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    Ella Fitzgerald’s Former Hotel Suite on the French Riviera Is Now a $9.7 Million Apartment

    American songstress Ella Fitzgerald, who sang for several U.S. presidents, was known to occasionally take a breather at the iconic Le Provençal hotel in Cap d’Antibes, and the fourth-floor suite where she once gave an impromptu performance from the window can now be yours. Made over into a brand-new turnkey apartment, the $9.7 million (€7.75 million) pad is inspired by the Riviera’s golden years, says the building’s developer, Caudwell.

    In addition to the First Lady of Song, other global sensations like Pablo Picasso and Coco Chanel booked rooms at Le Provençal since the late 1920s. The illustrious destination closed in 1977 and sat dormant until English billionaire John Caudwell acquired it in 2014.

    The main living area spills onto a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

    Caudwell

    Following an over $400 million renovation (£300 million plus gross development value), the former landmark hotel now houses 35 private residences. The new Ella Fitzgerald-inspired show apartment is “the latest in a collection of furnished residences we have unveiled,” explains Caudwell’s group director of sales, Lars Christiaanse, in a statement.

    Stunning views accompany the three bedrooms and spacious living areas in this fully furnished, 2,180-square-foot residence. Owners and their guests get even better vantages of the yacht-laced coastline from its generous terraces and covered loggia that total another 562 square feet. 

    Left to right: American singer Ella Fitzgerald arriving in Nice; Fitzgerald performing at the jazz festival in Antibes, July 1964.

    Getty Images

    “The newly unveiled show apartment is a striking mixture of vibrancy and understated elegance,” Caudwell states, “paying homage to the ‘Golden Years’, the renowned Jazz Festival and the illustrious musical career and huge cultural impact of Ella Fitzgerald.” A warm color palette, gold accents, and contemporary art are a few key details throughout the home.

    Other inspired design cues throughout the apartment include purple/dark gold bedroom cushions, plus cream sofas and a wooden dining table that are meant to reflect Fitzgerald’s “down-to-earth” persona. Coffered ceilings span the living room, just ahead of the dining room and a kitchen with timber cabinetry, Miele appliances, and a massive marble island. All three living areas provide breezy sea vistas and open out to sunlit terraces.

    RELATED: Inside a $22 Million Belle Époque Villa With Sweeping Views of the French Riviera

    Inside one of the en suite bedrooms.

    Caudwell

    The en suite primary and guest bedroom are accessed down a hallway nearby. Each includes a marble-finished bathroom, custom vanities, walk-in dressing rooms, and terrace access. Elsewhere, the third bedroom doubles as a study. Le Provençal also grants owners access to a host of public areas with Art Deco flair, including a cinema, health spa, restaurant, retail boutiques, and six acres of landscaped gardens where a 98-foot swimming pool cool off in proximity to Hôtel Belles Rives’s beach club.

    Fitzgerald first stayed at Le Provençal for the first time in 1960, when she performed at the inauguration of the Festival Jazz à Juan in nearby Juan-les-Pins. It was in 1963 she sang from her hotel window, and she appeared at the festival again in both 1964 and 1967.

    Click here for more photos of the Côte d’Azur apartment.

    Caudwell

    Authors

    Demetrius Simms

    Demetrius Simms is a digital staff writer at Robb Report. Following a brief stint in public relations, their work has now appeared in lifestyle and culture publications such as Men’s Health, Complex…

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    Henrik Fisker’s Scenic Hollywood Hills Mansion Relists at a Discounted $29 Million

    Henrik Fisker first hoisted his contemporary Los Angeles mansion on the market back in late 2024 for nearly $34 million. Almost a year later, the auto designer behind the retro-inspired BMW Z8 roadster, Aston Martin DB9, and failed Fisker Karma luxury plug-in hybrid still hasn’t enticed any takers and has decided to try his hand at offloading the place once again, this time with a slimmed-down $29 million ask. The listing is held by Barron N. Hilton and Tessa Hilton, who recently stepped away as co-CEOs and founders of their Hilton Hilton brokerage to join Compass.

    The property was previously owned by entrepreneur Stratton Sclavos, who completed the existing house in 2015 but lost it to a bank-affiliated entity in a 2020 foreclosure. Fisker and his business partner and wife Geeta Gupta acquired the Hollywood Hills abode tucked away on a secluded yet prime Bird Streets cul-de-sac just above Sunset Strip the following year for roughly $21.8 million.

    The sprawling fireside great room opens to a decked backyard via a floor-to-ceiling wall of glass.

    Mike Kelley

    RELATED: This $125 Million L.A. Mansion Has an Underground Garage That Doubles as a Ballroom

    Nestled behind walls and a double interlocking iron gate, the blocky and angular structure offers a total of six bedrooms and seven baths in 11,800 square feet on three levels accented throughout with travertine and skylights. Vast expanses of glass overlook picturesque city and ocean views from the 0.43-acre parcel, with swanky perks ranging from a Savant system to a gym and wellness center. An attached 20-foot garage with copper-hued doors and lifts can accommodate up to six vehicles.

    A soaring wood front door pivots into the entry foyer, which is flanked on the left by a bookshelf-lined office with a powder room. From there, a spacious great room has a 35-foot-tall ceiling topped with mother-of-pearl light fixtures that sing when the wind blows and a massive two-way fireplace that connects to a lounge and wet bar. An automated wall of glass opens vertically to the backyard, while an adjacent dining room has a picture window looking out to a garden. A family room flows to a sleek wood-paneled kitchen outfitted with a large eat-in island, a La Cornue range, and a butler’s pantry.

    An L-shaped infinity pool overlooks sweeping views of the Downtown L.A. skyline.

    Mike Kelley

    RELATED: David Lynch’s Midcentury Hollywood Hills Compound Lists for $15 Million

    A floating staircase heads upstairs, where the secluded primary suite comes with a glass-railed balcony warmed by a fire pit and a luxe bath sporting dual vanities, a soaking tub, a glassy shower, and two walk-in closets. Down on the lower level is a mirrored gym and a wellness center with pink Himalayan salt walls and a sunken cold-plunge tub, as well as a sauna and a steam room. A media room sits next to a poker lounge surrounded by a glass-encased wine cellar.

    Stealing the show is the fully decked backyard, which is spotlighted by an L-shaped vanishing-edge pool featuring an inset spa and a Baja shelf with daybeds. There are also two fire pits, an alfresco dining spot with a drop-down cover, an outdoor kitchen boasting a Lynx grill, and a bar.

    Fisker, 62, is best known for designing ultra-luxury cars for BMW, Ford, Tesla, and Aston Martin before starting Fisker Automotive in 2007. Despite substantial financing, the company failed. In 2016, he launched Fisker Inc., with the Electric Ocean SUV beginning production in 2022 and delivering in 2023. The company subsequently filed for bankruptcy in 2024.

    Click here for more photos of the Hollywood Hills residence.

    Mike Kelley

    Authors

    Wendy Bowman

    Wendy Bowman is a real estate writer at Robb Report. Before that, she was a freelancer for Modern Luxury and several other media outlets, where she primarily covered luxury properties for…

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    What £750,000 Gets You In Scotland (PHOTOS + FLOOR PLANS)

    Listed with Savills LOCATION: Isle of Rum, Scotland SQUARE FOOTAGE: 30,979 BEDROOMS & BATHROOMS: 20 bedrooms & 9 bathrooms PRICE: £750,000 This historic castled, named “Kinloch Castle”, is located on the Isle of Rum, a mountainous, diamond-shaped island in Scotland’s Small Isles archipelago, located in the Inner Hebrides. It is situated on 17 acres of […] More

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    A Top N.Y.C. Ad Exec’s Charming Connecticut Retreat Lists for $13.8 Million

    While looking for a newly built home close to New York City to serve as a weekend getaway over two decades ago, Andrew and Susan Robertson’s real estate agent suggested they check out a sprawling farmhouse in the coastal Connecticut town of Greenwich.

    The couple—he most known as a high-powered BBDO Worldwide advertising executive who’s spearheaded campaigns like the “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” Snickers commercials—told The New York Times they “wandered around it, and smelled it, and felt it,” and, though it wasn’t exactly what they were looking for, they decided it was where they wanted to be.

    The dark-hued library has a white lacquered ceiling that captures the flickering light of the fireplace.

    Daniel Milstein

    RELATED: Playwright Noel Coward’s $10.3 Million Former Connecticut Estate Overlooks the Long Island Sound

    They went on to acquire the place in 2001 for nearly $5.8 million and then embarked upon an extensive renovation and remodeling project in collaboration with interior designer and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy TV personality Thom Filicia. Now, 24 years later, the immaculately maintained property has come to market for a dash under $13.8 million, with the listing shared by Amanda Bates Goodro of Houlihan Lawrence and Louisa Wake of Hedgerow Exclusive Properties, one of the Robertsons’ two daughters.

    Realizing there was potential to better utilize the space, they updated the residence with a new two-car garage, a limestone-clad mudroom/butler’s pantry, and a 2,000-bottle wine room. They also connected a restored water tower to the house, hired Amish workers to build a barn that can be used as a second garage, and stored an emergency generator in an icehouse once used to preserve perishable foods.

    The climatized wine room can hold up to 2,000 bottles of your favorite vintages.

    Daniel Milstein

    Sited on a nearly six-acre parcel of heavily wooded land in the Stanwich Historic District, about an hour northeast of Manhattan, the reimagined property is anchored by a white wood-sided and shingle-roof Colonial home with six bedrooms and eight baths in roughly 9,200 square feet across three levels that still retain the original wide-plank fir floors and wood-burning fireplaces. One of a few surviving mid-19th-century farmhouses in the region, it’s listed on the Greenwich Landmarks Registry as the Elkanah Mead House.

    Two separate entrances flow to elegant living and dining rooms, a media room, and a handsome library that comes with a handy dry bar converted from a closet and a lacquered ceiling that captures the flickering light of the fireplace. Other highlights include a Smallbone kitchen outfitted with oak cabinetry, marble countertops, an eat-in island, an AGA range, a wine cooler, a breakfast nook, and French doors leading outside. A spacious fireside primary suite sports a walk-in closet/dressing room and a soaking tub-equipped bath.

    The picturesque grounds contain a 20-by-40-foot swimming pool shrouded in lush greenery.

    Daniel Milstein

    RELATED: ‘The Sound of Music’ Composer Richard Rodgers Was the Original Owner of This $15 Million Connecticut Estate

    One of the most special parts of the property is the James Doyle-landscaped grounds, which are laced with flower gardens and host several terraces, a 20-by-40-foot pool, an outdoor kitchen, a sitting area with an antique water trough fountain, a vegetable garden, a seasonal chicken coop, and a pond. Then there’s the rebuilt water tower, which flaunts a gym, a full bath, and a double-height office.

    Per the NYT, the Robertsons have decided to move because it’s “a lot of house now” for the two of them. The former president and CEO and current chairman of BBDO, who has been named one of Adweek‘s “100 Most Influential Leaders in Marketing, Media and Tech” alongside Mark Zuckerburg, and Jeff Bezos, still owns a beachfront home in Sag Harbor, N.Y., that serves as the couple’s primary residence, as well as houses in Manhattan and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

    Click here for more photos of the Greenwich abode.

    Daniel Milstein

    Authors

    Wendy Bowman

    Wendy Bowman is a real estate writer at Robb Report. Before that, she was a freelancer for Modern Luxury and several other media outlets, where she primarily covered luxury properties for…

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    Former ‘Housewife’ Yolanda Hadid’s Idyllic Pennsylvania Farm Is up for Grabs at $11 Million

    Following her split and ultimate divorce from Grammy-winning composer David Foster after nine years of coupledom and four years of marriage, as well as a debilitating battle with chronic neurological Lyme disease, Yolanda Hadid packed up and left Southern California in 2017 for a rural retreat on the East Coast.

    “I needed to get away from the noise of city life,” the Dutch-American model said in a press statement. “I longed for a sanctuary where I could heal and reconnect with Mother Earth just the way I grew up in Holland. When I found the farm, I instantly fell in love…there were no gates at that time so I parked on the main road and walked down the long driveway, the energy was unbelievable. I instantly knew I was home even before I saw the buildings.”

    Hadid is known for hosting lavish alfresco dinner parties at a long wood table with white linen chairs.

    Keith Conrey

    RELATED: Former ‘Real Housewives of Miami’ Star Nicole Martin Drops $34 Million on a Coral Gables Mansion

    The former model and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star went on to dole out almost $4 million for a 32-acre spread outside the charming, well-to-do Pennsylvania town of New Hope, where she could harvest some 3,000 lavender plants for essential oils, host elaborate alfresco dinner parties, tend to her beloved animals, and meditate in her crystal-laced labyrinth. She also wanted to provide a safe family haven for her children, supermodels Gigi and Bella and musician Anwar Hadid.

    Eight years later, the residence has returned to the market at a speck under $10.9 million. The listing, which comes with all its furnishings and operating equipment, is being offered by Carl Gambino of the Gambino Group at Compass and Revi Haviv of Addison Wolfe Real Estate.

    The kitchen was a popular place for the family to test recipes during the COVID pandemic.

    Keith Conrey

    Situated in the heart of Bucks County, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia and 70 miles southwest of Manhattan, the gated property features a fieldstone-clad main home dating to the early 1800s, plus a carriage house and two cottages. It’s also right down the road from a property actor Bradley Cooper purchased in 2023 for $6.5 million to be closer to his girlfriend Gigi.

    An 8,000-square-foot stone bank barn that once served as a working agricultural structure now has a vast entertaining space and a gym, while a separate equestrian barn is outfitted with 14 stalls, tack and feed rooms, a barn manager’s office, and an outdoor jumping and dressage arena. A restored stone spring house has been transformed into a wine and lavender oil cellar.

    A beautiful backyard pool is surrounded by lush greenery.

    Keith Conrey

    RELATED: Bethenny Frankel Sold Her Historic Greenwich Estate in a Clandestine $7.8 Million Deal

    Restored and designed by the 61-year-old lifestyle maven, the three-bedroom, five-bath main dwelling spans three levels and is highlighted by a living area with one of five fireplaces and a dining room that connects to a kitchen sporting top-tier appliances and a glass-lined breakfast nook with banquette seating. A top-floor primary suite flaunts a bespoke closet and a luxe bath with a rectangular soaking tub and glass-encased shower.

    A two-story carriage house has an open-plan living, dining, and kitchen area and a lofted bedroom and bath, while two more guest cottages have three bedrooms and two baths between them. Also amid the scenic grounds, you can find a resort-style pool, a fire pit, and raised vegetable and flower gardens. 

    Click here for more photos of the Pennsylvania residence.

    Keith Conrey

    Authors

    Wendy Bowman

    Wendy Bowman is a real estate writer at Robb Report. Before that, she was a freelancer for Modern Luxury and several other media outlets, where she primarily covered luxury properties for…

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    An L.A. Home With Ties to Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and More Lists for $7.5 Million

    When David Fillet moved into this nearly century-old Los Angeles home in the Outpost Estates enclave of Hollywood Hills back in the 1970s, the doctor hired a historian to do a deep dive into its past, and what he found was intriguing.

    Not only was the place once owned by Oscar-winning songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen, who was frequently visited by his close friends Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, but the original Dracula actor Bela Lugosi had also rented the residence in the early 1930s while his house nearby was being built. Along with a slew of other prominent folks, actress Yvette Mimieux was even rumored to have occupied the Maravilla Road property in the late 1960s.

    A fireside living room comes with picture windows overlooking city skyline views.

    Marc Angeles & Tiffany Angeles/Unlimited Style Photography

    RELATED: David Lynch’s Midcentury Hollywood Hills Compound Lists for $15 Million

    Fillet picked up the estate in 1972 for a mere $138,000. Now, for the first time in over 50 years, the Spanish Colonial Revival-style property has popped up on the market again for $7.5 million, with Tom Davila, John Zaffarano, and Kennon Earl of Rare Properties of Compass sharing the listing.

    Originally designed and built for retired physician and surgeon Frederick Dunsmoor in the late 1920s by lesser-known architect Adolph Semrow, Villa Dorada rests beyond gates at the end of a secluded cul-de-sac parcel spanning a third of an acre, high above Brad Pitt’s newly purchased home. Half a dozen bedrooms and seven baths are spread across 7,400 square feet of decidedly dated yet well-preserved living space on three stories accessible via a wood-paneled elevator. Period details include magnesite floors, an intimate “telephone room,” and the original intercom system.

    The primary bedroom has a sitting area and access to two private balconies.

    Marc Angeles & Tiffany Angeles/Unlimited Style Photography

    RELATED: A 1930s L.A. Home Steeped in Hollywood History Just Listed for $2.2 Million

    Among the highlights is the circular entry foyer, which boasts a spiral staircase and a massive wrought-iron chandelier dangling from a vaulted hand-painted ceiling. From there, a sunken reception parlor comes with a built-in bar and a powder room, and a spacious wood-beamed living room has a decorative tiled fireplace and a glass and wood-trimmed door spilling out to a covered terrace. An adjacent coffer-ceilinged dining room connects to the eat-in kitchen.

    Directly below the main level is an exercise room and a primary suite flaunting a fireplace, a sitting area, dual balconies, a walk-in closet, and a fanciful stone-clad bath with dual vanities and a large glass-encased shower. The bottom-most level, meanwhile, hosts staff quarters with two bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen, along with a fireside recreation room that leads out to a terraced backyard overlooking sweeping city lights and ocean views. There’s also an attached three-car garage out front.

    Click here for more photos of the Hollywood Hills residence.

    Marc Angeles & Tiffany Angeles/Unlimited Style Photography

    Authors

    Wendy Bowman

    Wendy Bowman is a real estate writer at Robb Report. Before that, she was a freelancer for Modern Luxury and several other media outlets, where she primarily covered luxury properties for…

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