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A Chicago Beauty

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As promised yesterday, today we are having a house tour of Mark Coy's previous apartment on Lakeshore drive. Located in a grand old building, the apartment has great bones but needed a LOT of work when he first moved in. Lets see the results!
The living room contains the same aesthetic as his new apartment, but in a traditional environment. Recognize the French armchair? The grass blinds are used here again to great affect.
Another view looking back at the living room. Notice the beautiful black fireplace with unusual overmantel on the left. You see the entry through the arched opening on the left and the dining room through the cased opening on the right. I love that Mark chose a cohesive color scheme to tie all the spaces together. The apartment has a great flow to it and the color unites the rooms.The dining room has beautiful moldings, a window bench and original sconces. I love the white painted trimwork throughout the apartment and dark stained floors! Another seagrass carpet is used here and recognize the fabric on the pillows on the window seat? Tying the rooms together through fabrics and color brings a modern flow to a traditional compartmentalized apartment.I was crazy for this gorgeous chandelier and guess what....it's from the HOME DEPOT! Yes, such style for only $495 plus the added black shades which were used again on the sconces. The high and low real world decorating is used here to full affect: using what he had to work with (sconces), adding a 'low' touch from home depot (the candelier) and hanging it above a Milo Baughman dining table (the 'high' statement piece).The master bedroom continues the same color palette but in a much more soft and subtle environment. It looks like it could be a room at a spa hotel, doesn't it? So relaxing. The bathroom is probably my favorite room in the entire apartment. I instantly recognized the Ann Sacks Bellarita Travertine flooring in a herringbone pattern: I've used it in projects before and hope to use it someday in my own house! I'm all on board with white subway tiles, befitting the apartment's age and the glam sink and ebonized doors make me so happy. No seagrass blinds in here but the wallpaper (continued onto the ceiling I might add) tie in that aspect from the rest of the apartment.
The 2nd bedroom, used as a den, uses the same color palette in a darker tone: A perfect room to curl up with a good book and cup of tea. I love the blocky lamp in the background and again the seagrass shades.
The one room that does not follow rest of the apartment's color scheme is the kitchen. The wood floors were ebonized in here as well and it looks like an original built-in to the right was painted the same white as the trimwork. I love this cheerful paint, who wouldn't smile having their morning tea (or coffee!) in here? I always tend to prefer black over stainless appliances (yes I know i'm in the minority) - I think they tend to blend better into a room and not become the 'star' attraction. They also tie in nicely with the black granite countertops.
I hope you enjoyed this tour of Mark's beautiful old apartment, I know I could happily move in tomorrow! Hopefully he'll share photos of his new space once it's completed!
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Demille Estate

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Back in April I read about the Cecil B. Demille estate up for sale on The Real Estalker- only $26.25 million asking price for 2.1 acres along with the buildings. A little out of my price range but it's always free to look! I think this is the most beautiful house. Above is the entryway. I love all the plasterwork!I'm sure this isn't the original kitchen as the home was built in 1914 but it really is my dream kitchen. I love the white cabinetry with glass doors and white marble countertop and backsplash. Notice the vintage stove in the alcove. The wood floors connect it to the rest of the house and make the space more homey, breaking up the expanse of white. What a great place to eat breakfast in the morning! I love this library: Space for all my books and magazines! This house also has lots of large expansive windows looking out onto the wooded lot.
The living room -more bookcases and huge open windows! You may recognize the name but not know who Demille was. He was a famous academy-award winning director in Hollywood in the first half of the 20th century.
Born in 1881, Demille started with silent films (obviously) in 1914. By the 1920s he was THE director to turn to in Hollywood! One of the few directors to be famous in his own right, he was practicaly canonized forever in the public's eye in 'Sunset Boulevard' when Gloria Swanson says "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up!". Demille played himself in this movie and in a few other films. He passed away in 1959.
I LOVE this master bathroom (assuming there is a shower around the corner that we can't see). I like the idea of putting an oriental rug in a bathroom and treating it as a real room. The double sink with lamps in front of the windows is charming!
The master bedroom - a fireplace and huge balcony -what more could you want? Is that a towel hanging on the wall? I'm not sure what that is about
What a cute little getaway this poolhouse is! The rear of the home from the pool.
All this and a guest house too! I'd be happy just living here! While the house is beautiful this dining room is semi-tragic. While I like the wood paneling, the carpet is too dreary, the chandelier too small and the furniture looks cheap and underscaled. And that fabric on the chairs - yikes!I also found some vintage photos of the estate from back in Demille's time.

The magic of Hollywood.
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Oh Dear

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If you have a spare $250,000 laying around -you could buy this....ahem....'castle' in Kansas....on ebay HERE...... ya - i'm scared - i wish there were interior pictures!!! Be afraid....be very afraid, and yes, this is for REAL! Someone built this! I think they got the architect's plans mixed up with their kindergardener's drawings. It's not all pretty around here at architect design....
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the VIEW!!!!

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If you have a spare $8.25 million laying around -how about buying the most fantastic condo in NYC (and letting me visit)? Currently owned by Mariska Hargitay (from law and order AND daughter of our BIG ummmm....... movie-star friend Jayne Mansfield) and her awfully named husband Peter Hermann this unit is a 2-story penthouse in the O'neill building on 6th avenue.

LOOK AT THE VIEW.........omg - that terrace!!!
Oh -and did I mention the living room is 53' x 19' ? Thats bigger than the footprint of a lot of townhouses.......
The kitchen makes me very very happy indeed -all that beautiful dark wood and that chandelier! The chandelier takes it from boring and minimalist to a jewel box of a kitchen. I also like that the kitchen is seperated from the living room -it would be too cavernous of a space otherwise. I enjoy a seperate kitchen space.......
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This week's dream house

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My dream house changes everyday -this one is in my own neighborhood and is really beautiful but a little out of my price range...ok -a lot out of my price range. Check it out!
What a pretty dining room! I love the mirror, even if it is a little small in scale
This open first floor is beautiful!!this guest bedroom is really cute!
I love white bathrooms! -the window bench is a cute idea!
the sparse master bedroom - a modern 4 poster steel bed would be beautiful here
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why do I live here?

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Dc is such an over-priced city (I know, it's not NYC or boston, but of course it's still in the upper brackets of prices in real estate!). While browsing real estate on random Craigslist cities, I came across this ADORABLE house in St. Paul. While admittedly the kitchen needs a little redo ( remove some upper cabinets, paint the others white and you're set! ) the rest is just beautiful :-) And the price: well - you could get a 1 bedroom condo in DC for that - WITHOUT parking. I love the stained glass above the entry door, the entry in general and that fireplace in the living room with the bay window! Enjoy!See the original ad online HERE:
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