, renovating a place that belonged to her grandmother.
    The primary bedroom.  Photo: The Luxury Level

    The sauna.  Photo: Shade Degges

    The soaking tub in the primary suite.  Photo: Shade Degges

    The firepit and hot tub.  Photo: The Luxury Level

    The roofdeck.  Photo: The Luxury Level

    The street view of the home.  Photo: The Luxury Level More

  • 175 Shares159 Views

    in Luxury

    Eddie Murphy’s Zamunda Palace in ‘Coming 2 America’ Actually Belongs to Rapper Rick Ross

    If you were one of the millions that enjoyed Eddie Murphy’s Coming 2 America over the weekend, you’ll likely recall Prince Akeem’s luxurious Zamunda Palace. The fantastical abode looked like it’d been fabricated with some good old-fashioned movie magic, but, in reality, it’s actually the home of one of rap’s most formidable talents. That’s right, the mega-mansion belongs to the big boss Rick Ross.

    Production designer Jefferson Sage and his team scouted myriad locations before selecting the rapper’s pad to serve as home to the royal family in the long-awaited sequel to the ‘88 classic Coming To America. Fitting, since the Ross residence is nothing short of palatial.

    Located in Fayetteville, Ga., the estate spans some 235 acres and was previously owned by boxer Evander Holyfield. At its center is a 45,000-square-foot manse that boasts some 12 bedrooms and is, quite literally, fit for royalty.
    Teyana Taylor and Wesley Snipes star inside Zamunda Palace.  Quantrell D. Colbert/Amazon Studios

    The crew co-opted five key areas of the home to bring Zamunda to life. This included the grandiose foyer with a double-winding staircase, two stately rooms that feature 18-foot ceilings and oversized windows, plus a generous dining room that can accommodate up to 100 guests (or, in the case of the film, roughly 50 royal subjects). The decadent main bedroom, meanwhile, was actually Ross’s own.
    As for the exterior, the team relied on visual effects to enhance the façade and imbue it with fairytale-like accents. Of course, the original structure is nothing to sneeze at.
    Speaking to Variety, Ross said that Coming to America may be his all-time favorite movie and he was elated to see Prince Akeem Joffer (Eddie Murphy) and his royal aid slash bestie Semmi (Arsenio Hall) in his home. It also helps the rapper scored a few unexpected-yet-welcome perks.
    “They changed the wallpaper in the dining room so I asked them to keep it up there,” Ross told the outlet. “They also created that huge dining room table for a dining scene that seats 50-60 people, and they left that for me as a gift. It’s humungous.”
    Eddie Murphy returns as Prince Akeem Joffer in “Coming 2 America.”  Courtesy of Amazon Studios

    It may not be the last time we see Ross’s Georgia mansion on the big screen, either. During an Instagram Live video, the rapper shared that the home he purchased for approximately $5.8 million in 2014 was paying for itself thanks to movies, production inquiries and visits. (In 2018, Architectural Digest showed how the home transformed for the Set of 2018’s Superfly.) No doubt the newest exposure won’t hurt.

    Indeed, Coming 2 America reportedly achieved the biggest opening weekend of films that premiered on streaming services in the past year, according to Amazon and rating firm Screen Engine/ASI. While the exact number of viewers has not been disclosed, Coming 2 America has been named the most-watched streaming movie on a given weekend during the pandemic. That’s a good thing, too, considering Amazon forked out $125 million for the film back in October.
    If you were one of the few that didn’t watch it over the weekend, Coming 2 America is streaming now on Prime Video. More