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      This $2.2 Million Massachusetts Home Is Where Walt Disney Reportedly Wrote ‘Fantasia’

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      Walt Disney may have settled down in Southern California, but he wrote his hit musical Fantasia at this magical home in Massachusetts. 

      Located in Centerville, a historic village on Cape Cod, the shingled abode is on the market for just shy of $2.2 million. According to the listing, the property originally belonged to a larger estate known as Fernbrook, which dates back to 1881. In its 143-year lifespan, the inn has hosted famous visitors from Audrey Hepburn to the Kennedys and counts Herbert T. Kalmus, the inventor of the Technicolor motion picture process, as its former owner. 

      During Kalmus’s time at Fernbrook, he invited Disney to stay at the estate. The movie and TV producer is believed to have penned the 1940s animated film while holed up in the abode’s water tower, which the house on offer is built around. “The base of the tower is now the primary bedroom,” Gene Orloff of Sotheby’s International Realty—Cape Cod, Osterville Brokerage, told Mansion Global. “The top of the water tower is a wonderful room with a bar and original huge windows that drop into the sills for air and an almost 360-degree view of Centerville and peaks of Nantucket Sound. 

      RELATED: A $14 Million Cape Cod Home Packed With the Charm of a Bygone Era Is Listed for the First Time in 50 Years

      The octagonal water tower where Walt Disney is said to have wrote Fantasia.

      Nauset Media for Sotheby’s International Realty

      The current residence, which was constructed in 1995, last sold in 2017 for a cool $1.13 million. Altogether, the dwelling measures 5,050 square feet and features six bedrooms and four full bathrooms. Another cool feature: legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, best known for designing several public parks, starting with Central Park in New York City and Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, was tapped to spruce up the roughly one-acre grounds, which include a lily pond and lush gardens. 

      The home features refinished wood floors and a vaulted, wood-clad ceilings.

      Nauset Media for Sotheby’s International Realty

      Set across three floors, the home is decked out with exposed beams and oversized windows that overlook the bucolic landscape. On the first level, you’ll also find the primary suite, a renovated chef’s kitchen, a guest room, and a dining area. Elsewhere, surrounding porches and decks are perfect for soaking in the sun and provide easy access to the heated swimming pool.  

      RELATED: Harry Connick Jr. Is Asking $12.5 Million for His Coastal New England Retreat

      Nestled on Centerville’s Main Street—recognized by the National Register of Historic Places—the house itself is a stone’s throw from Craigville Beach and the beloved Four Seas Ice Cream. Taylor Swift and Adam Sandler have visited the latter. The shop was reportedly put up for sale in February.  

      Click here to see more photos of 489 Main Street.  

      Nauset Media for Sotheby’s International Realty

      Authors

      Abby Montanez

      Abigail Montanez is a staff writer at Robb Report. She has worked in both print and digital publishing for over half a decade, covering everything from real estate, entertainment, dining, travel to…

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      in Luxury

      Joshua Kushner and Karlie Kloss Scoop Up Harry Gesner’s Wave House in Malibu

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      A little over a year after it first splashed onto the market with a nearly $50 million price tag, a particularly eye-catching oceanfront beach house in the western reaches of Malibu has officially sold.

      As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the buyers are Joshua Kushner and Karlie Kloss—he a venture capitalist and the brother of former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and she a model and founder of a coding camp for girls—who doled out $29.5 million for the property, which was previously owned by the late and legendary record executive Mo Ostin. After popping up for sale in June 2023, the ask was reduced to $42.5 million before going to the couple at a substantial discount.

      Wave House is located next door to Harry Gesner’s longtime residence dubbed the Sandcastle.

      Berlyn Photography

      RELATED: Kanye West’s Gutted Tadao Ando-Designed Malibu House Sells at a Whopping $36 Million Loss

      Designed by self-taught and wildly imaginative midcentury architect Harry Gesner in the early 1960s for friends and fellow surfers Gerry and Glenn Cooper, Wave House rests amid a 0.7-acre parcel on a beach in a secluded cove. The home is easily recognizable with its jagged, undulating roofline resembling a series of cresting waves and donning hand-cut copper shingles evoking the scales of a fish. The place also looks somewhat like a sea turtle when viewed from above.

      Once inside, six bedrooms and eight baths are filtered across just over 6,400 square feet of living space boasting bleached hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings with whitewashed beams, and vast expanses of glass. There’s also a trio of circular wraparound decks, plus a detached garage/guesthouse.

      A circular sunken conversation pit in the main living area is centered around a large stucco fireplace.

      Berlyn Photography

      Featured in numerous advertising campaigns and the 2019 film Yesterday, and occupied at one time by British pop star Rod Stewart, the two-story structure’s main level has three sizable oceanfront living areas, including one with a massive fireside conversation pit, as well as a beachfront primary suite equipped with a hot tub and a sauna. Five more bedrooms can be found on the upper level, which stretches the entire width of the property.

      According to WSJ, the purchase adds to Kushner and Kloss’s coast-to-coast property portfolio, which includes a $21.5 million mansion in Miami and a $35 million penthouse in New York City’s Nolita neighborhood. The listing was shared by Chris Cortazzo and Zen Gesner of Compass, Dena Luciano of Douglas Elliman and Drew Fenton of Carolwood Estates; Cortazzo also repped the buyers.

      Click here for more photos of the Wave House.

      Berlyn Photography More

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      Country Singer Zac Brown Seeks $3.2 Million for His Georgia Lake House

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      After four years of ownership, Zac Brown has decided to part ways with his Georgia retreat perched atop the south shores of Lake Lanier in his hometown of Cumming, about 45 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. The founding member and frontman of the Grammy-winning country/rock group Zac Brown Band—probably most known for the hit songs Chicken Fried, Knee Deep, and Same Boat—is asking $3.25 million for the waterfront spread, which he acquired for $1.8 million in June 2020.

      Built in the early 1990s, the white wood-sided and stone-accented structure features seven bedrooms and five baths in a little more than 9.400 square feet of living space on three levels boasting surround sound and automated window treatments. Outdoors, the woodsy grounds span almost an acre and include a heated infinity pool flanked by a waterfall and spa, a cedar-clad dock with a party deck up top, a separate boathouse, and 150 feet of waterfront footage, plus a detached five-car garage.

      Sitting amid a secluded cove on Lake Lanier, the cedar dock has two boat slips and a party deck.

      BMedia

      Main-level highlights include a formal dining room and a spacious double-height living area sporting picture windows, a built-in entertainment center, and a stone fireplace stretching to the ceiling. An adjacent kitchen outfitted with quartz countertops, an eat-in island, Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances, and a walk-in pantry connects to a fireside breakfast room that flows out to a screen porch with water views. A spacious primary suite holds a seating area warmed by a fireplace, a walk-in closet, and a spa-like bath with dual vanities, a soaking tub, and a shower.

      Upstairs are three bedrooms and a loft-style lounging space that segues into a library hosting a wet bar, while the terrace floor has two more bedrooms with access to a kitchenette, as well as a sauna-equipped gym and a movie theater that comes complete with professional lighting, tiered seating, and multiple TVs and gaming systems. There’s also a recreation room with a seated bar, a fireplace, and French doors spilling out to an expansive deck.

      A loft-style lounging space overlooks the spacious hardwood-floored living room.

      BMedia

      Per listing agent Katie McGuirk of Ansley Christie’s International Real Estate, the 46-year-old musician—who is also widely known as a songwriter, producer, record label head, and philanthropist—purchased the lakefront home during the Covid-19 pandemic so he could have a place to make music and unwind with friends and family.

      “This has been an incredible home for me and my family, with a great location that feels like it’s a world away from the city,” said Brown in a press statement. “We’re sad to let it go, but I look forward to passing it on to new owners who will fill it with new memories.”

      Click here for more photos of Zac Brown’s lake house.

      BMedia More

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      in Vacation Homes

      For the Price of a Tiny N.YC. Apartment, You Could Snag a Sprawling Villa in Calabria, Italy

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      New York City is consistently one of the most expensive places to live, so it’s no wonder more and more Big Apple residents are packing up their postage-stamp apartments and heading abroad in search of more space for less money. And, if you’re considering pulling a real-life Emily in Paris and escaping to Europe, you might be pleasantly surprised just how much more bang for your buck you can get when it comes to real estate. 

      A new study from My Dolce Casa, an expat-oriented blog about living and retiring overseas, has done the hard part and calculated what the same amount of money can buy you in the Mediterranean versus Manhattan. The website based its research on Realtor.com’s median listing price for a 500-square-foot apartment in New York City, which was approximately $750,000 or $1,500 per square foot. Using that value as a guide, it then determined what size house you would be able to purchase for a similar cost in countries like Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and France. Let’s just say the results are nothing short of enticing. 

      You can buy three times as much space in Spain compared to Manhattan.

      David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images

      During the pandemic, Americans descended on Italy for a taste of la dolce vita. When it comes to getting the most for your money in Bel Paese, the mountainous region of Molise—due east of Rome on the Adriatic coast—topped the chart in terms of value with an average price per square foot of $90. Here, for example, $750,000 will get you a sprawling 8,333-square-foot villa. Similarly, if you wanted to settle down further south in Calabria, the same amount of money would afford a whopping 8,242 square feet of space, which translates to about $91 per square foot. By comparison, a condo of that size would run you upwards of $12 million in Manhattan, according to The New York Times. 

      Spain’s Castilla-La Mancha, a vast region in the center of the country, landed in third place. The desert-like area includes the historic city of Toledo and was the setting of the famous Don Quixote novel. It also has the country’s lowest population density, so essentially it’s the complete opposite of New York City. Here, you can expect a home as large as 7,813 square feet, while over in Extremadura, which borders Portugal, you could pick up a 7,426-square-foot country home. For all The White Lotus fans, the Italian island of Sicily notched the fifth spot. With an average price per square foot of $104, you could live big like Quentin (Tom Hollander) in your very own 7,212-square-foot palazzo. 

      Real estate on Crete costs on average $215 per square foot.

      Laszlo Szirtesi/Getty Images

      Greece has long drawn tourists during the summer months, but if putting down roots in the so-called cradle of Western civilization appeals to you, for the price of a 500-square-foot studio in Manhattan, you could snap up a 5,859-square-foot abode in Thessaly, one of the most important regions of ancient Greece and known for its impressive mountain ranges and idyllic landscapes. On the other hand, if pink-sand beaches, archaeological sites, and a thriving wine scene float your expat boat, you could stretch out in a scenic 3,488-square-foot villa on Crete, Greece’s largest island.

      You can find the full ranking below.

      RegionCountryHome Size (square feet)MoliseItaly8,333CalabriaItaly8,242Castilla-La ManchaSpain7,813ExtremaduraSpain7,426SicilyItaly7,212UmbriaItaly6,944BasilicataItaly6,356AbruzzoItaly6,303Castilla y LeónSpain6,148PugliaItaly5,952MurciaSpain5,906ThessalySpain5,859PiedmontItaly5,769ThraceSpain5,556La RiojaSpain5,474CentralSpain5,474AsturiasSpain5,245GaliciaSpain5,245AragónSpain5,102Friuli-Venezia GiuliaItaly5,068

      Authors

      Abby Montanez

      Abigail Montanez is a staff writer at Robb Report. She has worked in both print and digital publishing for over half a decade, covering everything from real estate, entertainment, dining, travel to…

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      in Luxury

      Former MLB Owner’s Pebble Beach Estate Goes for a Record $45 Million

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      Though it was never officially on the market, former San Diego Padres owner John Moores’s lavish Pebble Beach home just sold for a whopping $45 million, making it the priciest residential transaction in Monterey County to date, surpassing the $40 million transfer of a historic Carmel Highlands estate to Brad Pitt in 2022. As first reported by The Real Deal, the buyer of the aptly named Masterpiece on 18, which was most recently promoted with a $55 million ask, is an as-yet-unnamed entity tied to the LLC WhiteApple DE.

      “We are delighted that we could orchestrate a successful discreet marketing and sale of our client’s estate, one of only five prestigious homes located on the 18th hole of this iconic golf course,” said Tim Allen of Coldwell Banker Realty, who repped Moores in the deal. “The allure of unparalleled amenities and spectacular ocean views awaiting the new owners has propelled this closing to an all-time record high for Monterey County home sales.”

      The home is nestled alongside what is perhaps the most recognizable finishing hole in golf.

      Sherman Chu

      Records show Moores and his now ex-wife Rebecca acquired the property for $7 million in 1994, the same year the wealthy Texas-born software company founder and venture capitalist purchased a majority share of the Padres Major League Baseball franchise from Tom Werner Group for around $80 million (Moores sold the team for $800 million in 2012 and was voted into the Padres Hall of Fame last year). The couple subsequently had an existing home razed and enlisted Texas-based Robert E. Griffin Architects to design a brand-new limestone and domed copper roof structure, which was completed in 1996.

      Nestled amid a nearly 1.8-acre parcel overlooking the 18th fairway of the exclusive Pebble Beach Golf Links and Pacific Ocean, the striking residence features a total of five bedrooms and 10 baths sprawled across 10,500 square feet of single-level living space decked out with radiant-heated stone floors, plaster walls, warm wood accents, and vast expanses of glass. There’s also a four-car tiled and heated garage, plus a guest suite.

      A spacious fireside living room offers up a view of a grand cypress and the crashing waves of the Pacific.

      Sherman Chu

      Additional highlights include a sleekly designed kitchen outfitted with dual islands and top-notch appliances, along with a handsome fireside office and a sumptuous primary suite boasting a luxe bath. Outdoors, the landscaped grounds host a putting green, a greenhouse, a pond flanked by bear sculptures (though the bears are not part of the sale), and a duo of large stone-clad patios—one in the front with a fireplace and a bronze trellis and the other out back holding a kitchen setup and two fire-pits.

      Click here for more photos of John Moores’s Pebble Beach home.

      Sherman Chu More

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      in Luxury

      Kanye West’s Tadao Ando-Designed Malibu House Sells at a $36 Million Loss

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      Back in fall 2021, Kanye West doled out a whopping $57.3 million in cash for an oceanfront Malibu house designed by noted Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Shortly afterward, the music mogul-turned-Yeezy fashion designer controversially gutted the residence in preparation for a redesign, ripping out all the windows, doors, and interior finishes before changing his mind and flipping the vacant and uninhabitable concrete shell back on the market this past January at a steep $53 million. Alas, there were no takers, and within a few months the price had been slashed all the way down to $39 million. Now, after nearly three years languishing and exposed to the elements, the property is finally in escrow to be sold for $21 million—a staggering $36 million less than West paid.

      As first report by The Real Deal, the discount-minded buyer is Belwood Investments, a California-based real estate crowdfunding firm that’s been flipping homes since 2018. The new owner plans to raise at least $5 million to restore the unfinished property to its original state over the next 12 to 16 months and then put it back up for sale at around $40 million.

      “We are incredibly excited about the acquisition of this property,” said Belwood founder and owner Steven “Bo” Belmont via a press release. “This is not just a phenomenal real estate investment; it is an opportunity to revitalize and preserve an architectural gem by the renowned Tadao Ando, ensuring it remains a jewel of Malibu. This acquisition exemplifies Belwood Investments’ commitment to transforming properties with historical and architectural significance while delivering exceptional returns for our investors.”

      The Malibu Road home before West stripped it of windows, doors and all interior fittings.

      Apple Maps

      Originally designed and built for financier and art collector Richard Sachs by the Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect, the 4,000-square-foot residence was completed in 2013 in collaboration with the architecture firm Marmol Radziner using 1,200 tons of concrete and 200 tons of reinforced steel. Though current photos are scarce, listings show the house was designed with four bedrooms and five baths in just over 4,000 square feet, with roughly 1,500 square feet of outdoor decks providing ocean views, but it’s currently devoid of plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and interior finishes.

      A broker price opinion report prepared for Belwood by Rugiero estimates the property’s final value once restored will top $50 million, while other brand-new or freshly rehabbed homes along this same stretch of sand typically go for around $20 million. However, the Brutalist structure is one of only a handful of U.S. buildings designed by the 82-year-old Ando, who’s been called “Hollywood’s favorite starchitect” and whose homes are regarded as “the hottest must-have among the super wealthy.” 

      In 2023, Jay-Z and Beyoncé paid $190 million for a much larger Malibu estate designed by Ando in a deal that remains one of the most ever paid for a California home. Kim Kardashian is planning to build an extravagant Ando-designed vacation mansion near Palm Springs, and Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield and his wife Jen Rubio bought Tom Ford’s Ando-designed ranch in New Mexico in 2021 for $40 million.

      West, who remains a successful record producer and one of the best-selling musicians of all time, seems to be shifting away from real estate ownership. His other L.A. property, in Calabasas, where his now shuttered Donda Academy was located, has fallen into a state of neglect, and when he’s not out traveling the globe with his typically scantily clad wife Bianca Censori, he frequently bunks up for months at a time in some of the poshest hotels in Los Angeles, including the Chateau Marmont and the oceanfront Nobu Ryokan in Malibu. More

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      in Luxury

      An Instagram Celeb Lists His South Florida House for $4.2 Million

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      After three years of ownership, Josh Ostrovsky is ready to offload his coastal oasis in South Florida’s tony Miami Shores enclave, just minutes from downtown Miami. Records show the social media influencer-turned-canned wine mogul—known to his 9.5 million Instagram fans as “The Fat Jewish”—has hoisted the midcentury-modern house up for sale at $4.25 million, or nearly double the $2.5 million he and wife Caitlin King paid for the place a little over three years ago, in summer 2021.

      Originally designed by noted architect Joseph J. DeBrita and completed in 1950, the sprawling white stucco and stone-accented structure rests amid an angled corner parcel spanning nearly half an acre. Recently renovated, the so-called Panorama House offers five bedrooms and an equal number of baths in a little more than 3,800 square feet of two-level living space boasting terrazzo floors and wood-beam ceilings.

      The living room has a stacked-stone fireplace and large windows overlooking the lush grounds.

      Lifestyle Production Group/ONE Sotheby’s International Realty

      Highlights include a living room displaying a stacked-stone fireplace and a bar, plus a dining area with glass doors opening out to a vast hexagon-shaped loggia featuring a newly installed barbecue station. Also standing out is the sleekly designed Italian kitchen outfitted with an eat-in island and top-tier appliances, as well as a primary suite that comes complete with a walk-in closet and a spa-like bath sporting a steam shower and a floating vanity with dual sinks.

      Elsewhere is a separate guest suite, along with a large window-lined flex space that’s currently being used as a screening/recreation room. In addition to the aforementioned loggia, the landscaped grounds also host a 42-foot pool with a Baja shelf. Per the listing, which is shared by George Burns and David Pullman of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty, there’s also a two-car garage and plenty of room for a tennis/pickleball court.

      A sweeping hexagon-shaped loggia out back is ideal for lounging and entertaining.

      Lifestyle Production Group/ONE Sotheby’s International Realty

      According to the New York Post, the couple is selling because Ostrovsky doesn’t want to be a homeowner anymore. “It’s a lot of work, with landscaping and all, and he’s coming from New York and not used to it,” Burns told the media outlet. “Maybe he’ll find another deal. But he’s a very transient person and he could land anywhere after this.” 

      Born in New York City and previously dubbed by Time magazine as one of “The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet,” Ostrovsky is probably best known for his risqué memes and viral videos. But he also co-founded a canned wine brand that was acquired in 2019 by beverage giant Anheuser-Busch in what was the company’s largest wine investment ever made at the time.

      Click here for more photos of Joshua Ostrovsky’s Florida home.

      Lifestyle Production Group/ONE Sotheby’s International Realty More

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      A Hollywood Screenwriter Asks $4.2 Million for His Coastal California Retreat

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      Nestled alongside rocky cypress-lined cliffs draped over the Pacific, homes in Central California’s affluent Carmel Highlands enclave have long drawn well-known characters ranging from Vertigo star Kim Novak to millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett. One particularly craggy thoroughfare, just off Highway 1, also holds the oceanfront beach house where Sharon Stone’s character Catherine Tramell resided in the film Basic Instinct. And nearby is the landmark D.L. James estate, which was purchased in 2022 by Brad Pitt for a whopping $40 million.

      Now another particularly eye-catching structure in the neighborhood long owned by Richard Outten has hit the market, asking $4.25 million. Records show the Hollywood screenwriter—probably best known for his work on the 2012 Warner Bros. adventure film Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, starring Michael Caine, Dwayne Johnson, Vanessa Hudgens, and Josh Hutcherson—originally paid $990,000 for the dark wood-sided abode a little over 14 years ago, back in spring 2010.

      An open-concept great room is comprised of a living and dining area, plus an updated kitchen.

      Sherman Chu

      RELATED: This $8 Million Spanish-Style Charmer in Carmel Will Make You Brad Pitt’s Neighbor

      Completed in the early 1950s and on the market for only the third time in the past 70 years, the midcentury modern house is tucked away on a little over a third of an acre of gated land sited near beaches and the charming downtown village of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Inside, a total of three bedrooms and two full baths can be found in almost 1,800 square feet of “preserved and stylishly updated” living space overlooking views of Bird Island, Point Lobos, and beyond.

      Highlights include an open-concept great room displaying a living area resting beneath a high whitewashed wood-beam ceiling and sporting a wood-burning brick fireplace flanked by window seats, as well as built-in cabinetry and a wall of sliding glass doors opening to a rear patio. A dining spot connects to the tiled kitchen, which is outfitted with a breakfast bar and stainless Bosch, Frigidaire, and KitchenAid appliances.

      An expansive rear patio is ideal for relaxing and entertaining guests.

      Sherman Chu

      RELATED: Clint Eastwood’s Onetime Seaside Retreat in California Is Up for Grabs at $21 Million

      Next to the kitchen is a workspace with an integrated desk, while a hallway passes through a breezeway before emptying out at a primary bedroom with a shower-equipped bath and a laundry area. A separate wing on the opposite end of the house has a bath and two bedrooms, one of which has been converted into a wood-paneled office; and outdoors, the woodsy grounds host meandering pathways winding past sustainable succulent gardens and an attached one-car garage.

      Per the listing, which is held by Tim Allen of the Tim Allen Properties Team with Coldwell Banker Realty in Northern California, there’s also private beach access.

      Click here for more photos of Richard Outten’s house.

      Sherman Chu More