Eisenhower Commanding the Mall

Three design alternatives for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial will be presented this Thursday at a public meeting before the The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC). One of the three concepts selected by the Eisenhower Memorial Commission will be chosen for the 400 block of Independence Avenue, SW, in a plan that could get final review as early as this year.The Eisenhower Commission selected...

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Adventures in Chakra-tecture!

By Beth Herman When a mold-ridden, baby blue, vinyl-sided 1970s “fake” farmhouse in Frederick County, Va., needed a total architectural alignment (translation: to raze or not to raze), Reader & Swartz Architects recruited the growing young family who lived there in a proactive design effort largely about lifestyle. With yoga practice paramount among homeowners Stephen and Julie Pettler’s daily...

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Nate Berkus Downsizing in Chicago

SELLER: Nate BerkusLOCATION: Chicago, ILPRICE: $2,650,000SIZE: 3,980 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 4 bathroomsYOUR MAMAS NOTES: We know we ain't the first person to the prom on this one, puppies, but let's have a look-see anyways shall we? The matter of hotshot decorator and designer Nate Berkus putting his Chicago, IL condo on the market with a price tag of $2,650,000 was first mentioned–as best as we...

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Weekend Wrap Up

1.American ex-pat actor Johnny Depp and his French baby momma Vanessa Paridis are reported to have picked up the Palazzo Donà Sangiantoffetti that overlooks the Grand Canal in Venice. Mister Depp, who reportedly outbid an Arab royal, paid around £8,580,000 for the fixer upper. That's 13,599,800 at today's rate in American dollars.2.Did y'all know that tennis queen Venus Williams thinks she's a decorator?3.New York Yankee Derek Jeter's new department store-sized mega-mansion on the Davis Islands...

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Donatelli Building Again in Columbia Heights

Developer in Chief of Columbia Heights Chris Donatelli will soon build his next residential addition to the Metro-oriented DC neighborhood. Donatelli has just scored $116m in financing from lender Invesco Real Estate, an event Donatelli said was the last impediment to building a 143-unit apartment building designed by Bethesda's GTM Architects. The building on Irving Street will be adjacent to...

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Owners and Renters Agree: Owning a Home is a Smart Decision

People in Tampa, Florida know that home ownership is a smart decision. It is not just here either. According to a recent survey by the National Association of Realtors®, “A substantial majority of both home owners and current renters agree that owning a home is a smart decision over the long term.” “Home owners and renters agree that home ownership benefits individuals and families, strengthen our...

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Another Hard Money Loan Started

Hard money loan #16 kicked off a few days ago. This is a loan on a property bought at foreclosure auction in Antioch, California, which is east and a tiny bit north of San Francisco. The borrowers are two people who have borrowed from us before. They purchased the property for $220,000. (The bank took a $400,000 loss on this one - ouch!) Our loan, secured by a first mortgage, is for $162,000, giving a LTV ratio of 73%. The borrower tells us he already has a buyer in line for the property at $270,000....

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Rose McGowan Leaving Los Feliz

SELLER: Rose McGowanLOCATION: Los Angeles, CAPRICE: $1,849,000SIZE: 4,278 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathroomsYOUR MAMAS NOTES: Yesterday, while sipping an ice cold gin & tonic scoping out all the new listings in The City of Angels we ran across a particularly fetching abode in the Los Feliz area that set off all of Your Mama's highly-tuned celebrity real estate sensors. A short spin through the...

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Equity Underway on Lyon Park Apartments

Equity Residential is now officially bullish on the DC market, having broken ground several weeks ago on its newest apartment project in Arlington's Lyon Park neighborhood. With its confidence in the Washington DC area market boosted by its success at 425 Mass, a new but empty building that Equity bought after foreclosure for $167m and then filled more than 70% of its 557 units, Equity is now...

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Comedy Writer Bruce Vilanch Lists Nichols Canyon Crib

SELLER: Bruce VilanchLOCATION: Los Angeles, CAPRICE: $1,150,000SIZE: 2,399 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathroomsYOUR MAMAS NOTES: Tinseltown is nothing if not a Botox-induced wrinkle-free fairyland of illusion and make-believe. It's a wacky world in which oodles of beefy waiters drive Range Rovers and Maseratis paid for by their older man-friend benefactors and glammy middle-aged grandmothers have...

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Did Putin Get a Palace?

Did Russian's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin get a pricey new palace that over looks the Black Sea?It seems nobody knows for sure–or at least no government official will confirm–but a Russian biznessman named Sergei Kolesnikov who has professional ties to Mister Putin claims that a palatial residence under construction in the Black Sea resort town of Praskoveevka is being built with "dubious funds"...

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Radio Hostess and Heiress Alexis Stewart Marks Down Penthouse Price

We know we're a little late to the rodeo on this bit of real estate bizness it having already been discussed on Curbed. None the less, we've been following this real estate saga for some time and quite simply can't control our impulse to weigh in on the matter. Plus we're sort of smitten with the idiosyncratic pluck of radio hostess and heiress Alexis Stewart. Iffin you already know this crap and...

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