by Roberta Murphy For those who still haven’t made travel plans, there may be some surprising resort bargains to consider–while other large and super-luxurious resorts are stalled under construction and financing difficulties. Crisis in Paradise via Breitbart shares some disturbing news: Cap Cana, a luxury resort under development in the Dominican Republic is now reportedly paralyzed. A mega resort with four luxury hotels, villas (with roof tiles on the ground),…
Grant Street Zinfandel: So Lovely
by Eve Sieminski Most of our readers know that I tend to recommend wines under $20 per bottle, but the Grant Street Vineyard 2005 Zinfandel justifiably pushes the pricing envelope at $25 for a surprising and beautiful wine. I received this Zin yesterday via UPS (yes you can order it online), opened it at 5 to breathe and took my first sip at 6. I immediately considered it a really…
Luxury Ski Resort Files for Bankruptcy
by Roberta Murphy It seems that almost daily we hear about segments of the broad luxury market losing not only their luster, but even their footing. There are reports that luxury retailers are bracing for a crash slowdown, and that even real estate in super-rich Dubai is beginning to show signs of weakness. In fact, says Tim Blixseth, It’s as if the whole world had a financial heart attack. Wall…
Who Reads About Luxury?
by Roberta Murphy Our shrinking global village is an abiding source of amazement, and I often marvel at the diversity of countries represented by the readers (or perusers) of this blog. Just for fun, I decided to check the countries of origin for the past 30 hours. Most visitors (or at least the internet service) hail from the United States. But the balance of the world, according to our SiteMeter…
Kirkland’s Merlot: From the Polish Contessa
by Roberta Murphy Eve Sieminski (aka the Polish Contessa) is our guiding light for fine wine–especially for those premium wines that fit within most budgets. And that may be one of the finest luxuries of all. Eve’s latest oenophilic enthusiasm comes unedited (and I am headed to Costco tomorrow!): Hi Roberta! Here is a review of Kirkland’s Merlot. Generally I tend to shy away from any generic or name brand…
Urban Luxury Near the Beach
by Roberta Murphy When the combination of urban luxury and sandy beaches come together, we might think of high rises in Miami, Los Angeles, La Jolla or Honolulu. San Diego County now boasts a second urban and beach destination: Oceanside Terraces, the new luxury midrise residence in downtown Oceanside. We spend a great deal of time here and think we are in heaven, because we are dealing with amazed guests…
The Luxury Home Library
by Roberta Murphy Every library should try to be complete on something, if it were only the history of pinheads. —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) A home library, more than any room in a home, has the potential to reflect the essence of its owner. Here is a place to organize and keep those books that are both acquaintances and lifelong friends. The home library is also often where collections…
Luxury Homes: From Russia with Love
by Roberta Murphy There’s no doubt that uber-wealthy Russians love luxurious homes–and are willing to pay billions of roubles for well-placed mansions, townhomes and luxurious estates. In Moscow, where luxury buyers are enriched by petrodollars and enthused by strong consumer confidence, a young and wealthy businessman recently paid 2.5 billion roubles ($99 million) for a Moscow town home near the Kremlin. Setting a new Moscow record, this seven-story apartment boasts…
Insuring Luxury Homes
by Roberta Murphy Insuring luxury homes can be a real challenge, especially when trying to calculate replacement value for things like architectural artifacts, beloved creaking stairs or even elephant hide wallpaper. Luxury home insurance wasn’t of that much interest to me–until I read of an appraiser who tried to figure out the replacement value of elephant skin wall coverings in a Seattle manse. That appraiser, James King with the Chubb…
Luxury Foreclosures Becoming More Common
by Roberta Murphy Once upon a time, we whispered about the “F” word creeping into luxury real estate. These days, it is common real estate talk. The Wall Street Journal quotes Realty Trac reporting that the number of $1-plus million homes in some stage of foreclosure has ballooned to 7,968 between January and August this year. This compares to 4,214 during the same months last year. Within these numbers, it…
