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    Tom Ford Snaps Up a Posh London Mansion for $104 Million

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    Tom Ford is making headlines again, this time in the real estate arena, where he’s known as a regular buyer and seller of extraordinary homes.

    The billionaire fashion designer, who sold his eponymous label to Estée Lauder for $2.8 billion, has now broken a record for the priciest home sale in the U.K. this year after snapping up a London residence for a staggering £80 million ($104 million), The Times reported. The trophy dwelling, which is “believed to be a white stucco-fronted mansion,” is located in the city’s affluent Chelsea neighborhood near Hyde Park and the River Thames. However, further details regarding Ford’s new digs are still largely under wraps—other than it was last purchased for £16 million ($20 million) about two decades ago. 

    According to the British newspaper, the deal comes not long after Ford, the former creative director of Gucci, offloaded another of his residences, this one in tony Regent’s Park, for an impressive eight figures, and this latest transaction brings the value of his vast property portfolio to an eye-watering £270 million (or $351.6 million). One of Ford’s most notable holdings is Jackie Kennedy’s childhood summer home in the Hamptons, which he scooped up last summer for $52 million. The palatial East Hampton estate, known as Lasata, sits on a sprawling seven acres of land and features an eight-bedroom main residence, a guest house, a caretaker’s cottage, and a three-car garage. The Texas native bought the place from media producer David Zander, and before that, the big spread belonged to fashion designer and retail executive Reed Krakoff and his interior designer wife Delphine (who are currently selling another historic estate in New Canaan, Connecticut).

    So far, London has experienced a bit of a slump in the luxury real estate market in 2024 with a decline in high-end deals. It was previously reported that only 149 homes valued at £10 million (roughly $13.2 million) or more have traded hands in the past 12 months, compared with 192 in the prior period. In terms of who’s doing the buying, wealthy expats have been snapping up the city’s high-end properties thanks to favorable exchange rates. In fact, Knight Frank found that the percentage of U.S. buyers purchasing homes in London rose to 6.1 percent in the first six months of this year from 3.3 percent in the second part of 2023. 

    “There are obvious risks at the moment, but the super-prime market is still functioning, just at a reduced level,” Paddy Dring, global head of prime sales at Knight Frank, said in a statement. “It’s sometimes easy to forget just how attractive London is on the global stage.”

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    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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      Beyoncé and Jay-Z Just Bought California’s Most Expensive Home for $200 Million

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      Beyoncé and Jay-Z are on to the next one.  

      The power couple just added another property to their epic real estate portfolio and simultaneously claimed the title for the priciest real estate transaction in all of California. The music moguls dropped a whopping $200 million on a futuristic mega-mansion in Malibu, according to TMZ. The gargantuan sum shattered the Golden State record previously set by billionaire investor Marc Andreessen’s $177 million deal in 2021. It’s also now considered the second most expensive home sale in America, following a $238 million penthouse scooped up by hedge funder Ken Griffin in 2019. (Although, Bey and Jay would’ve smashed that if they shelled out for the original $295 million asking price.)

      Obviously, the Carters’ new 30,000-square-foot spread isn’t your average beach house. The concrete-clad abode was designed by award-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando in collaboration with L.A.’s WHY Architects. Renowned contemporary art collectors Bill and Maria Bell commissioned Ando to create the ultra-modern compound, which they bought for $14.5 million in 2003, the Los Angeles Times reported. (Bill is the son of late Emmy-winning soap opera creators Lee Phillip Bell and William J. Bell, who were behind shows including Bold and Beautiful and The Young and the Restless.)

      Beyoncé and Jay-Z just dropped $200 million on a beach house in Malibu, setting a record for the most expensive home sale in California

      Courtesy of WHY/Photo by Florian Holzherr

      Completed over a decade later in 2014, the crib has served as a museum of sorts for the Bells’ vast array of legendary artworks, which includes pieces by Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, and Andy Warhol, to name a few. “Thrilled to have #Acrobat with Cy Twombly’s work at Bill and Maria Bell’s incredible new #Malibu home,” Koons captioned a 2015 Instagram post. Over the years, stars such as Pharrell and Billy Idol have even paid a visit to the brutalist fortress in question. 

      Spread across eight acres on a bluff overlooking the ocean, the Pacific Cove estate features huge gray-toned hallways and sweeping, floor-to-ceiling glass walls. Outside, you’ll find manicured lawns, two glistening swimming pools, and an inviting patio. As the deal was handled off-market, there aren’t too many other design details available. Broker Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency reportedly represented the buyers and the seller, as per TMZ.  

      Ando has created more than a few notable private residences throughout his career, including fashion designer Tom Ford’s $75 million Cerro Pelon Ranch in New Mexico. The Pritzker Prize winner is also currently working on a Palm Springs pad for Kim Kardashian. The Carters are in good company, then. More

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      Home of the Week: Inside the $17 Million London Mansion That Tom Ford Turned Into a Den of Style

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      The stately London mansion once owned by fashion icon, perfumier and filmmaker Tom Ford, and with the designer’s stunning interior touches left intact, has just hit the market for $17.4 million.
      While clean and elegant on the outside, the inside of this four-story Victorian is all stainless steel, black glass, striated Macassar wood, and jet-black wall paneling. Sexy doesn’t even come close.

      Ford, who’s credited with reviving the fortunes of Gucci and YSL before launching his own brand in 2006, is believed to have purchased the house in 1997 for £2.55 million—around $4.08 million at the time.

      His exhaustive makeover saw the interior gutted and the Texan designer’s own inimitable style reflected in every room. Back then, the 3,700-square-foot house featured just two bedrooms.
      For Ford, the home’s considerable appeal was no doubt its coveted location in the Boltons, a swank enclave of just 30 sprawling Victorian houses in West London’s A-list Chelsea district.
      The living room.  Photo: Alex Winship/Knight Frank

      Current or former neighbors have included Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson, the late David Bowie and George Michael. Rumor has it that the home’s previous owner was Duran Duran keyboard player Nick Rhodes.
      It’s not clear how long Ford and his longtime partner Richard Buckley lived in the house. All we know is that it was listed in 2009 for £8.5 million—roughly $13.3 million.
      The cozy study.  Photo: Alex Winship/Knight Frank

      We suspect that some time between 2009 and 2012, the house sold in an off-market deal, with the new owner adding a third bedroom, but leaving all the fabulous Tom Ford design cues in place.
      Eventually the home was sold in 2014 for £12 million ($18.7 million), with the new owner again electing to leave the Tom Ford design features intact, an homage to the longevity of designer’s creative talents.
      The dining room with its black walls.  Photo: Alex Winship/Knight Frank

      Today, imposing black double gates, under the watchful eyes of a barrage of security cameras, lead to the home’s white stucco-style facade. While photos might give the impression of the double-fronted mansion being free-standing, it’s actually joined to a row of similar-style homes at one side.
      Steps lead up to the single front door and into an entrance lobby with its stunning, alabaster marble open staircase edged with mirror-finished black glass walls. To one side there’s a black-walled, black sofa-filled reception room, on the other an elegant wood-paneled dining room.

      A guest bedroom.  Photo: Alex Winship/Knight Frank

      Large, floor-to-ceiling windows in the reception room look out on to a quiet, serene courtyard that’s hidden away behind towering trees and hedgerows.
      Back inside, stairs descend to the lower ground floor—don’t call it a basement—with its stainless steel and stark white kitchen, ensuite bedroom, compact gym, steam room and wine cellar.
      The primary bedroom with its stainless steel walls and ceiling.  Photo: Alex Winship/Knight Frank

      Now take the stairs—there’s no elevator in the residence—to the second level and there’s a gorgeous Mad Men-style Macassar wood-paneled study on one side and a cozy, gray-paneled guest bedroom on the other.
      You’ll find the true Tom Ford style, however, in the third-floor primary suite with its jaw-dropping bedroom with three walls and even the ceiling, lined in matte stainless steel. It might seem a little strange, sleeping in a steel box, but it works.
      The marble staircase appears to float.  Photo: Alex Winship/Knight Frank

      Across the hallway is the spacious, though uninspiring all-white master bath and the huge dressing area with endless closets, no doubt once filled with those trademark Tom Ford black suits and crisp, white dress shirts.
      Keep heading up the staircase, and you’ll step out on to the vast rooftop deck with views of the London skyline.
      The private courtyard.  Photo: Alex Winship/Knight Frank

      Charles Olver, partner and head of sales for listing broker Knight Frank, says the interior of the house gives “an overall sense of being immersed in an exquisite piece of fine art.”
      “With an interior created by none other than one of fashion’s biggest creative names, Tom Ford, perhaps you’d expect nothing less. But still prepare to be blown away,” he adds.
      The home sits in one of London’s best districts.  Photo: Alex Winship/Knight Frank More

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      Home of the Week: Tom Ford Slashes $27 Million off the Price of His 22,000-Acre New Mexico Ranch

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      Not even the white-hot star power of celebrated fashion designer, perfumier and filmmaker Tom Ford can guarantee a home finds a buyer. Which is why the 58-year-old fashion icon has just slashed the sticker-price of his stunning 22,000-acre New Mexico ranch from $75 million to $48 million—a not-so-trivial chop of $27 million. Ford first listed […] More