How to Hide a TV ~ Fashionably!

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Guess where the TV is in this small apartment? No it’s not behind the tiny picture above the mantel. The living area was originally one long room until the home owner designed the  cabinet to create two spaces out of one. Acting as a decorative focal point, the cabinet also provides a place to store essentials and best of all, at the touch of a button, voila, a flat-screen television rises from the base. How clever is that? For those of us who prefer that the TV not overtake the design of a room, hiding it until needed gives you the best of both worlds. Sophistication in design when closeted and entertainment, easily accessible on demand.

Design by Jane Taylor. Photos courtesy of Sarah Hogan.

Glamping in Nevada….on Horseback!

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Tepee Interior

Philanthropist Madeleine Pickens’ Mustang Monument luxury eco-resort recently opened their tepees! Her 576,000 acre wild horse reserve is located in the northeastern part of Nevada near the town of Wells.  Along with ten cabins, the retreat features ten hand-painted tepees outfitted with hardwood flooring, king-size beds, and adjacent baths as well as a 24 hour butler service. After a daylong ride through the mustang habitat, unwind with an in-tepee spa treatment and dinner under the stars. Who’s ready to go?

From $1,025/ night; mustangmonument.com

Mustang Monument Tepees

Photos courtesy of Architectural Digest

 

Luxury Home Sales 2014 -Bay Area Leader

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presidio_heights

Luxury home sales volumes grew by double-digit percentage points in the first quarter of 2014 in nine of the Northern California regions. Redfin‘s 2014 Luxury Report shows that three Bay Area regions are leading the nation in high-end home sales growth this year.

Luxury homes are defined as those in the most expensive 1 percent of properties. In the U.S. metropolitan areas high end home sales were up 21% in the first four months of 2014.Redfin further reported that San Francisco had the most expensive luxury-home prices in the Country. The minimum amount a San Francisco buyer would need to purchase a luxury priced home would be $5.35 million — not to mention earn $916,000 per year and make monthly mortgage payments of more than $21,000, assuming a 30-year, fixed-rate loan.

San Jose was 2nd with luxury homes sales increases of 91%. Ranking fourth in the country for highest minimum luxury home pricing of $3.38 million. San Francisco and San Jose placed among the top 10 markets with the highest percentage of all-cash luxury sales, 55.7 and 48.8 percent respectively.

Which neighborhoods are tops? In San Francisco it’s Presidio Heights – average luxury home cost of $7.5 million. Pacific Heights – average luxury home cost of $7.2 million and Russian Hill – average luxury home cost of $6.5 million.

In San Jose – technically Old Palo Alto – average luxury home cost of $4.7 million (although as of today it looks like more like $6 million for a Professorville tear down!) Movoto just named Palo Alto the second wealthiest small city in the U. S. Menlo Park was fifth.

Traditional Master Bedroom – Updated

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This traditional bedroom by LA designer and decorator Lindsay Pennington makes me want to read a book in bed! The color of the walls is Crisp Romaine and as she says, “It’s moody and ambiguously blue, green and gray, and it changes depending upon the lighting and what you place next to it.” She used an eggshell patina so there is a slight sheen.
The antique chinoiserie cabinet on the carved parsons table conceals the TV giving the room a more romantic feel.
I love vignettes anywhere especially when they include fresh flowers by the bed. The headboard is  upholstered in a neutral linen with a polished nickel nailhead trim. The bedding consists of a quilted silk coverlet, cotton shams and a velvet bolster.

 

 

Investment – Real Estate vs Gold ?

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Real estate ranks ahead of gold, stocks, bonds, or savings accounts as the best long-term investment today, according to a nationwide poll by the Gallup organization. It’s also a lot more enjoyable on a daily basis. It houses our family, envelopes our possessions, features our holidays, welcomes us home, cushions our falls and celebrates our joys! These are returns that are intangible and not financially measurable however they provide a wealth of return and solace to a family!

Thirty percent of Americans named real estate their best investment option in the poll, which was conducted earlier this month. Real estate has been rising steadily in Gallup’s annual investment polls since 2011, when only 19 percent of Americans viewed it favorably.

Rising home prices and growing stability in real estate markets are credited for much of the change in perception.

Gold was the No. 1 investment option in 2011, when 34 percent of poll respondents named it their favorite. Gold was at its highest market price at the time, but prices have dropped significantly since then.

In the latest poll, gold and stocks tied for second place behind real estate, at 24 percent, followed by savings accounts (14 percent) and bonds (6 percent).

Real estate has ranked first among investment options in previous years — 50 percent of poll respondents picked it as their top choice in 2002, as markets boomed — but it fell out of favor during the subprime mortgage crisis and recession.

Real estate’s recovery has been underway for more than a year, with Bay Area markets at the national forefront. The San Jose and San Francisco metropolitan areas were recently identified as having the highest home equity levels in the nation, and another report named the metro areas the No. 1 and 2 best markets for home sellers.

Pacific Union’s just-released Real Estate Report for the first quarter of 2014 provides detailed summaries of activity in each of our nine Northern California markets. In March, median single-family home prices reached yearly highs in most regions and topped $1 million in San Francisco and Marin County. Farther south in our Silicon Valley region, home prices surpassed the $2.5 million mark.

Photo Courtesty of Houzz & Traditional Living Room by Rockford Interior Designers & Decorators Gallery Interiors and Rockford Kitchen Design.  Excerpt from Pac Union.