Elvis Presley's Home a Teardown? Hard Rock Cafe Founder Peter Morton's Plans for His House

February 2, 2013, 7:51 pm

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Filed under: Celebrity Homes

The King's castle might be coming down. Elvis Presley's sprawling former home in Beverly Hills, Calif., reportedly sold for $9.8 million in December, and now the new owner wants to tear it down, according to The Real Estalker. Just who is this new owner? Oh, he's a hound dog, alright. It's Peter Morton, founder of music memorabilia-themed restaurant chain, Hard Rock Cafe.

Elvis and Priscilla Presley lived in the 5,367-square-foot mansion in the mid- to late-1960s. The home had been on the market for $12.995 million last fall before Morton snagged it for a lower price. Sources told The Real Estalker that Morton, who is quite the real estate player, plans to tear it down and build a new house in its place.

If so, we'll be sad to see the King's castle go. The stunning four-bedroom, five-bathroom home gets panoramic ocean and city views of Los Angeles. It was recently remodeled, according to its listing, and has spacious rooms and a killer media room. Floor-to-ceiling windows in every room bathe the entire house in warmth and light. There's an attached guesthouse, a large motor court and a four-vehicle carport.

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See also: Elvis' 'Graceland' Deal: $1,000 Down
Lisa Marie Presley's Home

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'A Nightmare on Elm Street' House Hits Market for $2.1 Million (House of the Day)

February 4, 2013, 10:31 am

≫ Next: Carly Simon's New York City Home Gets Another Price Cut

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The home once featured in the 1984 cult slasher flick "A Nightmare on Elm Street" has just hit the market for $2.1 million. But don't worry, potential buyers, you've got nothing to be afraid of. The home (which is on North Genesee Avenue in Los Angeles, not Elm Street in the movie's fictional Springwood, Ohio) is ultra-hip and looks anything but terrifying.

The traditional/modernist fusion-style home boasts glossy walnut floors, arched entries, a chef's kitchen, luxe master suite with floor-to-ceiling tile and a spa tub, and a stunning pool and garden. But it wasn't always so sleek -- in fact, it started out as a real nightmare for current owner Angie Hill. Twenty-two years after the filming of "A Nightmare on Elm Street," the famous home had fallen into disarray. Hill scooped it up in 2006, but by then, it was decrepit. (See the home's jaw-dropping transformation in the gallery below.)

"It was horrible," Hill told AOL Real Estate in October, referring to the condition of the home when she bought it in 2006. "It was the only house on the street that looked beaten up. ... The pool looked like it hadn't been touched in 10 years -- it was black." Hill then proceeded to completely gut the home, replacing "every piece of wood," and even reconfiguring the entire floor plan. A nightmare on Elm Street? More like a dream!

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Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email colin.croughan@teamaol.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to reply to each submission.)

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Carly Simon's New York City Home Gets Another Price Cut

February 4, 2013, 10:31 am

≫ Next: Patricia Heaton Lists Los Angeles Home for $8.295 Million

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A far cry from the cookie cutter, glass-walled penthouses of lower Manhattan, Carly Simon's country-charm pre-war home with exposed brick truly stands out from the rest (if not for its star power alone). But why won't this beauty sell? It was listed in 2008 for $3.8 million, but despite various price cuts, it has yet to find a buyer. Now, in what appears to be Simon's growing desperation to get the place sold, the iconic singer-songwriter has slashed the asking price to $2.46 million. (Before this, it was also on the market for $2.9 million and $2.7 million).

We're not quite sure why nobody's snagged this lovely place yet. The two-bedroom townhouse, located in a beautiful building built in 1817 on Commerce Street, boasts its original pre-war wide-plank flooring, soaring ceilings and wood-burning fireplaces. There's a gorgeous upstairs sitting area overlooking the treetops, and a "romantic" master suite, which also boasts exposed brick. Sure, it doesn't have a slide or a floating glass staircase, but its understated elegance is probably why we like it. Currently, Simon lives at her Martha's Vineyard residence in Massachusetts. Nick Gavin of Corcoran Real Estate has the listing.

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Nick Gavin of Corcoran Real Estate has the listing.

See also:
John Lennon, Yoko Ono's 'Nutopian Embassy'
Elvis Presley's Home a Teardown?
Brooklyn Nets' Deron Williams Buys Penthouse

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Patricia Heaton Lists Los Angeles Home for $8.295 Million

February 5, 2013, 11:46 pm

≫ Next: Gavin Townroe, Spice Girls Fan, Evicted for Blasting 'Viva Forever' on Repeat

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Filed under: News,Celebrity Homes,Selling

Move over Raymond, everybody's gonna love Patricia Heaton's house! The former "Everybody Loves Raymond" star and current middle-America heroine in "The Middle" has thrown her deliciously extravagant Los Angeles home on the market for $8.295 million, according to The Real Estalker. Heaton may not be a fan of President Obama's economic policies, but she must not think things are that bad if she's going for that juggernaut of a price!

Heaton and her husband, actor David Hunt, extensively renovated the home before putting it up for sale. The reno was so gorgeously and impeccably done that the star couple's home was featured in Architectural Digest. (We hope this makes for an easier sell for Heaton than her L.A. condo, which had some trouble on the market.) Though Heaton has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, we think her home improvement team deserves one, too.

The six-bedroom, five-bathroom home is divine. Gleaming hardwood floors and light walls give it an airy feel, with many rooms opening up onto stunning patios and the pool area outside. Climb the elegant wood staircase from the foyer to the upper level, where you'll find spacious bedrooms, open family rooms and quaint bathrooms with claw-foot tubs. Don't miss the library on the bottom level, rich with wood. There's also a detached servant's quarters. Lisa Hutchins of Coldwell Banker has the listing.

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See also:
Carly Simon's New York City Home Gets Another Price Cut
John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 'Nutopian Embassy'
Elvis Presley's Home a Teardown?

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Gavin Townroe, Spice Girls Fan, Evicted for Blasting 'Viva Forever' on Repeat

February 5, 2013, 11:46 pm

≫ Next: Christian de Guigne IV Estate: $100 Million Home Comes With the Owner

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Filed under: News,Renting

We've all done that thing where we love a song so much we listen to it over and over ... and over and over again. For most of us, it's a guilty pleasure, a secret kept between ourselves and our personal music devices, private from the judgement of public ears. But not for Gavin Townroe. The renter made his love for the Spice Girls -- specifically their 1998 hit, "Viva Forever" -- so public that he was evicted from his home.

The 33-year-old played the song so frequently and so loudly that neighbors in his apartment building in Nottingham, England (Digby Court, pictured at left) would allegedly have to leave their homes. The song would even be blasted by Townroe at such ungodly hours that it caused a neighbor to be "signed off sick from work" due to lack of sleep, Britain's Daily Mail reports.

"Friday, Saturday, you don't mind, but seven days a week is very difficult to deal with," neighbor Salah Alsayed was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "Sometimes it would happen at seven, eight o'clock in the morning. I don't mind the Spice Girls but not at that time in the morning!"

The noise was so disruptive that Townroe was slapped with an anti-social behavior order by Nottingham police. In October 2012, Townroe breached that order and was given a six-week suspended jail term after a court heard that he breached the order.

Only this month has Nottingham City Council succeeded in evicting Townroe from his home -- paired with a hefty 913 pound fine (about $1,500). Hasta manana? Not for this tenant!

Townroe's not the only tenant to be evicted recently for reasons other than skipping rental payments. Retha Scott was recently evicted for accidentally burning her food in her apartment, an incident that deemed her a "danger to other tenants." (The 75-year-old fell asleep while the meal was cooking on the stove.) Carol "Chay" Burdick was evicted from her apartment after constructing a giant pyramid of Peeps marshmallow candies in her doorway for Easter. And in a case similar to Townroe's, a British couple was threatened with eviction last year because of complaints that their 2-year-old was noisy.

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See also:
Carly Simon's New York City Home Gets Another Price Cut
John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 'Nutopian Embassy'
Elvis Presley's Home a Teardown?

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Christian de Guigne IV Estate: $100 Million Home Comes With the Owner

February 5, 2013, 11:46 pm

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Filed under: News

'Tis the season for homes that no one can afford to come on the market, it seems. The Hillsborough, Calif., estate of Christian de Guigne IV is up for sale for a gut-busting $100 million, The Wall Street Journal reported. This comes after the record-setting $117.5 million sale of a Silicon Valley home in November -- reportedly the second most expensive home sale in the U.S. -- and the famed Crespi/Hicks estate in Dallas landing on the market for an even more unbelievable $135 million.

The giant 16,000-square-foot home on 47 acres has been in De Guigne's family for 150 years, and this is the first time it's up for sale. But you'll want to read the fine print before purchasing: The 75-year-old De Guigne comes with the house. He's retaining a life estate in the property, according to the Journal, which gives him exclusive use of the home for as long as he is alive. The reason he's selling, his attorney told the Journal, is for estate-planning purposes.

Don't let that discourage you, though. Eventually, you'll have yourself an astounding spread. The seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom home sits on a hilltop 20 minutes from San Francisco, with perfect views of the city and East Bay. It has a ballroom, a flower-arranging room, a library and a pavilion that opens up onto a pool courtyard. And if this doesn't sell you on the home, nothing will: "The mansion interiors encompass elegant and ornate public rooms, which evoke the sophistication and grandeur of a bygone era," the listing says. (P.S. The home was designed by acclaimed architecture firm Bliss & Faville, which designed the St. Francis Hotel.)

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Google's Tel Aviv Office Will Blow Your Mind

February 5, 2013, 11:46 pm

≫ Next: Christina Aguilera, Jordan Bratman's Beverly Hills Home Close to Being Sold?

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Filed under: Design,News

We thought the AOL-Huffington Post Media Group offices were snazzy, but then we laid eyes on Google's new offices in Tel Aviv and found ourselves humbled. Dramatically. Our offices at 770 Broadway might have nap rooms, a gym and even an art gallery, but that pales in comparison to the floor-to-floor tunnel slides, aquariums, indoor fruit trees and picnic tables found at Google Tel Aviv.

The Google offices boast every kind of design aesthetic you can imagine. Beach? No problem. Edgy and futuristic instead? Done and done. There are even three restaurants (non-kosher, kosher dairy and kosher meat)! The offices at Electra Tower, which Google moved into last year, were designed by Camenzind Evolution in collaboration with Setter Architects and Studio Yaron Tal. The offices span across eight glorious floors and 850,000 square feet. Check it out for yourself in the gallery below.

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Christina Aguilera, Jordan Bratman's Beverly Hills Home Close to Being Sold?

February 5, 2013, 11:46 pm

≫ Next: Kate Spade's Hamptons Mansion Offered for $4.75 Million (House of the Day)

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Filed under: News,Celebrity Homes

Could it be that Christina Aguilera is close to finally finding a buyer to take the Beverly Hills home she lived in with ex-husband Jordan Bratman off her hands? More than two years after they split, Bratman suddenly moved the rest of his belongings out of the house over the weekend, according to reports. Bratman initially refused to leave the home after the 2010 split, the Daily Telegraph and other sources reported. But he eventually left in 2011, moving some but not all of his stuff, according to the Daily Mail. We're not positive, but it seems like this latest move might mean that Aguilera is making room for someone else.

Aguilera's 10,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style home -- which you'll recognize from when Ozzy Osbourne and company lived in it on "The Osbournes" -- has languished on the market for a very long time. It first hit the market in early 2011 for a whopping $13.5 million, but it hasn't gotten much love since then. It seems Aguilera hasn't tried lowering the price to entice more prospective buyers: The home's listing still shows the same ask. Instead, the songstress released a few more photos of her grandiose place in 2011, hoping that would bring the genie out of the bottle.

We hope Bratman's move is a sign that the home is about to be scooped up because it's way too sick to be sitting on the market. Whoever the buyer ends up being, they'll be living in fat city. The home has a gym, game room, plush movie theater, beauty salon, gift-wrapping area and a guesthouse with recording studio. (Now that's what a girl wants!) There are soaring ceilings with delectable crown molding, and the master suite has a lounge, fireplace and his and her bathrooms and walk-in closets. Outside, take a dip in the exquisite pool, soak in the grotto spa or take a spin down the water slide.

See the listing for more details.

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See also:
Carly Simon's New York City Home Gets Another Price Cut
Elvis Presley's Home a Teardown?
Patricia Heaton Lists Los Angeles Home

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Kate Spade's Hamptons Mansion Offered for $4.75 Million (House of the Day)

February 7, 2013, 3:07 pm

≫ Next: 'Identity Thief' Star Jason Bateman Buys Ernest Borgnine's Home for $3 Million (House of the Day)

≪ Previous: Christina Aguilera, Jordan Bratman's Beverly Hills Home Close to Being Sold?

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You already own Kate Spade's signature clutch, why not take it a step further and own, you know, her house?! The designer is putting her gorgeous 6,700-square-foot Southampton mansion up for sale, and it's every bit as understatedly stylish as her ready-to-wear creations.

The home, which once served as the boardinghouse for William Merrit Chase's Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art, boasts wood-paneled floors and ceilings, leaded glass windows, cedar roofs, grand brick terraces and stunning views over Art Village. (Shingle-style cottages, charming lanes and towering trees still remain after 120 years.) It was previously listed for $5.4 million and is now going for only $4.75 million! If you're already sitting on that kind of bankroll, it's worth every penny, we think. (It even comes with a freestanding 1920s ballroom!)

Lylla Carter and Krae Van Sickle of Saunders Realty have the listing.

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Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email colin.croughan@teamaol.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to reply to each submission.)

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'Identity Thief' Star Jason Bateman Buys Ernest Borgnine's Home for $3 Million (House of the Day)

February 7, 2013, 3:07 pm

≫ Next: Supposed 'Eco-Friendly' Homes Doubled Owners' Energy Bills

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Jason Bateman's highly anticipated new comedy "Identity Thief" is about to drop in theaters, so now seems like a perfect time for the actor to drop that hard-earned dough on a new home. Bateman and his wife, Amanda Anka, have just scooped up legendary actor Ernest Borgnine's Los Angeles home for $3 million, Trulia reported. The compound had been listed at $3.395 million after Borgnine died in July.

Bateman takes the torch as the home's owner after Borgnine lived there for 60 years. "Ernest brought his family up here," listing agent Paul Lester told Zillow. "Lots of Hollywood history has passed through the doors of this house." The gated 6,148-square-foot home with five bedrooms and seven bathrooms is uber-private and perfect for hiding out from paparazzi. And, as celebrity homes always are, it's fabulous.

Sitting on a knoll overlooking Hollywood's ritzy and celebrity-studded Mulholland Drive, each of the home's large living and family rooms open up to the gorgeous pool and patio area. The master suite is perhaps the most enviable area of the home, taking up an entire wing of the upper level with his and her baths and dressing rooms, a private sitting area and balcony. There's also a paneled library, den and formal dining room. A private guesthouse has its own bedroom, kitchen and living room.

Bateman might have some work to do on the home, though: The interior details haven't been updated since Borgnine lived there. That flower stenciling in the kitchen? Yeah, that can go.

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Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email colin.croughan@teamaol.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to reply to each submission.)

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Supposed 'Eco-Friendly' Homes Doubled Owners' Energy Bills

February 7, 2013, 3:07 pm

≫ Next: Listing Fail: Would You Pay $5,000 a Month to Rent This Mess?

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They were supposed to be the models of environmentally-friendly construction, but these supposedly "green" homes at Pavilion Gardens -- that promised to keep energy efficiency high and electricity bills low -- did anything but.

Despite being highly insulated and packed with green features -- heated, supposedly, by biomass boilers or air heat pumps, and equipped with solar panels -- homeowners at Pavilion Gardens complain that their homes are racking up bills twice as much as a regular electricity bill.

"We thought it was going to be our dream house," resident Sunny Tanday told The Daily Mail. Tanday's electricity bills have been averaging 500 British pounds (around $780) a quarter, and he has had to borrow money just to cover the charges. "[The homes] are not what we expected them to be in terms of power-saving and being cheap to run. We moved in here to be a family, but it's just tearing us apart because the big bills are making us argue all the time. There are people in the street who already want to move out because it's just too expensive."

These people include neighbors Danny and Jacqueline Hall, who echoed the Tanday family's concerns. After only six months of living at Pavilion Gardens, the Halls received a bill for 1,600 pounds -- almost double what they paid at their previous (non "eco-friendly") home.

The problems weren't just financial, either. When the Halls moved into their home, there was no water in the toilets because the water recycling system had not been activated. Other residents also complained of faulty equipment.

A spokesman for the Bradford Council, where Pavilion Gardens is located, has assured The Daily Mail that they will work with residents to "find a solution" to the problem. But if that doesn't work, Pavilion Gardens residents can always turn to off-grid living for a guaranteed reduction in energy costs (or, for the brave-hearted, school bus living).

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See also:
Solar Power at Home Saves Money
Green Living for Renters
7 Green Home Trends: From Baby Steps to Extreme Updates

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Listing Fail: Would You Pay $5,000 a Month to Rent This Mess?

February 7, 2013, 3:07 pm

≫ Next: House Fire Victims Peter King and Ann O'Connor Get Home Rebuilt by Generous Neighbors

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We admit it: We like to poke fun at deceptive listings. Though a little exaggeration doesn't hurt, our general rule of thumb is that honesty and transparency in listings is the best policy. But there are exceptions. Case in point: this house.

Now, the owners of this house in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Mass., may keep it messy. And cluttered. And borderline filthy. But there's no need to reveal that to the home's potential buyers! Granted, the listing boasts of the home's "high ceilings" and hardwood floors and huge bay windows. ... But how can we admire these features with that kind of mess?!

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And here's the icing on the cake: It's asking a steep $5,200 a month. For this price, we'd expect -- no, demand! -- a little staging magic.

Thanks to our pals at Curbed for this Listing Fail.

Enjoy this post? Check out all our listing fail articles.

See also:
Models in Real Estate Listings Turn Up The Heat (NSFW)
Williston, N.D., Oil Boom Means Rents as High as New York City's
Renters Dodged the Housing Bust But Not Buying Now Could Cost Them

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House Fire Victims Peter King and Ann O'Connor Get Home Rebuilt by Generous Neighbors

February 7, 2013, 3:07 pm

≫ Next: Mountain Center Estate Is a Desert Oasis (House of the Day)

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When Peter King and Ann O'Connor lost their home to a fire in the summer of 2012, they found themselves suddenly homeless and seemingly alone. But thanks to the benevolence of their Syracuse, N.Y., community, the couple is slated to have a brand-new home by Easter.

The community raised over $70,000 in a huge fundraising effort to rebuild the couple's home. The house, which was uninsured, was nothing but a "charred shell" after the fire. But now, the home boasts a brand new exterior. (The home's interior is still under construction.)

"It's a startling image, to see that fire damage and then see what's been done since then. We're pretty joyful of the outcome so far," King told TV station WSYR in Syracuse.

O'Connor echoed her husband, saying that the response from their community, and the donation of time, money and services was nothing short of "wonderful."

The outpouring of generosity for the couple could perhaps be attributed to good karma: King and O'Connor have dedicated their lives to helping the poor and homeless. For 40 years the couple has been running the Unity Kitchen Community, serving family-style meals for the less fortunate in the Syracuse community. Now, the community has the chance to "give love back" -- and they're doing it.

The story is reminiscent of that of Burt and Jeanne Metz of the Breezy Point neighborhood in Queens, who lost their home when Hurricane Sandy struck the New York City borough. The home, which had been flooded with 4 feet of water, was completely rebuilt by over 300 humanitarian volunteers. (In January, the Metzes were able to move into their new home.)

King and O'Connor still have weeks before they can move into their home. (The couple is currently living in an apartment paid for by Catholic Charities.) To donate to the continuing progress of King and O'Connor's home or to help the couple in their transition period, call the Unity Kitchen Community at 315-478-5552.

View the video here: http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/Communitys-efforts-to-rebuild-couples-home-nearly/7RP220SzgEaTwAOoKNgpfg.cspx

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Mountain Center Estate Is a Desert Oasis (House of the Day)

February 7, 2013, 3:07 pm

≫ Next: Allen Iverson Foreclosure: See the $2.8 Million Atlanta Home Ex-NBA Star Lost

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Clearly, nothing beats a desert property! This week's #housepornthurs winner is perhaps reflective of our collective readers' desire to be in a warm, sunny and dry climate right now -- and where better than by the pool of this luxurious Mountain Center, Calif., retreat?

We're talking massive windows that frame panoramic canyon, city and mountain views. Pair that with tasteful wood accents, charming ranch-style decor and modern luxury amenities (a media room, tennis court and spa, for starters) and you have yourself an 11,000-square-foot desert oasis. This home in Southern California's Riverside County may be worth $9 million, but its "restorative" powers? Priceless.

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Richard Bartholomew and Jane Dorian of Partners Trust Properties have the listing.

Find more homes for sale in Mountain Center, Calif., or search listings in your area.

The #housepornthurs contest is a weekly Twitter conversation hosted by @aolrealestate. Tweet listings every Thursday to AOL Real Estate with the hashtag #housepornthurs for a chance to have one of your submissions featured as a House of the Day the following week.

See more Houses of the Day on AOL Real Estate.

Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email colin.croughan@teamaol.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to reply to each submission.)

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Allen Iverson Foreclosure: See the $2.8 Million Atlanta Home Ex-NBA Star Lost

February 7, 2013, 3:07 pm

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Former NBA star Allen Iverson isn't having a good week. First, a judge skewered him Tuesday for bad parenting skills, and now he's lost his giant Atlanta mansion to foreclosure. Iverson's nearly 10,000-square-foot home on Atlanta's exclusive West Paces Ferry Road had been on the market for $2.5 million, but it was sold at auction Tuesday back to Georgia Primary Bank, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Iverson built the home for $4.5 million in 2009 and lived there with his wife and five kids, but he and his wife recently divorced. A current listing on the house shows the asking price at $2.8 million.

Don't think this is the first time Iverson has lost a home to foreclosure. Back in 2011, when he was shooting for the Denver Nuggets, Iverson also lost his posh $3.875 million Cherry Hills, Colo., mansion to foreclosure after defaulting on the mortgage, according to the Denver Post. Luckily, a buyer had entered into contract to buy the home before Iverson defaulted, the Post said.

Iverson's Atlanta home is quite the luxury estate, one you wouldn't expect to see on the auction block. The listing calls it "one of, if not the finest, private gated estates ever to become available in Atlanta." Iverson had sunk $4.5 million into building it with a custom bar, gourmet kitchen, master suite with "spa-like" bath and luxury accents such as copper gutters. Click through the gallery below to see the amazing home Iverson has lost.

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See also:
Brooklyn Nets' Deron Williams Buys Penthouse
Joe Montana's Former San Francisco Condo
Texans Linebacker Puts Home Up for Sale

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Barbie's Malibu Dreamhouse Listed for -- $25 Million?! Well, Sort Of

February 7, 2013, 3:07 pm

≫ Next: John Legend's Thai-Inspired Hollywood Mansion

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Filed under: News,Celebrity Homes,Selling

Looks like Barbie's ready to move. A new listing on Trulia appears to show that Barbie's Malibu Dreamhouse has hit the market! (Yes, you read correctly. Barbie, as in the doll.) But we doubt you could afford it for your little girl (and if you can, can we be your little girl?) It's going for a totally unreasonable $25 million (!!!!).

Barbie's "pinktastic" Malibu beachfront home boasts 8,500 square feet of living space, an oceanfront master bedroom with balcony, a pink elevator emblazoned with Barbie's face, pink kitchen with pink granite countertops, pink marble floors and diamond-encrusted decor. According to listing agent Josh Altman, the home is "Hollywood style meeting California casual chic." (Though "diamond everything" doesn't really scream "casual chic" to us.)

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But to the one or two of you reading this who are sitting on that kind of bankroll, don't whip out your checkbooks yet. Full disclosure: The listing isn't exactly real. (And with all that pink, that actually makes us happy.) From what our pals at Curbed tell us, it's a PR stunt by Barbie's creators, Mattel, who partnered with Trulia to create this listing as a way of promoting Barbie's "worldwide tour to find a new dream home." (And obviously, this means Barbs needs to offload her old one.) You can keep up to date on Barbie's worldwide house hunt on her Facebook page.

See also:
Leonardo DiCaprio Puts Malibu Home on Market
Malibu Homeowner Turns House Sale Into a Hollywood Production
Biggest Celebrity Real Estate Deals of 2012

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John Legend's Thai-Inspired Hollywood Mansion

February 7, 2013, 3:07 pm

≫ Next: Home Where Lee Harvey Oswald Slept Before JFK Assassination to be Restored

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Don't know about you guys, but here at AOL Real Estate we're all big fans of multiple Grammy Award-winner John Legend and his soothing, soulful ballads. So we were pleased to discover that his new Hollywood pad is just as soul-restorative as his tunes, with its open, sun-drenched living areas, calming nature views, and earthy, Thai-inspired decor.

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Legend, who lives in the home with fiancee, model Chrissy Teigen, specifically wanted an open floor plan that connected the sprawling Los Angeles home's living room to the leafy, tree-flanked outdoor patio space. The couple started decorating the home, which they liken to a "Thai temple" (Teigen is half Thai), from scratch, hand-selecting all their furniture. We especially love the living room chandeliers, custom-made glass orbs printed with lyrics from Legend's songs. See it for yourself!

See also:
Christina Aguilera, Jordan Bratman's Beverly Hills Home Close to Being Sold?
Carly Simon's New York City Home Gets Another Price Cut
Elvis Presley's Home a Teardown?

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Home Where Lee Harvey Oswald Slept Before JFK Assassination to be Restored

February 7, 2013, 3:07 pm

≫ Next: Marc Jacobs Lists NYC Condo for Rent at a Fashionable $37,500 a Month (House of the Day)

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Months before the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, the Texas city of Irving has announced that it will restore the home in which Lee Harvey Oswald slept on the night before the assassination.

According to police, the "blanket-wrapped rifle" used in the assassination was stored inside the garage of the house. Oswald also reportedly left his wedding ring and some cash in the room he shared with his wife -- dubbed the "Oswald bedroom" -- before he left the home on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963.

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The city of Irving purchased the home from a woman named Ruth Paine, and will spend $100,000 to restore it to its original 1963 appearance. The city also announced that it will turn the home into a "historical museum." Though archivists, history buffs and tourists alike applaud the city's plans, neighbors have had mixed reactions since the plans were announced.

"Every time the anniversary gets close, the rental cars pull up and everybody bails out with their cameras and takes pictures of it and that kind of thing," neighbor Anthony Rucker told NBC News. Rucker has lived across the road from the "Lee Harvey Oswald home" since 1987. "It's odd. I don't get the gist of it, to turn it back into what it was."

See also:
See Harvey Oswald's Dallas Apartment Demolished
Live in Marilyn and JFK's Rumored 'Rendezvous' Home
Live Where John F. Kennedy Planned His 1st Political Campaign

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Marc Jacobs Lists NYC Condo for Rent at a Fashionable $37,500 a Month (House of the Day)

February 9, 2013, 10:43 am

≫ Next: 'Real Housewife' Heather Dubrow Sells Orange County Home, Report Says

≪ Previous: Home Where Lee Harvey Oswald Slept Before JFK Assassination to be Restored

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Sure, it's Fashion Week in New York City, but we're not as concerned with designer Marc Jacobs' latest collection as we are with his sleek and chic SoHo condo, which just hit the rental market. (And it looks like one of Jacobs' runway rivals is battling him in real estate, too: Kate Spade's Hamptons home just went on the market as well.) It seems Jacobs has been staying in his white-walled apartment ever since he was forced out of his West Village townhouse because of flooding by Hurricane Sandy, the New York Post reported. Of course, you'll need to have a supermodel's salary to snag it for yourself: The condo is renting for $37,500 a month.

The three-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom condo is available starting March 1. But it'll be well worth the (pretty short) wait. The gorgeous loft-like space has floor-to-ceiling windows with exposures overlooking Manhattan's fashion-forward SoHo neighborhood. The custom kitchen and bathrooms "incorporate the most luxurious finishes, fittings and appliances," the listing says. The home comes fully furnished in a building that has concierge service, a pool, spa, whirlpool, fitness center and rooftop terrace. Trust us, this place is hotter than Jacobs drinking a Diet Coke shirtless.

Wilbur Gonzalez and Adam Taylor of Town Residential have the listing.

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Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email colin.croughan@teamaol.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to reply to each submission.)

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'Real Housewife' Heather Dubrow Sells Orange County Home, Report Says

February 9, 2013, 10:43 am

≫ Next: Alleged Squatter Andre Barbosa Leaves Foreclosed Mansion in Boca Raton

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"The Real Housewives of Orange County" star Heather Dubrow is no stranger to highbrow real estate, and her monster spread in Newport Beach, Calif., proves it. According to The Real Estalker, Dubrow has sold her Orange County mansion for $16.45 million -- but the home was never publicly listed. Well-connected sources pointed Estalker to public records of the sale of the home in the latter part of December. Dubrow and her husband, Terry, a (very rich) plastic surgeon, built the home in 2004, reportedly buying the lot in the Newport Coast development for $3.3 million and spending an extra $7 million on the construction of the home.

It was no secret that Dubrow was looking to sell. As The Orange County Register pointed out back in February of last year, her first appearance on "Housewives" showed her scoping out plots of land with a Realtor, on a mission to find a place to build another house. (She ended up not taking the Crystal Cove parcel that she was eyeing on the show.)

We're sorry to say that, because there was no public listing for Dubrow's home, details are sparse. But Bravo! TV -- the network home of the "Housewives" -- paid a visit to Dubrow's home with cameras in tow when she still lived there. And it's everything we've dreamed of: a grand entrance hall, soaring ceilings, luxe marble baths, a living room with glass ceiling -- and more! See the home in the gallery below and see Bravo's tour in the video at the bottom.

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See also:
Christina Aguilera, Jordan Bratman's Beverly Hills Home Close to Being Sold?
Carly Simon's New York City Home Gets Another Price Cut
Elvis Presley's Home a Teardown?

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