Category Archives: Unusual homes

China’s abandoned Magic Kingdom; Wonderland

Posted on May 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

I love abandoned sites. A few years back we took a trip to California and visited Bombay Beach on the coast of the Salton Sea. Sounds dreamy right? Well, it’s not. This is Bombay Beach.

Bombay Beach California

High salt levels and floods made Bombay Beach, once coined the Riviera of California, uninhabitable. Well, for most that is, as some die-hard residents still call it home.

California is also home to Disneyland. Anything but deserted. The Magic Kingdom draws in about 15.000.000 people each year. That’s close to the population of The Netherlands! Wonderland Theme Park in China, about a 45 minute drive from Downtown Beijing, is not so lucky. What was going to be the largest amusement park in Asia and Asia’s answer to Disney Magic Kingdom, is now probably competing with Tjernobyl as the largest abandoned site in the East. Disagreements with local government and farmers over property prices forced the project developers to stop construction in 1998. It now sits abandoned between fields of corn and houses along the highway to the Great Wall. I have tried to find aerial images of in on Google Earth but have not had any luck yet. But these pictures already show its marvel and make me want to book a flight to China to see it myself.

Photographs by David Grey (Reuters). For more from this series check this article on theatlantic.com

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Posted in Famous buildings and movie locations, Unusual homes

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One of NYC’s most expensive apartments for sale at $65.000.000

Posted on April 25, 2012 | 3 comments

It’s the most expensive Co-op apartment ever in NYC. But whoever has this much cash available, or gets his bank to join in, will not regret it. A whooping 12000 square feet (which is about 1200 m2) and so many terraces that one was converted in an outdoor ice skating rink for a party once. The owner, Grammy Nominated songwriter Denise Rich (what’s in a name), is selling it as she suffers from empty nest syndrome. I wonder, with a house this big, if you even notice if your housemates are home or out…..

The apartment comprises two floors with a total of 19 rooms, amazing views of the whole of Central Park a professional recording studio, gym and billiard room and several kitchens and full bathrooms.

At $5.400 per square foot, it’s actually quite a lot ‘cheaper than the record condo — not co-op — price of $13,000 per square foot, which is what former Citigroup Chairman Sandy Weill’s triplex at 15 Central Park West recently sold for. I have yet to figure out what exactly is the difference between an co-op and condo, but my guess is it has to do with full ownership? Anyhow; not intending to buy either anytime soon so plenty of time to worry about that later.

Image courtesy of Corcoran Realtors

Images courtesy of Corcoran Realtors

Images courtesy of Corcoran Realtors

Images courtesy of Corcoran realtors

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Posted in Homes of the rich and famous, See how others live, Unusual homes

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Don Draper’s apartment

Posted on April 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

With the return of Mad Men we were introduced to Don and Megan’s wonderful love nest; apartment 17-B. It is a 60s style penthouse on top of a high-rise in NYC. In the episode where Megan surprises her beau with a wonderful rendition of Gillian Hills’ Zou Bisou Bisou a guest complains about the street noise below. That might be the catch as for the rest this place is wonderful!

Shag carpets, sunken living room, bold design patterns and an abundance of built-in cabinetry, it has the aesthetic of what I wouldn’t mind calling home! It has the sofa I’ve been thinking of buying. I’d get it in petrol though….

Megan singing Zou Bisou Bisou for Don

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Posted in Famous buildings and movie locations, Homes of the rich and famous, Unusual homes

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Cleverly designed prefabs for the less fortunate

Posted on April 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Sometimes great plans are just destined to take form. The prefab homes of young designer/architect Brett Zamore for instance. For his thesis at Rice University School of Architecture  he rehabilitated an old mansion in his alma mater Houston, Texas. This caught the attention of Architecture for Humanity who commissioned him to design an easy to build home in Biloxi Mississippi for people who lost their home to hurricane Katrina. This again inspired him to start designing a line of prefab homes specifically for those who might not be able to afford regular new-builds. The result, two designs, called up+dn, were sold to various companies building affordable homes for the financially challenged. Families all over the Southern States are now happily living in his homes.

I particularly like the shutters and porch on the homes in the images below. They are reminiscent of long sweltering summer evenings in the South where people drink cool mint juleps and wave fans in their faces. The colour scheme makes for a luxury feel and give the homes a chic appearance.

All images courtesy of Interior Design and Brett Zamore Design

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Posted in Design, designers and online finds, See how others live, Unusual homes

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