Anthony Davis

Photo Credit: ShutterShock

In 2018, Anthony Davis purchased his Westlake Village home at just under $7.5 million, which he recently sold at loss. While Davis splurged $8 million on renovations to the Mediterranean style residence, the home ultimately sold for $6.6 million in January. However, with his most recent real estate purchase of a Bel Air estate appears to be a score. According to a trust associated with Davis, the off-market deal of his new property closed last month at a price of $32 million. Although a quiet transaction for a superstar player, the lavish state of his newfound home speaks for itself.

Previous owner, Ted Foxman purchased the Bel Air property in 2016 at a price of $16 million. Throughout his stay, he spent two years renovating it. Several significant transformations were made to the home as showcased in Elle Decor. The 16,700 square foot villa style estate spans 3.5 acres with eight bedrooms and eight full bathrooms. Beyond the gates of the Bel Air Crest community, the home opens to a great hall with an extravagant 35-foot glass dome ceiling. Further inside the property presents an entertainment style living room, formal dining room equipped for 20, and ultramodern eat-in kitchen with a butler’s pantry. The eight bedrooms, eight full bathrooms, and three powder rooms highlight picturesque views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. The estate is equipped with a plethora of entertainment options such as a home theater, game room, wet bar, Olympic sized pool, full sized basketball court, tennis court, and nearby golf course and canyons. Decorative highlights of the home include custom stone, marble, and walnut wood floors.

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The 2021 Restaurant & Bar Awards is open for entries! Turn in your best designs to a host of judges such as Aliya Khan, Vice President, Global Design Strategies at Marriott International; Amanda Elder, CCO of Kempinski Hotels; and Anamika Butalia, Managing Editor of ELLE DECOR India.

Join entrants from over 100 countries worldwide, and see if your designs have what it takes to win.

The goal of your entry is to create something that fits the judges' personal definition of 'design excellence.'

Visit the website here for all information regarding guidelines and registration.

Best of luck to all contestants!

The post Are Your Designs Award-Worthy? appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

Photo Credit: Coastal Home Photography

What do visitors to (your market) do during Memorial Day weekend? Will it be the same for this year?

Memorial Day Weekend in Sarasota was a little different this year. While the holiday is usually one for big gatherings, celebrations, and welcoming of the summer months this year was a little more somber. People still memorialized but in a more private way. The Sarasota beaches have always been favorites for the weekend as was the case this year but in a much more socially distant way. People did take advantage of the water and beautiful Florida weather but just in a quieter more reflective manner.

Photo Credit: Coastal Home Photography

When selling a property, do you prefer it to be staged or empty? Why?

When selling a property, we generally always involve a stager. It can take the form of anything from simply rearranging and tweaking furniture and décor to fully staging a vacant home or condo. We know the benefit of this process and how it positively affects value and time on the market.   More recently because of logistical challenges due to COVID 19 we have been doing more virtual staging.

Photo Credit: SRQ360

Tell us about your best sale of 2020 so far.

Certainly, one of our best sales this year was a beachfront compound that we closed for $10,500,000. The property, referred to as AQUADISIA, consists of over three acres on the Gulf of Mexico including both the main home and guest home and more than 500 feet of beach frontage. The buyer first visited the property in late May amid the COVID-19 environment and we closed the first week of June. The sale was the highest price in 2020 for Sarasota County and tied last year’s high sale.

Photo Credit: SRQ360

What do you offer that no other agent can in (your market)?

Schemmel Group has had great success over the last several years. Much of that success is due to the combination of traditional marketing, innovative online and social media campaigns, and PR for our properties. In the last year or so our properties have been featured in Dwell, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Elle Décor. We know one sale came directly from the Dwell article. It is this extra push that is delivering value to our clients.

Photo Credit: SRQ360

How are prices doing today compared to three months ago in Sarasota, before the lockdown took place?

It has been very interesting to look at how pricing has evolved from before COVID-19 to now. We are fortunate that our market has been quick to reengage as things have opened. We may even be dealing with a scenario where demand is outweighing supply. Prices do not seem to have been impacted. Although we had over 45 days more or less of no sales, we have jumped back and may even be surging ahead. Therefore, I only see upward pressure on prices.

To contact Joel Schemmel, click on "Learn More" above.

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Three design and décor superpowers teamed up at the historic Walker Tower NYC this month to create three unique interiors for Elle Décor, House Beautiful and Veranda. The iconic Walker Tower building was originally constructed by legendary architect Ralph Thomas Walker and offers unbeatable panoramic views of NYC from 212 West 18^th Street, making it the perfect place for this designer showcase.

Alessandra Branca partnered with Elle Décor for an apartment full of whimsy, vibrant color and impeccable pattern-mixing. Branca created a space that’s livable yet stylish and felt it was important to create a living area for a family with grown children. Branca effortlessly mixed heirloom pieces with those of modern-day designers.

Carlos Aparicio joined Veranda to create rooms with a minimalistic effect, offering low, rustic pieces for the ‘gentleman collector and dealer.’ The showpiece may have been the 1950s industrial iron bed made by Mathieu Mategot, demanding attention from across the room.

Jamie Drake’s space for House Beautiful boasted jewel tones in Benjamin Moore paint, luxury, and glamour intended for a ‘woman of today’-oriented residence. The home featured furniture by Hudson Furniture, Hutton Home and more.

For more from the Haute Design Network, visit us on Facebook and follow Haute Residence on Twitter!

To learn more about the historic Walker Tower, click here.

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The Hearst Group, which consists of interior print publications ELLE DECOR, House Beautiful, and VERANDA partnered with designers Matthew Patrick Smyth, David Rockwell and Antony Todd who each created three exquisite apartments in the luxury building, each residence reflecting the magazines’ unique style and point of view.

The opening night gala included guests Michael Boodro, Editor in Chief of ELLE DECOR; Newell Turner, Hearst Design Group Editor In Chief; and Dara Caponigro, Editor in Chief of VERANDA. Other notable attendees included David Kleinberg, John Eason, Libby Langdon, Jon Call, Heather Moore, Susanna Salk, and Nabila Kashoggi.

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Meyer's first bit of advice is to do as you want your guests to do. Translation: If you want your guests to wine, dine, and have a good time, then you need to be doing the same. Being tense over hosting and not eating or drinking will only send a subliminal message to your guests to mimic your behavior.

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Greenwood reveals that the set was built in 12 weeks at the Shepperton Studios in London due to not having money to shoot on location in Russia. Recreating the look of Imperial Russia required a lot of research by Greenwood herself and set decorator Katie Spencer. Greenwood and Spencer were inspired by the Tsarskoye Selo, summer palace of Catherine the Great.

Source and image courtesy of Elle Decor. 

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68% agree that quality is important. The magazine shares: Quality beats everything else in determining what constitutes true luxury, with 68 percent of designers citing it as the single most important factor. No other aspect reached even double digits in the survey.

When picking items, 38% think design is a top priority. This was followed closely by "high-end materials" at 29 percent and craftsmanship at 22 percent. Exclusivity came last at a mere 5 percent.

74% believe that a spa bath is the most crucial amenity in a luxury home. "Outdoor kitchens, home gyms, and pools were cited by more than 60 percent. Only 5 percent chose a tennis court."

34% agree that location is the determining factor of whether a home is in the luxury category or not. Only 1 percent found square footage to be important and 27 percent cited architectural elements.

Source courtesy Elle Decor. To read the full piece, please follow this link. Photo courtesy Trendecor.

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