TopTenRealEstateDeals.com’s Top 5 Pick of the Week: Pilgrims and Spike Lee

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TopTenRealEstateDeals.com offers fresh real estate news for luxury and celebrity listings across the United States. Check out a taste of their Top Ten list:

1665 Pilgrim House (above)

This homestead consists of the 1665 Farley Garrison House with a colonial era ell leading to more Towle collected structures including a carriage house, antique barn, water tower, corn crib, and a late 1700's one-room school house, stone walls and a pond.  Each building has been painstakingly and accurately restored down to the hand hewn nails and original hardware.

1665 Farley Garrison House originally built in 1665 in Billerica, Massachusetts, this Pilgrim era saltbox garrison home was recently reconstructed in New Hampshire.  Now for sale at $1.495 million.

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“Home Alone” Hero's Home

When Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) was accidentally left “Home Alone” in the film, the Wet Bandits (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) were only his first fear.  His next door neighbor, Old Man Marley (Roberts Blossom), had sent shivers down Kevin’s spine ever since his older brother told him that the old guy was actually "the South Bend Shovel Slayer” who, back in 1958, murdered his entire family.  This was a large burden of fear to carry, in addition to foiling the antics of the Wet Bandits. However, as it sometimes happens in movieland, Kevin befriended the old man, who, it turns out, did not really murder his family.  In the end, Old Man Marley saved the day and Kevin by hitting the Wet Bandits over their heads with his trusty snow shovel, just seconds before they were going to bite off Kevin’s fingers.

Now Old Man Marley’s Winnetka house, next door to Kevin’s “Home Alone” house, is up for sale. Just two blocks from Lake Michigan’s parks and beach, the three-story, 6,863-square-foot 1898 house is sited on two-thirds of an acre with seven bedrooms, six baths, media-guest room, library, mud room, exercise room, wet bar, first and second floor laundries, and, of course, a large attic.  The rear elevation is surrounded with large porches and decks overlooking the pool, pergola and putting green.

Winnetka, the Native Indian name for “beautiful land,” is a suburb of Chicago just 16 miles north of the city.  Incorporated in 1869, the village offers tree-shaded streets and neighborhoods with large homes and manicured grounds as well as three quaint in-town business districts.

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Spike Lee's Historic Townhouse

New York City’s Hatch House was singled out as a landmark in 1977 by the Landmarks Preservation Commission as an excellent example of Neo-Renaissance architecture made popular in the early 1900s.  It was a confusing style considered to be a hybrid of the earlier Renaissance forms and was loosely designed primarily by the whims of architects and their clients rather than adhering to any specific geography or culture.  Though most people refer to the Hatch House as leaning toward the Spanish influence, Architect Frederick Sterner could have just as easily been inspired by Italian villas when he designed it for Barbara Hatch, great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1916.

A large townhouse with three stories and the rare private Upper East Side courtyard, the house has attracted a number of interesting owners including burlesque queen, Gypsy Rose Lee, and top-selling artist Jasper Johns, Jr.  Gypsy Rose made the most notable changes to the decor by adding gilt and murals much loved by the Landmarks Preservation Committee.  In 2000, film director, producer, writer, and actor, Spike Lee bought the house from Johns for $16 million.  In November 2013, Lee and his attorney wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, put their 13-year residence on the market.

The 8,292-square-foot, 32-foot-wide, three-story townhouse on East 63rd Street consists of five bedrooms, a library, staff quarters, elevator and three fireplaces - one, a European import from the 18th century dating to the original construction.  Two rooms have cathedral ceilings and there is a chef’s kitchen, full security system and oak floors laid out in herringbone and parquet patterns.  The breezeway that connects the two wings has open views along its length through arched sets of French doors.

Spike Lee’s East 63rd Street townhouse, previously owned by Vanderbilt family, Gypsy Rose Lee and artist Jasper Johns, Jr., is now for sale at $32 million.

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Katzenstein House

A classic example of architect Ray Kappe’s award winning design style is the Katzenstein House in Pacific Palisades which was recently listed for sale.  Built in 1974 in Rustic Canyon, the 2,724-square-foot, three-story home appears to float up the hill within its lush landscape, appearing much larger than the actual square footage.  Private and serene, the three bedroom, four-bath house winds its way up through a series of open decks to a heated lap pool.  While dining, a view of a waterfall spilling down the hill can be seen through the large glass wall and there is a wide see-through fireplace dividing living from dining.

Ray Kappe’s Katzenstein House is now for sale and is priced at $3.95 million.

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Light on the Water

Coming up for auction on March 4th, is this 5.55 acre contemporary estate on Pocket Lake, which is somewhat circular in shape and covers 126 acres.  Named “Di Luce Sull’acqua,” Italian for “Light on the Water,” the view across the lake is natural wildlife habitat and the water can change from pink to purple to amber during the evening sunsets.  Enter the gated drive to a courtyard entry with porte-cochere, a large central water feature and garages flanking both sides with eight car bays.  Brushed stainless steel entry doors open to a large marble foyer with double curving stairs.  At 22,867 square feet, the seven bedroom, four bathroom home is designed with space to entertain several hundred guests and a dining room that seats twenty-two.  The main house has a dedicated office wing with separate entrance, lounge area, office with two-story ceiling, elevator with access to library with cigar patio.  With multiple kitchens and dining areas, the property also has a 200,000-gallon pool with dolphin fountain, a covered dock with lounge area and a lighted, waterfront tennis court. There is also a separate guest house with garage.

Originally priced at $10.8 million, this Pocket Lake estate in Orlando will be auctioned with no reserve on March 4th.

Click here to see the rest of this real estate hot list!

Photos courtesy of toptenrealestatedeals.com and Enrique Colls

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